Have you thought of starting a farm, and are you a veteran? Veterans have the opportunity to work the land with Farmer Veteran Coalition. It’s a large nonprofit organization that assisted Veterans with their careers in agriculture. Army Veteran Jon Jackson, who was deployed twice to Iraq and 4 times to Afghanistan is currently taking advantage of the program.
In order to get started Jon Jackson went to the coalition to look for grants. He trusted the coalition and its integrity to get him connected with the proper grants and other veterans for the experience.
Jon wanted to open a barbecue but quickly realized that he needed access to pigs as well. He looked for programs to learn about the agricultural industry. In doing so he soon realized that there were no programs to help him out. He then created his own. He got started on
the AG Tech Success program. It’s a collaborative effort from Central Georgia Technical Collect, Fort Valley State University, and the group STAG Vets, INC. This new program is working on training Veterans in food and Agricultural production with a hands-on model. The program is 17 weeks. During which veterans receive hands-on training in production, and management, and marketing in small- scale food production.
Jon Jackson’s farm is in Milledgeville, Georgia named Comfort Farms, after a fallen fellow ranger Army Capt. Kyle A. Comfort. Jackson had a tough time processing what had happened in the war. During his mental crisis, Jon started in a peer-to-peer program. They worked together on the land, and through that work together on a lot of issues.
Jackson now holds team-building events, back- yard cookoffs, and competitions between veteran teams. Jackson states, that if a veteran is thinking about starting a farm, the best way to learn is to start volunteering at farms. He ex- plains that it is important to try different types of farming to see what you like best, and also realize that after 10 years of farming you will still be a beginner.
