Groups will receive USDA funding to continue training veterans to be farmers

Research shows that returning veterans have a hard time readjusting to rural life, but programs have been developed to help former soldiers learn about agriculture in the hopes they will someday replace the aging farming population. This year a coalition of groups who have been involved in those programs will receive help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency to try and establish new veteran farmers in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri.

The agency has provided the Farmer-Veteran Coalition, the Center for Rural Affairs and nine other partner organizations with money to continue agriculture programs for veterans. Kathie Starkweather of the Center for Rural Affairs told Nebraska Farmer that the economic and demographic challenges in rural America can be turned into opportunities for young veterans because older farmers who control most of the nation's farmland will be looking for ways to transition their land into younger hands.

This new wave of funding will help organizations teach veterans about financing, land access, business development, specialty crops, livestock, crop insurance, how to access resources for technical assistance, production, marketing information and mentoring through a series of educational workshops. Starkweather said the long-term goal of the project is that veterans will start and maintain their own farms. (Read more)