WASHINGTON, D.C. — Service members leaving the military and transitioning to civilian life will now all receive information on careers in agriculture and farming as part of their exit training, according to USDA Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden and Dr. Susan Kelly, director of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Transition to Veterans Program Office.
"Rural America disproportionately sends its sons and daughters to serve in the military. When Service members return home, we want them to know that rural America has a place for them, no matter where they’re from," said Harden.
"This expanded collaboration between USDA and DOD will help to ensure that returning service members know that there are a wide variety of loans, grants, training and technical assistance for veterans who are passionate about a career in agriculture, no matter their experience level."
Every year, approximately 200,000 men and women complete the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) as they return to civilian life. It will now contain information on resources and programs available through USDA to help veterans establish a future in agriculture.
According to Dylan Thomas of Marcellus, Mich., who served eight years as a combat veteran, the TAP – for most veterans – is something to just be checked off the to-do list prior to leaving the service.
"Most of us go and don’t really pay attention," he said. "But when agriculture is mentioned, a bunch of redneck military guys perk up and pay attention."
With or without a farm background, agriculture resonates as a possibility among transitioning rural veterans.
Thomas grew up on a cattle ranch in Tennessee. Upon leaving the military, he and his wife, Abbi, moved to her hometown of Marcellus. With a sense that job opportunities awaited them because of the skills, discipline, commitment and adaptability learned in the service, Thomas went looking for a job as a civilian.
Within two years of leaving the military, he had worked in eight different jobs. After landing a job on a farm, he began to sense a purpose in his work again and the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) he was left with eased, if only a little. "There is something about sitting in a tractor and watching the sun go down, and keep working until the sun comes up because there is work to be done. Something happens between sunup and sundown.
"There is magical power in dirt and its grittiness. There is something calming about it and you get a feeling there is a reason for what you are doing. There is no medication that can give you a cool breeze and the same feeling. It is 100 percent a God thing."
Thomas said the DOD is always looking to help veterans. Many of them know and understand the power of connectedness to the land he describes, but must be cautious in the words they choose. He was part of a 25-member veteran committee that met with Secretary Tom Vilsack and Harden in June that helped formulate the plan and tone set by the new policy.
Adam Ingrao, PhD candidate at Michigan State University and a combat veteran, is part of a group working to bring a chapter of the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) to the state. "We help our veterans navigate the FVC Fellowship application process and answer questions about the application in a vet-to-vet setting," he said. "We have two current FVC Fellowship recipients working with Michigan Integrated Food and Farming Systems that offer their expertise and experience with the FVC Fellowship program, for free to Michigan farmer-veterans."
The FVC also helps veterans find and access opportunities for financing through USDA, Greenstone Farm Credit and other sources to establish a home and sustainable business in agriculture.
