Jimmy Tosh
Jimmy Tosh is the owner and CEO of Tosh Farms and Tosh Pork. Tosh Farms is a crop and swine production operation with 18,000 acres of row crops producing soybeans, canola, wheat, barley, white and yellow corn, and rapeseed. Tosh Pork currently has 38,000 sows. Sows are primarily company owned with about 70% of the wean to finish contracted. Trucking is done by Bacon By Gosh, a Tosh owned company.
Jimmy has been married to his wife Alonna since 1978 and together they have two sons, Jamey and Jonathan, both of whom are involved in the business. He is a lifelong resident of Henry County, Tennessee. He developed an interest in agriculture at a young age, following in his father’s footsteps. After graduating from Henry High School, he attended the University of Tennessee at Martin and received his BS in Animal Science in 1972. After graduating, he returned home and took over the family business. Since that time, he has worked hard to expand the business from a farm of 316 acres with a small feeder pig finishing unit to the top 26 largest swine operation in the United States. Jimmy is devoted to his profession and the Henry community which is evident by his involvement in many community activities including the local fair, Tennessee Pork Producers Association, Soybean Association, Corn Growers Association, Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Relay for Life, Second Harvest, 21st Century, and others. He is frequently consulted by key agriculture policymakers in Tennessee. Education is a priority at Tosh Farms, and Jimmy has made many scholarships available to area youth and farm employees as well as sponsoring an ongoing scholarship for students at Murray State University.
Jimmy was honored to have been named the Star Farmer of West Tennessee in his FFA days. He was also selected as the Regional Farmer of the Year and the Southeast Farmer of the Year in 1998. Additionally, Tosh Farms was awarded the Best Managed Farm in America in 1997.
Jimmy has always been an innovator. He was the first to offer swine contracts in this area. He recognized the movement toward large pen gestation and installed one of the first such units in the United States in 2005.
Jimmy’s goal is best stated in the mission statement of Tosh Farms:
“Tosh Farms will be a leading producer of pork and grain by adoption of technology, equipment, and programs that will place our efficiency in the top tier of the industry. Profitability, quality of our production, environmental awareness, and attention to our human resources will be the measurements of our success.”