What seemed at first like a routine flooding event quickly turned catastrophic for farmers living along the Nolichucky River in Washington County, including Will Runion and his fiancée Holly Davis of Limestone, who were caught in the path of Hurricane Helene in September 2024.

“It had rained for days, and we had been closely watching the river levels,” Holly recalls. “The morning of the flood, we knew the water was already high, and more rain was forecast. We drove down to the field along the back riverbank to evaluate the situation and try to move equipment and building supplies to safety. But within moments, water came rushing across the field behind us. Our focus immediately shifted from saving equipment to our own safety as we tried to make it through the fast-moving water that had suddenly surrounded us.”

The couple was forced to drive through rushing floodwaters nearly four-feet deep and approximately 20-feet wide to escape.

That wall of water, and the flooding that followed, swept away two of Will’s tractors and hay equipment and even one of his expectant Angus cows. It engulfed a 31-site campground that Will and Holly had begun establishing for an agritourism event venue two years ago, along with an old home they were saving to renovate for a camp store. After the storm, which officials referred to as a 5,000-year flood, a portion of Will’s once-thriving hay fields was covered in high water.

“It didn’t just flood,” says Will, a customer of Washington Farmers Cooperative who raises Angus cattle and approximately 350 acres of hay. “It ripped the soil down to the sand!”

Following the disaster, Will, a former public veterinarian, began struggling to clean up the 625-acre farm he has lived on since 2018 with assistance from neighbor Marlon Stotzpas, a local contractor, and other volunteers. Will rented 10 pieces of heavy equipment and began the arduous process of recovery, but was soon overwhelmed. Will contacted Dr. Bruno Pedreira, UT Extension Forage Specialist and Associate Professor, who also serves as the Director of the UT Beef & Forage Center. After understanding the case’s severity, Bruno contacted Dr. Forbes Walker, professor at UT's Institute of Agriculture and an environmental soil specialist for UT Extension. They soon formed a UT Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) Hurricane Flood Recovery Initiative Team of eight knowledgeable soil scientists and specialists made up of experts in soil, forages, crops, economics, streambank stabilization, and water quality. They have worked since the storm to develop solutions for families, farms, and communities hurt by the catastrophic flooding.

Not only did UTIA get involved, but many others quickly stepped forward to help, including the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative Foundation (TFCF). Through the Foundation, more than $64,500 was distributed in the form of $500 grants to 129 affected farmer patrons in the service areas of Greene Farmers Cooperative, Washington Farmers Cooperative, Jefferson Farmers Cooperative, and Smoky Mountain Farmers Cooperative. In addition, donations poured in from across the Co-op trade area, including support from local Co-ops, joint venture companies, and vendors. These contributions included much-needed farm supplies such as steel fence posts, feed, and other essential items to help farmers begin the recovery process.

All in all, teams and volunteers from all over the country moved more than 7,000 loads of sand at the Runion farm to rebuild fields, redistributing deep six-foot sand drifts, filling eroded areas, and attempting to reconstruct soil profiles while working in hazardous, mud-bound conditions. The resulting work of the newly formed Flood Recovery Team yielded promising results, along with new techniques that researchers believe will help others affected by the disaster. Several other farms in the area are part of the ongoing projects to reclaim and restore what used to be productive pasture, crop, and hayfields while addressing the future with better-managed streambanks and excess water management.

This research led to the Extension Agent Only Inservice Training event held at the Runion farm on May 12th. The event was a collaborative effort by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture and North Carolina State University. Specialists showcased the work that began and is expected to continue for another two years on the property. They shared the latest research and practical strategies for pasture recovery, riverbank stabilization, and forage land reclamation. Topics included soil reclamation techniques, riverbank stabilization methods, and forage quality improvement research.

The training was sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture, the Governor’s Response and Recovery Fund from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

“I want to thank Will, Holly, Ivey [Will’s daughter], and Rigo [Will’s farmhand], who have been hosting us since last September,” said Bruno as he welcomed attendees to the training event. “We want to share what we’ve been doing and what we’ve learned — how we planned, recovered the stream bank areas, and took samples. We are learning with Will as we go along.”

The group walked through a former pasture of small grains, which was now a field of thick, sandy soil sparkling with riverbed mineral deposits, to the first tour stop. Along with Bruno and Forbes, three UT graduate students — Hunter Armstrong, Ali Bledsoe, and Gustavo de Carvalho Costa — each discussed their research and pasture recovery findings in their three trials. They used different soil amendments in both sandy and silty soils, various companion plantings of forage, and alternative establishment methods, all of which addressed the challenge of re-establishing grass in damaged areas.

“That's probably our biggest challenge in terms of recovering pasture is to make sure that we can grow grass in this place again,” said Bruno.

Afterward, the group traveled to another section of the farm where Linus Parrish, a research specialist in the UT Department of Plant Sciences, highlighted a 25-acre pasture recovery demonstration plot that was once a field of Bermuda grass and highlighted the work done there, followed by a visit to the eroded stream bank where Dr. Andrea Ludwig, stormwater specialist, and Dr. Emine Fidan, water resources engineering professor at UT, spoke about how they are restoring the stream bank and their ongoing monitoring of the soil and water quality.

The tour concluded with an informal discussion around lunch, where David Davis, an Extension leader from Yancy County in North Carolina, and Dr. Benjamin Rajos of North Carolina State University’s Waynesville Mountain Research Station, related their experiences from the disaster on the other side of the mountain and expressed hope that some of these techniques might be helpful for their flood-stricken communities.

David shared that his area suffered the highest per capita damages, including the loss of more than 5,000 structures and 2,000 homes and complete loss of soil in some river bottom fields, leaving farmers without usable land, forcing an initial focus on human relief, hay and feed distribution, and keeping farms in business. David secured grants, adopted drone sensing for annual forages, and began helping farmers rebuild fields dominated by sand and rock, while addressing extensive forage loss and heightened wildfire risk.

Despite these interventions, many farmers remain far from recovery, he said. He hopes that some of the techniques discussed will help those affected, but time is not on their side. Broader pressures continue to pose risks. Farmland is rapidly being converted to housing, and the area is experiencing soaring land prices even after the disaster. FEMA buyouts and a shift from secondary homes and short-term rentals to permanent residences intensify the risk of losing agricultural land even as most farmers tenaciously cling to their land and their way of life.

“Every community, every little stream was affected,” David said. “We had over 200 landslides. There are places where there is nothing left but rocks — how can you farm there?”

“I’m also a farmer,” he added. “Before the flood, we had 24 acres of vegetables. This year, we’re down to six. It’s hard for farmers to start over. It’s rough trying to get these layers of soil warm again and back in production. But there are a few mountain folks like me who are just too daggone stubborn to give up. We say, ‘My grandfather farmed this piece of property, and there’s no way I’m letting it go!’ We’re just doing what we can to get going again.”

“That’s why I think these trials are important,” he adds optimistically. “Just getting the database results can work both ways. The results will show what works or what’s probably not worth the effort next time. We’re getting back to basics.

“After the flood, I went out and bought a $7,000 plot planter to put cover crops in our vegetable fields. I drone-seeded crimson clover and then took that plot planter after it was tilled up a little bit and went back in and sowed some wheat over the top and kinda pressed the crimson clover in. It was really late in the season, probably around November 1st, but that was the best cover crop I’ve ever had.”

Though the road to recovery is long, the lessons learned at the Runion farm are already shaping a more resilient future for agriculture across the region. With continued research, support, and the unwavering spirit of farmers, these once-devastated fields may again thrive.