Armed to farm: Soldiering the success of military veterans in new poultry, livestock and agroforestry enterprises

Authors: WRIGHT, SARAH - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS; ARSI, KOMALA - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS; MANNING, LAUREN - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS; Donoghue, Ann - Annie; HALE, MARGO - NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL STATE UNIVERSITY; SPENCER, TERRELL - ACROSS THE CREEK FARM; O'GORMAN, MICHAEL - FARMER-VETERAN COALITION; GOLD, MICHAEL - UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI; Burke, Joan; DONOGHUE, DAN - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS; FANATICO, ANNE - APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY; ENGLISH, HENRY - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT PINE BLUFF

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/9/2017
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Farming offers a viable avenue for returning veterans to transition into society and capitalizes on skills that made them successful in the military. The goal of this project is to develop and expand on a personalized comprehensive/integrated educational program that provides military veterans and beginning farmers with relevant information and practical skills to succeed in agricultural enterprises. Through on-farm workshops, internship opportunities, on-line education and networking opportunities, we have served over 300 individuals face-to-face and over 30,000 on-line with this project. As more programs develop for veterans in agricultural disciplines, lessons learned from our partnership with veterans may be beneficial to those working with this population of farmers.

Technical Abstract: Farming offers a viable avenue for returning veterans to transition into society and capitalizes on skills that made them successful in the military. The goal of this project is to develop and expand on a personalized comprehensive/integrated educational program that provides military veterans and beginning farmers with relevant information and practical skills to succeed in agricultural enterprises. The objectives of the program are to: 1) Enhance existing course materials and add training modules to our New Farmer Online Training Program and develop customized materials specific to veterans; 2) Provide experiential opportunities including Armed to Farm Workshops and trainings, on-farm demonstration and internships; and 3) Develop and expand on networking and mentoring opportunities to effectively support a new generation of farmers. During the lifetime of this project, over 300 participants were impacted through on-farm, face-to-face workshops, and conferences. Additionally, >30,000 participants have accessed our online training program. Farmer participants increased knowledge through multiple hands-on workshops. The annual Agroforestry Academy focuses on agroforestry practices through a week long, hands-on education through agroforestry practices. Other workshops include on-farm training focusing on sustainable livestock production held at a working farms in the northwest corner of Arkansas. Over 140 veterans were sponsored through our program to attend the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group conferences and several others attended networking sessions focused on veteran farmers’ needs. To date, our military-veteran farmer mentors have hosted more than 12 on-farm interns with >6000 internship hours logged. We hope to continue our work with beginning, and veteran farmers in the future. We see a strong need for adding an intensive focus on the beef industry through grass-fed cattle and rotational grazing practices. As more programs develop for veterans in agricultural disciplines, lessons learned from our partnership with veterans may be beneficial to those working with this population of farmers. Funded by USDA-NIFA-BFRDP 2014-07424