Tennessee
Why small Tennessee farmers will lose millions after USDA budget cuts
Farmers brace for cuts to USAID and USDA
Farmers, who already operate under thin margins, said funding cuts to programs like USAID, USDA and a new trade war were concerning.
Tennessee farmers will lose millions in local food purchases after sweeping federal cuts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture led to the closure of two programs funding fresh food for schools and food banks.
The USDA announced nearly $1 billion in cuts last week, shuttering the Local Food for Schools program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement.
The two programs funneled millions of dollars into Tennessee to keep local products in local communities, buying things like fresh eggs or produce from small farms to feed kids at nearby schools or needy populations at local food pantries.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture confirmed this week the state was informed on March 7 the local food purchase program would close. The Tennessee Department of Education, which administers the local schools program, has not yet responded to a Tennessean inquiry, but the School Nutrition Association reports $660 million in funds for schools to buy local food had been canceled nationwide.
Jeannine Carpenter, chief communications officer for the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, said food bank officials had watched cost-cutting developments in Washington D.C. with trepidation but hoped the local programs would not be caught up in a wave of cuts.
Tennessee had previously contracted with the five regional food banks that cover the state. Those organizations then contracted with local farmers, like the seven farmers who supplied Chattanooga’s food bank with goods that were distributed through 38 community pantries in 11 counties in the first year of the program.
Now, the programs will shut down entirely, just three months after the USDA announced a $1.13 billion investment in the upcoming fiscal year. Tennessee planned to opt-in again to draw down those funds, TDA confirmed.
“The decisions to take away access to local food are being made by people who have never stepped foot on a small Tennessee farm or shopped in a Tennessee farmer’s market,” Carpenter said.
The local food purchase program was first developed in 2021 with COVID-era recovery funds, and local farmers who contracted with the program praised the stability it provided farms by paying market rate while keeping locally grown food in local communities. Funding was later established to make it a permanent program.
In late 2023, a Tennessee Department of Agriculture error led to the state missing out on more than $7 million in the program’s second round of funding. Tennessee lawmakers, recognizing the value of the program, pushed the state department to make up the lost funds.
Those state dollars are currently being spent, Carpenter said, and will maintain farmer contracts through the end of the year.
Expected 2025 funding for the Local Food for Schools program, however, will not come.
‘We’re just a small family business’: Local farmers say cuts hurt them
For Kelsey Keener, the end of the program will mean a disappointing coda for a contract that provided financial consistency for his family farm and a meaningful connection to the community.
Keener, a second generation farmer at Sequatchie Cove Farm, was one of the first farmers to sign up for the first round of the local food purchase program. Though Keener said he was hesitant to rely too much on a single contract, the federal funds provided a “signficant” source of income at a critical time for the farm.
Sequatchie was able to scale up its operations over the last three years, in part thanks to the contract. Keener said it made up about 20% of their expected income at its high watermark.
Sequatchie was proud to provide fresh farm eggs and meat to their neighbors in Middle and East Tennessee, and the local contract gave the farm more flexibility with the natural ebbs and flows of production capacity than they might find with a corporate contract.
Keener said he was disappointed when he learned the funding was cut for a program that was an obvious “win-win” for both the farmers and recipients of the food.
“The bigger picture political messaging with all of the cuts, it sounds like they’re just cutting superfluous stuff that doesn’t affect anybody and it’s all a waste of money,” Keener said. “But it did affect us financially in a real way. We’re not some big corporation that’s just taking advantage of the system.
“We’re just a small family business trying to make a living.”
State troopers remove people from the Tennessee House gallery on Thursday during a special session of the state legislature to redraw congressional voting maps.
George Walker IV/AP
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George Walker IV/AP
Tennessee Republicans have passed a new congressional map that would crack Memphis’ Shelby County into three different districts, in an effort to eliminate the state’s lone remaining Democratic-held seat.
Currently, Tennessee is represented by eight Republicans and one Democrat.
The district that includes Memphis is majority Black, and Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee called a special legislative session to consider a new congressional map after the U.S. Supreme Court last week weakened the Voting Rights Act’s protections against racial discrimination in redistricting.
Thursday’s legislative votes came amid protests at the state capitol, and after a walkout by Democrats.
State Rep. Justin Pearson, a Memphis Democrat, called the new district maps “racist tools of white supremacy” in House testimony.
Tennessee GOP lawmakers defended the new map, saying their goal is partisan, to send an all-Republican delegation to Washington, D.C.
President Trump has urged Tennessee and other GOP-led states to redraw their maps before this fall’s midterm elections, as part of his mid-decade redistricting push. Earlier Thursday, Tennessee Gov. Lee signed a bill that repealed a state law prohibiting mid-decade redistricting.
Republican lawmakers in other southern states, including Louisiana and Alabama, are moving to eliminate other majority-Black, Democratic-held districts in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision.
