Progress 08/15/17 to 08/14/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Military Veterans Arcadia's program exclusively serves military veterans, active-duty military, and spouses and family members who want to enter agriculture. Number of Reserve Program Participants: 2017 - 18 Reserves - 10 farming 2018 - 2 Fellows; 14 Reserves - 11 Farming 2019 - 4 Fellows; 23 Reserve - 12 Farming 2020 - 3 Fellows; 20 Reserves - 9 Starting to Farm We worked with 101 Veterans throughout the grant period, however, 20veterans withdrew from the program for various reasons ranging from a change in long term plans (deciding not to farm) or because they moved away from the area/had a change in availability. We consider the realization that farming is not the best career choice to be a perfectly valid program outcome. For the purpose of this report, we will focus on the 81unique program participants who completed their portion of the program. Number of Farm Fellows: 9 The Veteran Farm Fellowship is an On-The-Job Training Program for a full growing season. 2018-2019 it was January through December. In 2020, we shifted to March through November, and the Fellows and our staff like the model. Three of the Farm Fellows were graduates of the Veteran Farmer Reserve. Reserve Program Participants: 75 The Veteran Farmer Reserve is a year-long, part-time training program that meets 12 weekends per year (once per month). We have had 75 Participants in the Reserve during the Grant Period. These are participants who have fulfilled the obligation of the program. We've worked with over 20 more who withdrew from the program at some point during the year. Number who have started to farm: 42 42 of our Program participants have started to farm. This means they purchased or leased land and have started some form of production. Number who are continuing to prepare, train, and/or look for land: 26 26 are still actively engaged in their Beginning Farmer Development. In addition to the general performance of our program, we also launched our Veteran Farm Incubator during the grant period in 2018. In2018, we had 2 veterans partner on an incubator plot. In 2019, we had 2 additional veterans partner on a plot (so 4 veterans with 2 businesses operating). In 2020, we had 4 new veterans join the program with 3 new businesses ventures. In total, we have worked with 8 veterans through our incubator farm. We expect at least 3 veterans to start an incubator plot in 2021. Changes/Problems:We continue to be surprised with how quickly some program participants are able to start farming. A number of program participants already have small-scale operations, or were on the verge of starting new operations when they joined the program, but all were still early in their development as beginning farmers. We have been pleasantly surprised that 21 program participants have started to farm during the grant period. An additional 20 were already farming and have reported that they feel more comfortable with their operations and feel more likely to succeed. We continue to be amazed at the distance that participants are willing to travel to participate in the program. In 2018, we had two participants (a couple) who traveled from Tennessee each month for the program. Another drove from tidewater Virginia, and another traveled from New York and Delaware (he and his wife split time between the two due to work). In 2017, we had a participant from Florida, and a number of participants who drove 3 hours each way every weekend to participate in the program. In 2019, one of the program participants flewin each month from California. He and his wife purchased land in Virginia and he believes the program preparedhim for success in this region. We have received very positive feedback from these participants and none have expressed a regret in the travel. We see an opportunity in this to spread our work and support other organizations who may want to start a similar training program. We have received a number of inquiries about his, and are developing possible ways to support and conduct training for other organizations by online and other training methods. The Pandemic forced us to reconsider our program format and caused a required shift to online training for classroom portions of our program. This opened up some new opportunities to record sessions and to reach participants who may have otherwise had to leave the program. In 2020, two program participants moved out of the area, but were able to continue to participate in the program through online classes and by watching videos of farm visits. We also began to hold virtual farm visits with VFP graduates, which allows us to "visit" the farms of our graduates who have moved away from the area. Mentorship We were unable to get the Mentorship program fully off the graound. We had a difficult time identifying a large number of veterans in agriculture and/or matching them with our program participants. We also found that mentorships require time to develop and were more likely to happen organically, rather than from a forced/imposed effort. We found that many of our invcubator farmers looked to our farm staff as mentors, and we supported that and allocated additional staff time to support and grow that relationship. Additionally, we view the long-term opportunity of mentorship as part of a larger effort to build a robust community of veteran entering agriculture and see the graduates of our program as providing a great deal of potential in regard to mentiorship and collaboration. We have adjusted our goals for our Veteran Farmer Program to provide more direct support, technical assitance, and mentiorship from our staff and partners, and will continue to work to build a broad network of veterans in agriculture, and foster ongoing engagement and interaction, toallow for more natural mentiorship opportunities to develop. How would you improve this project if you were to do it again? We have learned a great deal from operating the program for several years. And continue to incorporate changes as we realize the need. 1. We will explore adjusting our curriculum and farm tours to fit a more seasonal approach where we cover topics and visit farms when the peak activity is happening. This seems like a logical choice, but can be difficult since farms don't always want to host a visit when they are at their peak of activity. 