The Farmer Veteran Coalition is now seven years old and continues its mission to help bring veterans into farming.
At a recent event in Columbia, Mo., hosted by the Farmer Veteran Coalition and the Missouri Farmers Union, veterans learned about beginning farming opportunities.
Richard Oswald, Missouri Farmers Union President, says there was a lot of interest in Niman Ranch which has a low initial investment for raising hogs.
“Niman also helps the veterans helps them finance their gilts so they don’t have a whole lot of money tied up when they start out. Of course, Niman doesn’t want you raising those hogs in confinement, necessarily. You can grow them in a pasture if you want to, so that means they have a really low start-up cost as far as having to buy any expensive installations.”
The USDA’s Farm Service Agency is a partner, too. Oswald says, “FSA had a lot to say about beginning farmer loans they could make and real estate loans that people could get into without down payments.”
The National Farmers Union and American Farm Bureau Federation are among the partners in the Farmer Veteran coalition which sponsors the Homegrown by Heroes marketing program.
Source: www.brownfieldagnews.com