Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
(N/A)

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1:Increase veterans' awareness of career opportunities in agriculture. Objective:Employ a minimum of five diverse community outreach and marketing strategies to increase veterans' awareness of FVC's AgVets programs and partnered apprenticeship opportunities. As Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) wraps up year three of our AgVets program we have continued to strengthen our partnerships with our agricultural training programs: Archi's Institute, Rodale Institute, BattleGround BreakingGround, and Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship. FVC also had the privilege of adding a 5th training Partner, Veterans Produce this grant year. Veteran's Produce is an aquaponics training located in North Central Texas. FVC continues to grow, we now have over 50,000 members! Each year our ability to raise awareness about the ever-growing agricultural apprentice and training programs increases. In our third year of the grant, we continue to utilize our call center and CRM system Salesforce to keep track of a growing list of career opportunities in agriculture, while also continually adding to our database of agricultural training and career resources to have readily on hand when farmer veterans call for information. FVC continues to follow its marketing plan and we continue to utilize a digital marketing plan that includes regularly promoting each training partner's programs on social media, through targeted emails and regular updates on each program's start date and application deadlines. Throughout the year FVC worked with program partners to market their programs through: Webinars: Archi's Institute, September 14, 2023 91 registrants 42 attendees Archi's Institute, August 16, 2024 268 registrants 152 attendees Social media: Archi's Institute September 7, 2023 Facebook post: 6,468 impressions, 5,159 post reach, 621 engagement August 16, 2024 Facebook post: no insights to show for shared posts August 9, 2024 Facebook post: 1,696 impressions, 1,324 post reach, 63 engagement Rodale Institute December 14, 2023 Facebook post: 3,308 impressions, 3,168 post reach, 89 engagement January 22, 2024 Facebook post: 923 impressions, 914 post reach, 45 engagement March 15, 2024 Facebook post: 2,745 impressions, 2,538 post reach, 140 engagement May 13, 2024 Facebook post: 7,004 impressions, 7,004 post reach, 290 engagement July 11, 2024 Facebook post: no insights to show for shared posts Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship December 12, 2023 Facebook post: 3,196 impressions, 3,050 post reach, 89 engagement June 24, 2024 Facebook post: no insights to show for shared posts June 17, 2024 Facebook post: 1,688 impressions, 1,575 post reach, 51 engagement Battleground to Breaking Ground December 5, 2023 Facebook post: 4,573 impressions, 4,315 post reach, 298 engagement Targeted Emails: Archi's Institute September 14, 2023 email: 32k sends, 40.3% open rate (12.3k opens), 0.6% click rate (183 clicks) August 12, 2024 email: 35k sends, 35.6% open rate (11.7k opens), 1.2% click rate (409 clicks) Rodale Institute April 19, 2024 email: 34k sends, 42.4% open rate (13.4k opens), 1.8% click rate (572 clicks) Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship December 12, 2023 email: 33k sends, 38% open rate (11.8k opens), 0.4% click rate (109 clicks) June 17, 2024 email: 34k sends, 39.6% open rate (12.3k opens), 0.5% click rate (169 clicks) Battleground to Breaking Ground December 5, 2023 email: 33k sends, 41.2% open rate (12.8k opens), 2.4% click rate (739 clicks Goal 2:Increase the number of successful veteran applications to partnered agricultural apprenticeship programs. Objective:Provide support and guidance for a minimum of150 veterans each year that express interest in one or more apprenticeship programs, frominitialinquirythrough the application stage. Over 149 veteran applicants applied to the training and apprenticeship programs that FVC partners with. Of those applicants 50 participants secured spots in one the 5 programs that FVC partners with. FVC staff also had the opportunity to meet with students and staff with 4 of the five program partners to hear directly from students and program partners about their experience in the program. . The 5th partner will be visited in the fall. Goal 3:Increase the number of veterans that utilize FVC's supporting resources for improving success in their apprenticeships and post-apprenticeship careers. Objective: Provide customized case management / supportive services for a minimum of 46 veterans each year throughout their apprenticeship program, helping them after completion with the job search and placement process, and through employment. During year 3 FVC provided support for 50 veterans who participated in agricultural training programs that provided courses on agribusiness, soil health, vegetable production, hydro and aquaponics production. • So far 29 students have completed their training program with 12 students who are on track to complete their program this fall. • We are are still conducting follow up surveys with past student and hope to include the number of students who are working in the agriculture field in our final report. • FVC continues to provide case management for participants utilizing feedback from a variety of sources including program participants, training program leaders and by furthering our own knowledge of agricultural training and career programs. Program participants become members of FVC and have access to our call center and other resources long after they complete their programs, adding to the continuum care that FVC seeks to provide. Additionally, program participants were able to develop relationships with their cohorts and program staff. These staff helped keep FVC abreast of student needs. FVC staff also had the opportunity to visit each of the program partners to For example, in a webinar with Rodale Institute, students were able to ask our Grant Manager and Veteran Service provider questions about Veterans Benefits and about utilizing grants and loans to start their own operations. Our Veteran Service Provider shared his story as an Army Veteran who went through a farm training program and then started his own operation. FVC was also able to provide guidance for students who troubleshoot through a technical issue when she was having trouble with her computer. • FVC also continues to update its landing page on the FVC's website that shares information about the AgVets program and provides links to each of the training programs that we partner with. The webpage also includes a plugin for AgCareers jobs so participants can search for jobs in agriculture right from our website.

