Veteran Farmer Training, Incubation, and Technical Assistance

Program Goal: The VFTITA will increase the number of military veterans operating new, successful farm operations and support veteran beginning farmers as they launch and operate their businesses. Our program focuses on veterans, current military members, and their families, with a three-year goal to train 84 potential farmers, enroll 10 farmers in our Veteran Farm Incubator, and improve the success rate of an additional 150 veteran farmers through workshops, technical assistance, and other support. We aim for 25 participants and graduates to begin farming full- or part-time during the grant period. The Veteran Farmer Program will work toward this goal through three objectives.Objective 1: Hands-On Veteran Farmer Training for Beginning Veteran FarmersArcadia operates two farmer-training tracks: The Veteran Farmer Reserve (Reserve) - a part-time, one-year program; and the Veteran Farm Fellowship (Fellowship) a nine-month, on-the-job training program. The Reserve and Fellowship provide hands-on and classroom training for beginning veteran farmers in the farm production, business, and entrepreneurial skills needed to start and operate a successful operation. We will train at least 75 Reserve participants and nine Fellows throughout this grant period.Objective 2: Veteran Farm Incubator: Land Access & Business Support Arcadia operates a farm incubator for graduates of our training programs. Incubator Farmers receive access to 0.125-0.25 acre parcels on Arcadia Farm, and can use Arcadia's farm infrastructure, receive mentorship from Arcadia staff, participate in additional training and technical assistance, and leverage our market access and support. We will support 10 Incubator Farmers during the grant period.Objective 3: Technical Assistance and Support for Working Veteran FarmersArcadia will provide technical assistance, and production and business management training to the graduates of our programming and to other veteran farmers throughout Virginia and across the country through on-site and off-site workshops, and on-line educational programming. Our Business Trainers will provide two annual webinars to 25 veteran farmers (150 throughout the grant period) from around the country. Project collaborators will provide an additional 30 workshops on various production and business operation topics to 150 farmers throughout the project period.Proposed Project Outcomes Increase the number of new veteran farmersIncrease the number of new veteran farm operationsImprove ability of veteran farmers to respond to market changes for long-term viabilityIncrease the Business Readiness of new veteran farmersIncrease the Business Management knowledge of veteran farmers