Before last week’s ruling, Republicans likely held a narrow lead in mid-decade redistricting — creating districts they can more easily flip to their side — by a few seats over Democratic counter-efforts. Now that lead could double, to perhaps six or seven seats. And that’s if a pro-Democratic redistricting measure approved by voters in Virginia holds up in state court.
With reporting by WPLN’s Marianna Bacallao
The Tennessee Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 6, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from May 6 drawing
18-27-51-65-68, Powerball: 05, Power Play: 3
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from May 6 drawing
03-06-07-18-49, Star Ball: 10, ASB: 05
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 3 numbers from May 6 drawing
Morning: 5-2-1, Wild: 2
Midday: 7-4-9, Wild: 9
Evening: 3-4-6, Wild: 9
Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 4 numbers from May 6 drawing
Morning: 2-3-3-2, Wild: 9
Midday: 4-8-8-6, Wild: 6
Evening: 9-7-9-6, Wild: 5
Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Daily Tennessee Jackpot numbers from May 6 drawing
09-12-16-18-36
Check Daily Tennessee Jackpot payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Tennessee Cash numbers from May 6 drawing
16-18-27-30-33, Bonus: 01
Check Tennessee Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from May 6 drawing
04-21-36-48-69, Powerball: 05
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 6 drawing
06-18-30-32-43, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Tennessee Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $599.
For prizes over $599, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Tennessee Lottery offices. By mail, send a winner claim form, winning lottery ticket, a copy of a government-issued ID and proof of social security number to P.O. Box 290636, Nashville, TN 37229. Prize claims less than $600 do not require a claim form. Please include contact information on prizes claimed by mail in the event we need to contact you.
To submit in person, sign the back of your ticket, fill out a winner claim form and deliver the form, along with the ticket and government-issued ID and proof of social security number to any of these locations:
Nashville Headquarters & Claim Center: 26 Century Blvd., Nashville, TN 37214, 615-254-4946 in the (615) and (629) area, 901-466-4946 in the (901) area, 865-512-4946 in the (865) area, 423-939-7529 in the (423) area or 1-877-786-7529 (all other areas in Tennessee). Outside Tennessee, dial 615-254-4946. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Knoxville District Office: Cedar Springs Shopping Center, 9298 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37922, (865) 251-1900. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $199,999.
Chattanooga District Office: 2020 Gunbarrel Rd., Suite 106, Chattanooga, TN 37421, (423) 308-3610. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $199,999.
Memphis District Office: Chiles Plaza, 7424 U.S. Highway 64, Suite 104, Memphis, TN 38133, (901) 322-8520. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $199,999.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at https://tnlottery.com/.
When are the Tennessee Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10:00 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
- Cash 3, 4: Daily at 9:28 a.m. (Morning) and 12:28 p.m. CT (Midday), except for Sunday. Evening game daily, seven days a week, at 6:28 p.m. CT.
- Daily Tennessee Jackpot: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
- Tennessee Cash: 10:34 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
- Powerball Double Play: 10:30 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Tennessean editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Tennessee’s redistricting special session Day 1 recap
State lawmakers returned to the capitol for a special session May 5 to consider carving Memphis into Republican-safe districts.
Tennessee House District 93 officially has someone in its briefly vacant seat.
Willis Lincoln TJ Hardaway III will hold the seat until the next general election in November. He has not made a decision as to if he will run officially for the seat yet, but will listen to the will of his constituents.
The house seat was formerly held by his father, State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, a Democrat from Memphis. Hardaway died on April 24. His death left the Tennessee House District 93 seat, which encompasses South Memphis and Orange Mound and stretches to Shelby Farms, open.
Hardaway was nominated by acclamation by the board. After he was nominated to the position, he spoke to commissioners and thanked all of them by name. He said he spent the last year spending a lot of time with his father, wanted to get to know him.
“This could not have been better timing. Last year, I spent various moments one on one with my father, for no other reason other than wanting to know more about the man…turns out I already knew the man because I already know myself,” Hardaway said.
He will travel to Nashville the evening of May 6 and be sworn in to office.
The Shelby County Commission moved swiftly to appoint someone to the seat due to the state legislature being called into a special session. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly to review the state’s congressional map on May 1, with the session beginning on May 5.
The push for redistricting Tennessee’s Congressional districts came from President Donald Trump, after the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back protections of the Voting Rights Act. The General Assembly was gaveled into the special session on May 5, which was also election day for many counties in Tennessee.
A map revealed the morning of May 6 splits the state’s 9th Congressional District and carves up Tennessee’s only majority-Black congressional seat, in Memphis. The new map shows three districts in Memphis, two of which stretch all the way to Williamson County outside Nashville.
Brooke Muckerman is the education and children’s issues and politics reporter for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at brooke.muckerman@commercialappeal.com.
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