For 45 years, cattleman Terry Holt has started his mornings the same way — climbing into his truck, driving to the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and loading up on the leftover mash from whiskey-making.
That slop, a thick, nutrient-rich blend of corn and grain, has been a quiet but vital link between the world’s best-selling whiskey and the local farms that surround it. For decades, it kept feed costs low, cattle healthy, and waste out of landfills.
“I’ve been at it 365 days multiplied by 45,” Holt told local outlet News Channel 5 [1]. “I don’t miss a day hauling my slop. It’s that important to me.” That daily trip will soon end. Starting next spring, Jack Daniel’s will halt its Cow Feeder Program, cutting off free or low-cost access to distillers’ grain that hundreds of local farmers depend on.
Jack Daniels says its waste will now be redirected to Three Rivers Energy, a renewable energy firm that will convert the material into biogas and fertilizer.
To the distillery, it’s a sustainability win — one that aligns with corporate pledges to cut emissions and reduce landfill use. Jack Daniel’s produces as much as 500,000 gallons of spent grain per day, and transforming it into energy makes environmental and business sense.
But for Holt and his neighbors, that change isn’t just inconvenient, it’s potentially catastrophic. Of the 500,000 gallons, farmers currently haul away approximately 300,000 gallons — the same 300,000 gallons planned to be reallocated to Three Rivers Energy.
Without that steady feed supply, farmers face higher costs and tighter margins at a time when drought and inflation have already cut deep.
“All I know is that’s gonna destroy us,” Holt said.
According to the USDA, nearly 90% of farms in Moore County are livestock operations [2]. For many, the Cow Feeder Program wasn’t a bonus, it was a backbone. The distillery’s slop was protein-rich and plentiful, allowing small farms to feed their herds without paying sky-high commercial feed prices.
Now, with feed costs already elevated nationwide, up nearly 10-20% since 2021 [3] losing this free supply will hit small operators the hardest.
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Some local farmers have already begun selling off herds or listing their land. Others fear their businesses won’t survive into next year.
Holt, who once worked at Jack Daniel’s before retiring to farm full-time, says the decision feels personal. It’s like the company that built its brand on small-town Tennessee values is turning its back on its own roots.
“Jack Daniel’s grew up with the people here,” he said. “You’ve used those images to grow, and now you wanna take that image and go away with it.”
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The company, owned by Louisville-based Brown-Forman, says the move was not sudden, and not heartless. In a statement, Jack Daniel’s said it began notifying farmers about the change back in 2022 and spent “years of careful consideration” evaluating options.
They suggest they realize the change is significant. “We remain dedicated to our neighbors as we adapt to this new era.”
The company argues the shift is essential to meet global environmental goals and maintain its ability to sell whiskey internationally.
The new anaerobic digester facility built by Three Rivers Energy will help the distillery meet sustainability and emissions standards, while generating renewable energy from waste that would otherwise go unused.
Jack Daniel’s says it’s protecting its long-term future, even if that means risking connection with a local tradition that helped define the brand for decades.
The move illustrates a growing tension in rural America: corporate sustainability goals versus local survival.
From Midwestern ethanol producers to California dairies, similar transitions are unfolding as companies seek to monetize their waste or cut emissions, often displacing long-standing community relationships in the process.
And while Moore County’s economy has long revolved around the distillery, which draws tourists from around the world, that loyalty doesn’t pay the feed bill.
Jack Daniel’s decision may be financially and environmentally sound from a corporate standpoint, but it’s left locals questioning what ‘neighborly’ means in an era of global sustainability targets.
Holt and his fellow farmers aren’t asking for handouts, just for the distillery to remember the people who helped it grow.
“I pray that what words I use today, it will touch the hearts of someone out there,” he said, “because I tell you, it will absolutely destroy our little town.”
For Moore County, this isn’t just a fight over cattle feed. It’s a lesson in what happens when a hometown success story outgrows its roots — and the people who helped it rise are left paying the price.
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