The Farm Ops project of the Cornell Small Farms Program provides expertise and community for veterans interested in agriculture across New York State.
Connecting veterans with the Armed to Farm conference is often a first step in providing agricultural training and farm tours. If veterans want to make the transition into farming, the Small Farms Program provides a central location to the program with Marine Veteran Dean Koyanagi heading up the Farm Ops program.
Credit: Lindsay France
Grants, workshops, reduced rates for online classes, regional networking, and other resources all aid veteran farmers throughout the state. A recent article in the Cornell Chronicle tells the stories of several veterans that have benefited from Farm Ops.
Logan Yarbrough, Army veteran, has a 40 acre goat farm in Brooktondale, NY. He knows he made a 30% profit margin after Farm Ops set him up with a free accounting consultation with Tompkins County CCE. Regional networking proved instrumental when from a simple forwarded email came with thousands of dollars of equipment from a retiring goat farmer in the area.
Retired U.S. Army colonel John Lemondes, of Chautauqua County, helped launch the New York chapter of the Farmer Veteran Coalition. This nonprofit assists veterans in land acquisition, financing, and other factors in agricultural operation.
Veterans can tap into both the Farmer Veteran Coalition and Cornell Small Farms Program Farm Ops when starting their farm.
Veterans often find farming a satisfying career; a high-risk, ever changing business requiring tough, hands-on labor is often a challenging and rewarding transition. Farm Ops has already trained over 800 veterans in the last three years and offer continuous support to veteran farmers.
In celebration of Veterans Day, a number of other news outlets reported on the work of our Farm Ops program. Read more:
- Cornell Farm Ops sets up NYS veterans for success, Cornell Chronicle
- Oneida Daily Dispatch.
- Finding New Farmers, The Highlands Current
- Farm Ops program gives veteran farmers a boost, Ithaca.com
- Learn how Army veterans are in the farming business thanks to Cornell program, Ithaca Journal
- This Veteran Learned the Value of American Wool in the Army. Now He’s Raising His Own Sheep, Civil Eats
- Working the Soil, Reconnecting to Life After Service, Spectrum News
- A journey from pain to purpose: A local veteran finds peace on a farm, WXXI News
- Military member mulls farm career, Watertown Daily Times
- From Rifles to Radishes: Cornell Program Helps Veterans Farm, Cornell Daily Sun
- Program helping veterans transition into farming, Rochester First
- See also My Twin Tiers
- Cornell Farm Ops program helps vets transition into farming, Local Syracuse
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