2. We are exploring a shorter Fellowship opportunity. We may conduct one that is 3 months long, and are exploring a 6 month Fellowship. 6 months is required for the VA OTJ Certification, but the 3 months may fit within the transition programming at the Army. Different lengths of time would allow us to serve people with different needs, availability, and interests. 3. We will work with more partners for the mentorship network development. 4. We will work with partners to offer workshops closer to Washington, DC, and on weekends (training weekends when possible). 5. We are going to explore offering additional training workshops and farm tours outside of the current training calendar, and in different geographic areas. This would allow us to serve and engage with graduates of the program as well as veterans who are not able to join the full program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The third year of the project period spans two training cohorts of the Veteran Farmer Reserve Program - 2019 and 2020 - and two cohorts of the Veteran Farm Fellowship - 2019 and 2020. The Reserve Program operates from January through December, and the Fellowship program operates from March through November. This report will include information pertaining to the last third (4.5 months) of the 2019 Reserve and Fellowship Programs, and the first 2 thirds (7.5 months) of the 2020 Reserve and Fellowship programs. 2019 Veteran Farmer Program The 2019 Class of the Veteran Farmer Program consisted of 23 Reservists and 4 Fellows that completing the program. The 27 participants represented all four branches of the military. 2019 Fellowship We had two full-time Farm Fellows, one Marine veteran and one Air Force veteran, and one Marine veteran was hired as a part-time Fellow (1,000 annual hours). Another 2018 Reserve Program Graduate joined the Arcadia team through the Army's Career Skills Program (CSP). This program pays Army personnel during the last 3 months of their service contract to work in an on-the-job training program outside of the military. We developed a 3 month full-time position that was fully funded by the Department of Defense, and our trainee had a very positive response to the experience. We are continuing to explore the CSP program as a means by which we can train more short-term Fellows in the future. The 2019 Fellows started the program in January and ended in December. They spent their year in on-the-job training program with our two full-time farmers. One of the Fellows had benefits remaining with her GI Bill, and received additional financial support through the VA's On-The-Job Training Program, as the Veteran Farm Fellowship is approved by the Dept. of VeteransAffairs in Virginia. The full-time Fellows worked 40 hours a week on the farm, participating in all aspects of farm production and management. Fellows also participated in the Reserve Program training weekends, as well as external training opportunities. The Fellows have participated in local training workshops and programs. The Farm Fellows plan to operate their own farms in the future, but are looking at the possibility of working with another farmer, or continuing in Arcadia's Incubator Farm, after finishing the program to continue their development. 2019 Reserve Program We conduct year-round recruitment for the Veteran Farmer Reserve, and identify and selected and identified program participants in December 2018. We continued to accept applicants through the first training weekend in January 2019. We consider adding participants after the first training weekend, but do so on a limited basis to maintain cohesion among the participants. We accepted 46 applicants into the program, with 36 participating in the first training weekend in January. We have come to accept a fair amount of attrition from program participants, with a larger number withdrawing within the first 2 months as they come to understand the commitment and other requirements of the program. By June, we had settled on 26 program participants. The current class size is 23 Reservists and 3 Fellows. The 23 2019 Reservists represent all four branches of the military plus the Coast Guard, with 7 participants who are currently active duty, and one military spouse, and one veteran spouse. We continue to engage with those participants who withdraw from the program, and share information and opportunities with them. We will also welcome them back to the program in the future if they are able to participate. The Reservists participated in 12 weekend training programs, with our June programs divided over two smaller tractor training sessions to allow for better engagement from the instructor. The group provided presentations of the business plans and/or ongoing training plans at our December training weekend to rap up the program. 2019 Incubator In 2019, we had 4 veterans operating two businesses on our Incubator Farm. Each partnership managed a plot of .25 acres, and both operated small scale fruit and vegetable operations. 