Non Technical Summary
The Tennessee AgVets Opportunities on FarmLand (TN AgVOLs) Program is a partnership of TN agricultural service providers that aims to increase the participation of transitioning service members (TSM) and veterans in the agricultural sector and support the start-up and expansion of successful veteran-owned farm businesses. Program activities will focus on connecting military service members with disabilities and aspiring beginning farmers with the technical assistance, education, financial support, and hands-on training needed to succeed at launching new or expanding existing agricultural businesses in TN rural communities. AgVOLs partner organizations include lead applicant non-profit Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council, University of Tennessee Extension (UT MANAGE and TN AgrAbility), TN State University's TN New Farmer Academy, Fort Campbell U.S. Army Garrison, and the Farmer Veteran Coalition of TN. The main objectives are 1) ensure that transitioning military personnel and veterans have streamlined access to information, resources, and services available; 2) increase access to the agricultural, business, and financial training programs offered by project partners to equip veterans with the knowledge and skills to start and grow successful agricultural businesses; 3) connect TSM and veterans with hands-on, on-farm mentorship and internship opportunities with experienced veteran mentor farmers; and 4) foster networking and community building opportunities for veterans involved in agriculture across the state. AgVOLs will serve at least 1000 TSM and veteran farmers with referrals to programming, scholarships, technical assistance, and internship and networking opportunities over the three-year project period.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
601	6030	3010	100%

Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management;

Subject Of Investigation
6030 - The farm as an enterprise;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;

Goals / Objectives
The AgVOLs goalis to provide workforce development in the agricultural field for transitioning service members (TSM) and veterans with the main goal of supporting them in the start-up and expansion of successful agricultural businesses.Program activities will focus on connecting military personnel with disabilities and aspiring veteran beginning farmers with the technical assistance, education, financial support, and hands-on training needed to succeed at launching new or expanding existing agricultural businesses in TN rural communities. To reach this goal, the project has four main objectives:1.Ensure that transitioning military members and veterans have streamlined access to information, resources, and services available to help them transition into agricultural careers.2.Increase access to agricultural, business, and financial training and support to equip veterans with the knowledge and skills to start and grow successful agricultural businesses.3.Connect TSM and veterans with hands-on, on-farm internship and mentorship opportunities with experienced veteran mentor farmers so they gain technical skills in the field.4.Fosternetworking and community building opportunities for veterans involved in agriculture across the state.

Project Methods
Project Efforts:TSM and veterans will be able to access formal and informal training opportunities and Extension programming through referrals into AgVOLs partner programmingand the ability to apply for scholarship funding to cover the fees associated with these programs. Partners include UT Extension (UT), Appalachian RC&D Council (ARCD), TN State University (TSU), and TN Department of Agriculture (TDA). UT Extension offers an extensive range of programming, including theirMaster Producer Programs, which includes Master Beef, Master Dairy, Master Small Ruminant, Master Horse, Master Nursery Producer, Master Beekeeping and Master Farm Family Health and Wellness. These programs provide multi-day or multi-week intensive courses that teach marketing, financial, production plus health and wellness topics in that specific area. UT MANAGE offers courses that include Farming Fundamentals, Master Farm Manager, and Farmland Legacy. ARCD offers two Field School sessions, the Winter Business Intensive for classroom sessions on business planning and the Summer Field School, which offers on-farm workshops on sustainable production techniques. Tennessee State University (TSU) offers the TN New Farmer Academy in-person in each of the state's three grand divisions. Additionally, the UT Center of Farm Management and ARCD Field School staff both work with producers to craft individualized business and marketing plans and will assist veteran farmers with at least 20 completed business plans each year.AgVOLs partners will work to expand an existing Career Skills Program (CSP) through Ft. Campbell Army Garrison to offer more opportunities for TSM and veterans to participate in experiential learning on farms with experienced veteran farmer mentors.Program Evaulation:AgVOLs will employ a third party contractor, SYNERGY, to conduct program evaluation. Theirproposed mixed methods evaluation framework is designed to assess the implementation fidelity of program activities as well as document evidence of meaningful progress toward project goals using both quantitative and qualitative data sources and appropriate metrics. Built on the foundation of a utilization-focused evaluation, the SYNERGY team will produce findings to inform decisions through a flexible, transparent, and culturally responsive process. SYNERGY's evaluation team will address evaluation questions aligned with the project's scope of work, providing both formative as well as summative conclusions to guide continuous improvement during the grant cycle as well as evidence of impact for the participants and the community. SYNERGY outputs include annual reporting of outcomes with performance metrics and recommendations for improvingimplementation. SYNERGY's team will triangulate evidence to answer the following project performance measures and evaluation questions:1. To what extent has AgVOLS implemented activities, resources, outreach, and programming as planned? What are the successes, barriers, and key resources?2. How are participants accessing and using resources to support their farming operations' viability?3. To what extent do participating TSM, veteran, and beginner farmers report they have achieved sufficient knowledge of marketing, financial and production topics to manage their farming operations?4. How have participating veteran farmers expanded their professional network and technical skills through internships and mentorships and how did they increase their technical skills?5. To what extent have participating farmers established, expanded, and maintained engagement in a professional network that supports sustainable operations?Year 1: AgVOLs will administer retrospective pre- and post-training surveys, select focus groups interviews, and document review to measure formative and summative evidence of the value of learning experiences, resources, intern and mentoring experiences as well as network development for supporting the participants' farming operations, self-reports of skill and knowledge growth, documentation of awareness of resources and learning events, records of participation, and select interviews with participants provide both qualitative and quantitative data for triangulation. The impacts of the implementation of business plans will be measured based on trainee perceptions of how the plans, training, and knowledge have contributed to the future viability of their farming operation and future profitability. Select post-training interviews beginning in 2025 will extend understanding of the benefits and recommended improvements from prior year graduates. AgVOLs will measure estimated profitabilityof program graduates with farm plans throughout the period as well as through surveys and select interviews.Year 2: The programs of Year 1 will be continued. Year 2 will continue to expand the number of mentorships and internships and build online resources that identifies funding opportunities, technical assistance, and success stories of AgVOLs farmer veterans to strengthen the program delivery and services to be maintained. Videos and post interviews of farmers will be shared online. Implement evaluation framework throughout the year as appropriate across objectives.Year 3: Continue Career skills programs, internships, mentorships, and education programs of Years 1 and 2. Create a Best Practices toolkit to be shared with partners. Regional Farm tours will be offered with mentor farms. Implement evaluation framework throughout the year as appropriate across objectives.