Once again, veterans are taking up the call for our country as farmers.
How Veteran Farmers Make a Difference
Once again, veterans are taking up the call for our country as farmers. Veterans are once again taking up the call for our country as veteran farmers. Some veterans chose to live a quiet life, feeling the breeze, growing crops, raising horses, cows, pastured pigs, and chickens. They have found a vocation that allows him to apply the problem-solving skills that he honed in the military.
Their lives are completely different from the one they grew accustomed to in the military.
Their lives are completely different from the one they grew accustomed to in the military. Some aren’t lucky enough to adjust. For thousands of veterans, farming has become that new life: an occupation that is saving both them and agriculture.
Currently, there are more than 23 million veterans in the United States. When their service ends and their tours are over, veterans often have no place to turn. They are more likely to be unemployed than both civilians and veterans of prior conflicts.
Some veterans educate themselves on how to farm using the internet.
U.S. farmers over the age of 55 control more than half the country’s farmland. The median age of American farmers is almost 60 and is continuing to rise. Some are retiring, and no one is taking their place.
Bennett, owner of Bennett Farms in Edwardsburg, Michigan, has always had an enthusiasm for agriculture. Growing up, he liked farmers — something that might have had to do with the cow his neighbors raised, he says. Bennett knew that he wouldn’t be a Marine forever, so midway through his tour, he used the internet to educate himself on how to farm.
It’s necessary to let consumers know where their food comes from.
Now, he owns 20 acres on which he raises hogs and chickens. He says it’s necessary to let consumers know where their food comes from, and he wants to help erase the negative stereotype that a lot of people have about farmers. By having an open-door policy, consumers learn about his growing practices.
The farmer/veteran movement got an enormous boost with the 2014 Farm Bill.
The farmer/veteran movement got an enormous boost with the 2014 Farm Bill. Under the Farm Bill, the USDA, for the first time, assigned veterans as a distinguished class of beginning farmers, allowing them access to low-interest rate loans to buy animals and equipment. It also allows them to apply for grants to upgrade their farm and can assist them in receiving extra payments to achieve conservation practices on their land.
According to Erin Kimbrough, program coordinator for Battleground to Breaking Ground, a program at Texas A&M, the Farm Bill has a huge impact. It gave a high priority to helping veterans get into farming.
Why do some veterans gravitate to cultivation
Why do some veterans gravitate to cultivation?
Jordan, owner of Circle J Ranch in Woodlawn, Tennessee, said that creating something from nothing is one of the best things in farming. You plant a seed and watch it grow. You take a chicken, use its eggs and make an omelet.
Most veterans believe that farming has a symbolic relation to the military’s trials and tribulations. Also, it has a calming antidote to years of stressful situations. For them, agriculture is rewarding hands-on work, in that you get to see actual ‘fruits’ of your labor in the finished product.
Homegrown By Heroes
FARMING SAVED VET'S LIVES
According to a 2016 report by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, an average of 20 veterans a day die from suicide. The VA also states that as many as one in five veterans returned from Iraq with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
People believe that farming saves lives. According to Stith, who worked in the prevention of veteran suicide, that vets who have transitioned to agriculture life seem to be doing very well and are satisfied. Kimbrough echoes Stith’s sentiments.
Many vets get a renewed purpose from farming.
Kimbrough also said that many vets get a renewed purpose from farming. Nine-to-five jobs don’t suit a lot of them, and agriculture is restorative. It’s a place they can find peace.
USDA programs such as Homegrown By Heroes have gone a long way toward giving veteran farmers a fighting chance in the farming business. It is now a nationwide service available to farmers, ranchers, fishers, and value-added producers who own 50 percent or more of a company or operation and are veterans of the armed forces. Vets take pride in this program.
Homegrown By Heroes project
The Homegrown By Heroes project, which is indicated by a circular emblem consisting of a silhouette of a saluting soldier in front of the American flag, supports farmers by branding their products and giving them marketing assistance.
“Farming is 90 percent marketing, and Homegrown By Heroes lets everyone know that a veteran did this, something we take pride in.”, Bennet says.
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