In the ring: Mike Rogan to mark 49 years showing cattle at Appalachian Fair

ROGERSVILLE — As the Appalachian Fair marks its centennial year of existence, one of its longtime award-winning cattle show exhibitors will reach a record of showing cattle at the fair for 49 of those 100 years. However, the roots of his family cattle farm pre-date the regional fair in Gray, founded in 1926, by seven years. On the way toward his 49th year of exhibiting at the fair, 72-year-old Hawkins County Farmer Mike Rogan has won multiple awards at Gray and other fairs, including large national shows, and sold breeding stock from Rogan Hereford Farm, also known as Rogan Farm. The operation began when his grandfather bought land east of Rogersville in 1919 near what is known as Dead Man's Curve on the old two-lane U.S. Highway 11W. Today, he and his sister, Ada Rogan, own the farm where they manage the cattle operation. She lives in the family homeplace on the original farm, he lives about four miles away with his wife, Carol. "Rogan Farm is what it is known as," Rogan said in a recent morning interview. He said it actually is two farms totaling about 400 acres, supporting at any given time about 100 cattle. "My grandfather purchased it in 1919," Rogan said of the original 144 acres. He and his sister own that acreage and more acreage he acquired over the years. "I've been involved in cattle my whole life and started showing in 1977," Rogan said. "It will be my 49th straight year" showing in Gray. Rogan said his grandfather used to show at a former Hawkins County Fair in the 1930s. The grandfather, Frederick Heiskell Rogan, also known as F. H., died in 1950. Rogan said his late father, one-time Pontiac car dealer Lance Rogan, raised cattle but did not do shows. In the 1930s, he said only Hereford and Angus cattle were raised in the United State for show. AWARDS "I don't know how many," Rogan said when asked the number of awards he and the farm have won. "We've shown all over the country." In 2013, Rogan Farm bull Endurance was named a two-time national champion in American Hereford Association competitions. Of the five national competitions that year, Endurance won in two, the North American Show in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Keystone Show in Pennsylvania. "Those trophies are made by the same people who make the Oscars," Rogan said Aug. 3. Richard Watson bought half an interest in Endurance, Rogan recalled. "That's a pretty bid deal, a little farm in East Tennessee winning a big show," Rogan said in a later interview Friday, July 31, before he headed out to put up day that day. A fair official said Rogan is, to his knowledge, the longest-continually showing cattle exhibitor still active with the Gray fair. Rogan said that Blake Barding of the Whitesburg area, in Hamblen County near its border with Hawkins County in the Saint Clair community, showed cattle at the Gray fair for 58 years. Barding died at 86 on July 23. "I can't think of anybody else that would be close to Mike Rogan in the beef industry" in longevity after Barding's death, said Mark Cunningham, superintendent of livestock for the fair and vice president of the fair Board of Directors. FUTURE Rogan said he hopes to pass along the operation to a future generation. His daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter live in Knoxville. "The number of cattle has kind of decreased over the years. It's just gotten so expensive over the years and time consuming, too," Rogan said. As for shows, he said that was additional work, although he added that the work can pay off because he sells cattle based on publicity and wins at the Gray fair. He said Hawkins County probably has 10 or fewer cattle breeding farms similar to his. "Ninety percent of the work is before the show," Rogan said of caring for and preparing cattle for show. "There's just not as many people raising cattle anymore," he said. "Farms are getting smaller and being subdivided." Cattle shows at fairs also have decreased as some fairs, he said, although he said the Gray fair still has a good number of exhibitors. "It kind of dwindled away," he said of cattle shows at many other fairs. He used to show at fairs in Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, North Carolina, Kentucky and other locations in the Southeast. He said the heyday, at least for him, was in the 1980s and 1990s. "I used to do a lot of shows. Gray is the only one I go to now," Rogan said. "I enjoy the Appalachian Fair. I see a of of people I know." For a fair the size of Gray, Rogan said it still does well for cattle and all livestock showing and still counts for points in awards from the Hereford association. Youth exhibitors in 4-H and FFA also get a taste of showing cattle and livestock, he said. SUPERINTENDENT'S THOUGHTS Cunningham said that livestock in general and cattle in particular have fallen off in some fairs but that being a regional Northeast Tennessee fair instead of a single-county fair helps the Appalachian Fair draw livestock and cattle showers from not just the Tri-Cities but other parts of Tennessee as well as Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and Mississippi. He said the fair most years draws about 100 cattle to its shows and about 180 sheep, mainly because showing sheep is less expensive because of their small size and lower diesel fuel costs, smaller vehicles needed to transport them and lower feed costs because of their smaller size. Still, he said the cattle shows at Gray allow breeders, including Rogan, to sell their cattle to a "huge audience of potential buyers" than they otherwise they could reach. "There's definitely not as many participants as it used to be," said Cunningham, who used to show cattle and has family members who still do. In the past, Cunningham, and Rogan said fairs began as competitions for the best livestock and produce from farms, first at county levels and then sometimes at regional and even state fairs. ROGAN TRIVIA: ROBBERY, PHARMACIES, ALABAMA, ROAD TO KENTUCKY Rogan's sister, Ada, has some local notoriety from being the teller on duty at the bank in the Hawkins County municipality of Surgoinsville when a man robbed it the 1960s. No one was injured, and the culprit was caught and convicted. He said she worked 51 years at that bank location and one in Rogersville, a span during which it changed names/ownership seven times. Also, Rogan used to be the pharmacist in Surgoinsville and later bought the Church Hill Drug Store from his brother and operated the pharmacy there. In addition, Rogan in the past has shown cattle at the Appalachian Fair alongside Randy Owen, the lead singer for the country band Alabama from Fort Payne, Alabama, and his family. Owen still operates a 3,000-acre cattle farm there. Cunningham said that Owen's daughter technically showed the cattle at Gray and that his granddaughter today is an active shower nationally but no longer at Gray. Rogan recalled that Owen and his wife came by the Gray fair for six or seven years. "They would stop at Gray and show at the Kentucky State Fair," Rogan said. One last thing: Rogan may not shoot for 51 years showing like his sister did with banking. Thus, Rogan said he may retire from showing Herefords after the 101st Gray fair in 2027, which would mark his 50th anniversary showing at the fair.