Jerry Ireland, Executive Director of the Farmer Veteran Coalition ; 361 Nickerson Rd. Swanville ME 207-322-7625
www.farmvetco.org
Jerry comes from an 80 acre diversified farm. FVC is national group that started 9 years ago to recruit veterans into Agriculture. Maine has first chartered chapter in the country. Three other states are now chartered as well. We are leading the charge across the country.
Nationally, FVC is inclusive of all veterans of all eras. We are inclusive of all farming types.
I came from Lincoln and left for 20 years. I came back to Swanville and had never farmed in my life. (4 generations before me did). Cowbell used today has sat in the barn 60 years.
The FVC bring benefits to veterans and veterans bring benefits as well. I feel very passionate that our veterans will make a great difference in Agriculture.
This past week was our first week at the Maine Agricultural Trade Show. As a result, our membership went from 125 to 230 members. Many vets are out there and this brought them together and allowed them to be proud of what they have done in the military and in agriculture.
We are focused on mentorship. We are geared towards partnerships. We are not duplicating what already exists. As Veterans, we can bring something to the table.
A lot of our skills were things we learned in the military. We want to be 100% happy with our job and these skills make it work. If you tell a vet they can’t do something, they will get it done. I think a lot of positive things can be done. My perspective is to grow Agriculture and make growth happen.
We are working with Good Shepherd, and doing tours of their facilities, to discuss their plan to grow. Their new facility will need to bring on 50 more farms.
Part of the roadblock is wholesale costs are lower if you sell to them, unless it is seen as a cause. We don’t come with preconceived ideas.
A veteran just purchased a farm, would she consider growing an acre of carrots for Good Shepherd, building it in the beginning of her planning?
We are also trying to come up with creative ideas. We have hog raisers who might benefit from leftover food. We might sell to Good Shepherd at a lower cost and maybe recover some of those costs through things like using their leftover food for hogs. The feeling of contributing to the community is important to us.
There is lots of opportunity in Aroostook and Washington Counties. My opinion is that many veterans are not on the census. Many don’t register with Togus or other typical Veteran groups. MFT has an initiative for pushing Washington County. The Sunrise County Economic Council is pushing as well. There is a system set up for vets in their last year of their 20 year commitment called the TAPS Program. This is what I do, I recruit military people who are in this last year before retirement and try to help and entice them to come to Maine to farm.
Maine doesn’t have a base installation anymore. I paint Maine as the Bahamas for military retirement and farming. Retirement of military personnel to ME would benefit all.
I am working with one farmer. He has looked at Washington County and now it is getting close to his decision. Income wise, retirees have good benefits and in the County, they also could have a good opportunity, especially if we can recruit 20 or more farms to Maine.
Veterans bring leadership, a want to farm, and since they have retirement benefits, they are looking for prime real estate for developing new farms. My job is to sell these personnel on the East Coast.
At the Agricultural Trade Show, a Korean veteran had farmed for 61 years. He is looking to pass his business to another veteran. We have a dozen of those scenarios in Aroostook right now. Many others stopped at the booth and volunteered land at the Trade Show.
We have a huge opportunity to expand Agriculture and good veterans in our state. They are excited to be part of this. We do a lot with education.
The Patriot Project with American Farm Bureau will be coming out soon. It brings mentorship with existing farmers. We are working with St. Joseph’s College…
A lot of Maine’s night-time education was based on needs of Veterans in the 60’s & 70’s. Online education is now being pushed.
We now have Fellowship Grants ($5000)– We gave out one grant before 2015. We were able to give out five this year! This money goes to purchase a piece of equipment to grow their farm.
We also have an equipment exchange program. Equipment is given to younger veterans who are beginning farmers.
A 100% disabled Veteran now has a new farm in Mercer got a tractor from Work Vessels. He needed a counterweight and we could supply it from one which was donated. Older veterans feel good knowing their equipment is being used instead of scrapped.
This is the fabric of the agricultural community we are trying to build.
Maine has 150,000 veterans, which is the biggest proportion in the US.
Marketing is important. SBA came to our farm for 18 months and helped us with business plans. I now know how important it is to look at your farm as a small business.
At the Ag Trade Show, we rolled out Homegrown by Heroes certification. It is up from 12 to 20 farms since last week and 15 more at in process. Many will use Get Real Get ME and Homegrown by Heroes.
I don’t think I did that much special as a Veteran. My great-grandfather joined in WW1, WW2 and Korean War and received Purple Hearts in each war. He had 13 kids, and he buried 6 of his boys as a result of their service in Vietnam. That man had given so much. In deep parts of this state there are veterans who will support buying ME made products. I see it as an untapped market. People drive miles to buy maple syrup from a veteran. It grows the economy. A butter and milk will soon be packaged as Homegrown by Heroes. It takes a community, an agricultural community for veterans.
I would not have guessed I could be framing a few years ago, but someone dropped 82 acres in my lap and here I am!
Veterans may lose jobs but being self-employed as farmers has a lot going for it. Individual veterans need to know that they are not the only ones going through this stuff. Veterans are often more receptive to other veterans as they are going through this stuff.
We want to partner with your efforts and hopefully make growth as we make ME the place for military personnel to retire to.
There are 200,000 military retirees every year for the next 10 years. They can change the growth of agriculture in Maine. Our group is run by ME Farmer Veterans. Our Board is 51% veterans and Maine is our focus.
NRCS to fund veterans and beginning farmers News Release:
https://bangordailynews.com/community/veteransbeginning-farmers-to-receive-preference-from-nrcs-for-fy17-funding/