Cathy Isom tells us about a first of its kind program for Veterans looking for careers in farming. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Preparing Veterans for Ag Careers
Veterans looking to transition into Agriculture careers are undergoing a special mission in New York State called Farm Ops.
we realize that Veterans represent a really amazing population of individuals who have a tremendous skill set that is very translatable to careers in agriculture.
Funding in Farm Ops comes in part from USDA’s beginning farmers and ranchers program. In addition there is an intense one-week training course for Veterans interested in ag careers called Arm to Farm.
Arm to Farm is a collaboration with National Center for Appropriate Technology which is a USDA organization.
The end goal for many participants of both programs is to own and operate their own farms.
From: Cornell University FARM OPS
Veterans often encounter unique obstacles when considering entering into farming. There are over 800,000 military veterans in New York State, but they exist in
To enhance the resources and training available to military veterans interested in farming, we will team with established Veterans groups to:
• Create a statewide service provider network for organizations to support agriculture training for veterans
• Implement multiple education strategies to engage and train military/ veterans who want to farm