Programs help vets pursue farming
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » America’s military heroes quite often have difficulty transitioning to civilian jobs when their active-duty service is over.
A California-based program, which is expanding to New York, gives veterans an option by helping them launch careers in farming and agriculture.
The Farmer Veteran Coalition directs people to existing resources such as a Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund that has awarded more than $1.2 million in small grants to 270 veteran-farmers in 40 states.
“There are a number of organizations working at trying to get veterans started in agriculture,” said Fred Perrin, a Coalition board member and New York Farm Bureau director of member relations and field services. “The hope is that the Coalition will coordinate all of that activity.”
New York is one of several states in the process of organizing a formal Coalition chapter.
The initiative will be unveiled on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at the New York Veterans in Agriculture Conference, at the State Fairgrounds in Syracuse.
The event’s scheduled keynote speaker is Julia Shanks of Cambridge, Mass., a nationally prominent consultant who works with food and agricultural entrepreneurs to help them achieve and maintain financial sustainability.
She will share information about business accounting and planning. On her website, Shanks says effective bookkeeping is the “backbone of understanding your business, tell your story and managing your growth. With the right tools and coaching, even the most math-phobic entrepreneurs can manage by the numbers.”
Conference attendees will also hear from the Coalition’s national executive director, Michael Gorman, who founded the program 10 years ago, along with state agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball and state Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Pattie Ritchie, R-St. Lawrence County.
The Nov. 29 conference is set for 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. followed by a reception from 4:30-6 p.m.
Registration, which costs $25, closes on Nov. 15. Partial scholarships are available for military veterans on an as needed basis. For information call Dean Koyanagi at 607-255-9911 or email: drk5@cornell.edu.
The Farmer Veteran Coalition’s New York chapter is one of several efforts taking place to help veterans pursue careers in agriculture.
Recently, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced $250,000 in funding for a new program called the Veterans Farmer Grant Fund, which supports farms owned and operated by military veterans.
The initiative will provide grants of up to $50,000 for up to 50 percent of eligible project costs. To qualify, at least 50 percent of the farm business must be owned, operated and controlled by a veteran, as defined in the program guidelines. The farm must also have a minimum of $10,000 in farm income. However, the program is not limited to beginning farmers.
The deadline for applications is Jan. 26, 2018. For information including online applications, log on to esd.ny.gov.
“There are a number of organizations working at trying to get veterans started in agriculture.” — Fred Perrin, a Coalition board member and New York Farm Bureau director of member relations and field services