Publications

Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Farner Veteran coalition works with transitioning service members and military veterans who interested in careers in agriculture. Changes/Problems:In year two Farmer Veteran Coalitionsaw mid year staff changes in our program manager and training coordinator that interrupted our outreach plan. FVC was able to pivot and offer more online outreach while a new training coordinator and program manager onboard. Another challenge that FVC faced was that since the start of the grant training program cost have gone up and we are not able to offer tuition support to as many program participants as anticipated. although we are still able to cover tuition for participants. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During year 2 FVC provided support for 37 veterans who participated in agricultural training programs that provided courses on agribusiness, soil health, vegetable production, hydro and aquaponics production. Interested participants where also introduced to programs that focus on the dairy industry as well. FVC staff has also gone through mental health training as a part of our own staff development so that we can better serve the veterans we are working with. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The monitoring of the AgVets project has been ongoing by its internal team. Key team discussions during year 2 have covered various issues including screening processes, survey development, and the use of Salesforce for tracking participation. AgVets additionally conducts monthly meetings to check-in on partners and gather partner input regarding project progress. These monthly meeting have demonstrated AgVets' commitment to partner feedback/input, which has been used for project modifications/enhancements. Lastly, AgVets staff meets at least twice a month with its program evaluator, Gary Bess Associates, to discuss and review project components and issues such as 1) possible obstacles to project success; 2) weekly survey results; and 3)program updates. Thus far, these meetings have been valuable in developing the monitoring methodology for the project. Gary Bess and Associates has created a report that FVC will share with communities of intersts. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The AgVets program manager has come up with a robust outreach plan based on meetings with program partners and feedback from program participants, including the addition of office hours where current program participants, future program participants and potential program participants can convene and ask general questions. FVC will also continue to host webinars with each of the program partners to highlight the training programs as well share program participants' experience of the programs. With 2 years of experience under our belt FVC plans on using participant and partner feedback to further tweak the project using feedback from partners and participants so that as the program continues the quality evolves.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This spring FVC redeveloped an internal methodology for gathering and tracking our AgVets grant, as well as planning the grant logistics with new FVC members. When administering the first round of New Student Surveys one AgVet student contacted us with concerns about the personal nature of the questions and they stated valid reasoning why they didn't want to participate in further surveys. FVC staff and Gary Bess & Associates (our Evaluator) immediately met and agreed that we could come up with a personalized solution for the student. The team also made further changes to the New Student Survey using the feedback. Along with the implementation of the student surveys FVC also made strides towards accomplishing each of the our goals. Goal 1: Increase veterans' awareness of career opportunities in agriculture. Objective: Employ a minimum of five diverse community outreach and marketing strategies to increase veterans' awareness of FVC's AgVets programs and partnered apprenticeship opportunities. In the last year FVC has grown to include over 40,000 members with 25 state chapters. As membership at FVC grows so does our capacity to raise awareness on agricultural training programs. Using our call center and CRM system Salesforce we are able to keep track of a growing list of career opportunities in agriculture, continually add to our database of agricultural training and career resources have them readily on hand when farmer veterans call for information. In addition to our in-office outreach we also utilize a digital marketing plan that includes regularly promoting each training partner's programs on social media, through targeted emails and regular updates on each program's start date and application deadlines. This has resulted in post engagements of an average of about 88 people per post, this not include the In November of 2022 FVC shared about the AgVets program at our National Stakeholder conference in Oklahoma March 2023 Farmer Veteran Coalition hosted a webinar with training partner Archi's Acres that included 81 attendees. July 2023 FVC hosted a webinar with partner Dairy Grazers Apprenticeship attended by 33 participants July 2023 FVC attended the Tennessee Cattlemen's Association Stockman in the Smokies Convention to provide outreach to 250 participants July 2023 FVC attended the Veterans Vintage Baseball event and provided outreach and recruitment to 21 participants. Goal 2: Increase the number of successful veteran applications to partnered agricultural apprenticeship programs. Objective: Provide support and guidance for a minimum of 150 veterans each year that express interest in one or more apprenticeship programs, from initial inquiry through the application stage. During year 2 FVC provided support for 37 veterans who participated in agricultural training programs that provided courses on agribusiness, soil health, vegetable production, hydro and aquaponics production. Interested participants where also introduced to programs that focus on the dairy industry as well. 17 students have completed there program and 20 students are on track to complet there progam 7 past students have reported that they are working in agriculture field in areas that include: livestock, conservation, aggregration and starting their own farm Goal 3: Increase the number of veterans that utilize FVC's supporting resources for improving success in their apprenticeships and post-apprenticeship careers. Objective: Provide customized case management / supportive services for a minimum of 46 veterans each year throughout their apprenticeship program, helping them after completion with the job search and placement process, and through to employment. FVC continues to provide case management for participants utilizing feedback from a variety of sources including program participants, training program leaders and by furthering our own knowledge of agricultural training and career programs. FVC staffers also try to stay aware of the whole needs of applicants. For example, in a recent office hour session students were able to ask our AgVets program manager questions directly related to their specific agricultural interests that had not been covered in their training. The event's focus extended to topics such as pasture poultry farming, held over Zoom, this event fostered knowledge exchange and networking within the agricultural community. FVC also added a landing page on the FVC's website that shares information about the AgVets program and provides links to each of the training programs that we partner with. The webpage also includes a plugin for AgCareers jobs so participants can search for jobs in agriculture right from our website.

