Appointed the first superintendent of the Milan Experiment Station (now Research and Education Center at Milan) shortly after it was established in 1962, McCutchen is called the “Father of Tennessee No-Till” (no-till is a term applied to an environmentally friendly crop-growing system. No-till farmers avoid disturbing the soil in their fields any more than is necessary. They leave the plant materials from the harvested crops in the field to provide a protective blanket.)
McCutchen received the BS in dairy in 1949 and an MS in agricultural extension in 1965. During his life, he amassed a very large collection of vintage farm implements and artifacts that provided the nucleus of the collection of the West Tennessee Agricultural Museum, which was rededicated the Tom C. McCutchen Agricultural Museum in 1996.