Publications

Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Transitioning services members and military veterans interested in careers in agriculture. Changes/Problems:The biggest challenge we faced during year one of the grant was developing an outreach plan that tailored to the individual needs of the programs. Each program serves a different geographical area and has its own unique outreach goals. In addition, the first year of the grant was primarily focused on developing data reporting processes and evaluation tools. The development of these tools and processes was not finalized until 9 months into year one of the grant. This caused us to miss out on collecting pre-program data to assist in program evaluation. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Year one of the project provided training opportunities for 21 veterans. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?FVC is working with a third-party evaluator to create an evaluation report that will be distributed to the 4 agricultural partners that FVC is currently working with. This report will be utilized to inform the project team on recommendations for program improvement. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Year two of the grant will be focused on refining outreach strategies, providing more detailed case management, and bringing our agricultural training partners together to discuss lessons learned during year one.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: Increase veterans' awareness of career opportunities in agriculture. Objective: Employ a minimum of five diverse community outreach and marketing strategies to increase veterans' awareness of FVC's AgVets programs and partnered apprenticeship opportunities. During year one of the grant, FVC reached over 30,000 veterans through a combination of e-newsletters, direct veteran referrals, and speaking engagements. Examples of these speaking engagements include, though are not limited to, the following: February 10th, 2022. FVC was invited to provide a seminar at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California, The seminar is titled "Veterans Rising: Providing Agricultural Pathways to Military Veterans, and the description is as follows: "Veterans possess the unique skills and character needed to strengthen rural communities and create sustainable food systems. Learn how one non-profit organization is helping cultivate a new generation of farmers and food leaders and developing employment and meaningful careers through the collaboration of the farming and military communities." Farm Demonstration Event March 24th, 2022 Farm Demonstration event April 14th, 2022 April 26, 2022. FVC was invited to speak at the "Veteran Grown: How to Grow New Farmers" event hosted by the Small Business Administration. This event showcased a panel of experts providing resources for farmer veterans. 8/17/2022 AgrilLeadher conference. Goal 2: Increase the number of successful veteran applications to partnered agricultural apprenticeship programs. Objective: Provide support and guidance for a minimum of 150 veterans each year that express interest in one or more apprenticeship programs, from initial inquiry through the application stage. Year one of the grant was primarily used for developing outreach plans for each of the 4 training program partners and strengthening FVC's ability to provide quality case management to farmer veterans in these programs. In addition, with FVC's assistance, our agricultural training partners trained 21 veterans on topics including: Introduction to Agribusiness Professional Agriselling Fundamentals of Value-Added Agriculture Soil health Vegetable production Goal 3: Increase the number of veterans that utilize FVC's supporting resources for improving success in their apprenticeships and post-apprenticeship careers. Objective: Provide customized case management / supportive services for a minimum of 46 veterans each year throughout their apprenticeship program, helping them after completion with the job search and placement process, and through to employment. During year one of the grant, FVC established a robust referral system utilizing our long-standing membership database, Salesforce. FVC staff focused primarily on adding relevant resources to this database to create a mechanism for referring veterans to agricultural training programs, USDA programs, mentors, and other local and national resources to assist as they embark on careers in agriculture. Year two of the grant will be focused utilizing this referral system and tracking the resource referrals provided to the veterans participating in each of the 4 training programs.

Publications