2020 Veteran Farmer Program The 2020 Cohort of the Veteran Farmer Program consisted of 20 Veteran Farmer Reserves, 3 Farm Fellows, and 7 Incubator Farmers. The Reserve Program operated from January through December, while the Fellowship scheduled changed to operate from March through November. The Incubator Farmers had access to their land for the full year. 2020 Veteran Farm Fellowship We had 3 Veteran Farm Fellows from March through December. Two are Military spouses, and one is a Marine Veteran. Two Fellows were hired for full-time employment, while the third was hired for PT work for 30 hours a week. Two of the Fellows were graduates from prevoous Reserve Program cohorts (one from 2016 and the other from 2019). They Fellows worked full time from March through November, throughout the Pandemic. We modified operations on the farm to provide for safe interactions, physical distancing, quarantining if necessary, and additional sanitation, and were able to remain COVID-free among all farm staff (including Incubator Farmers) through the season. All three of the Farm Fellows are planning to have Incubator plots in 2021. 2020 Veteran Farmer Reserve We started the 2020 Reserve in January with 24 registered participants. 20 participants completed the full program, which is a higher percentage than previous cohorts. The reservists met in-person in January and February, and then the area went into lockdown in March. We adapted the program to operate on Zoom beginning in March, and held only virtual training via Zoom from March through July. We adjusted the annual schedule to offer most of the Business Training curriculum with Poppy Davis during those 4 months, and offered our typical classroom training sessions via Zoom. In August, restrictions had loosened somewhat, and we began to offer in-person on-farm training at our farm site and to conduct field trips to local farm operations. We had strict policies around mask wearing, physical distancing, and personal sanitation practices, but the group was very happy to be back with each other and to learn in person. We continued to offer classroom training and business presentations via Zoom, while operating farm visits in-person. We ended the year with participants sharing their business and ongoing farmer training presentations via Zoom. In general, the Reservists provided positive feedback about the program and we had similar levels of success with participants moving forward in their farming careers. By the end of the program, 6 Reservists had started to Farm in some capacity, with 3 purchasing property during the year. We expect to continue to offer Zoom training for much of the classroom training portions of the program, as it allows us to reach a wider audience and to record presentations in case participants miss a training day. 2020 Farm Incubator In 2020, we had 7 veterans operating 4 farm businesses in the Incubator Program. Two of the participants from 2019 moved from the area, and both were replaced in their business partnerships by other program graduates. Several businesses operated small-scale fruit and vegetable operations, one Incubator Farmer, a graduate of the Reserve and Fellowship programs, operated a cut-your-own flower operation that was incredibly successful. Another incubator farmer operated a bee and hops operation. All of the incubator farmers plan to return in 2021, and 4 more veterans are slated to join them on the farm. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated results of the program through a number of methods. Our Project Director has participated in the Annual Project Directors meeting, presented powerpoint presentations, poster presntations, and participated in panels for veterans in agriculture. He has also presented at a number of conferences and workshops on veterans in agriculture programs. We share our results via email updates to supporters of the program. These are generally distributed quarterly. We share information about our program on our website and through the press. We have had a number of press attention in the program and have articles written and stories aird on television. We are sharing information through RVS and are working to share materials and ionformation through the Farm Answers website. Inthe Fall of 2020, our Evaluation Consultant, Dr. Tiffany Drape presented the results of her Evaluation of our program and several other veteran focused farmer training and uspport programs at the American Evaluation Association's National Conference. We continue to engage with other programs supporting and training veterans in Agriculture, including the Farmer Veteran Coalition, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and other regional partners. We are partnering with RTI International to suppor ttheir efforts to design and provide food safety training to veteran audiences. We also received a 2020 Ag Vets Grant and continue to engage with the USDA and members of the veteran and agriculture communities through that projects and ongoing outreach efforts. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Number of Reserve Program Participants: 2017 - 18 Reserves - 10 farming 2018 - 2 Fellows; 14 Reserves - 11 Farming 2019 - 4 Fellows; 23 Reserve - 12 Farming 2020 - 3 Fellows; 20 Reserves - 9 Starting to Farm We worked with 101 Veterans throughout the grant period, however, 20veterans withdrew from the program for various reasons ranging from a change in long term plans (deciding not to farm) or because they moved away from the area/had a change in availability. We consider the realization that farming is not the best career choice to be a perfectly valid program outcome. For the purpose of this report, we will focus on the 81unique program participants who completed their portion of the program. Number of Farm Fellows: 9 The Veteran Farm Fellowship is an On-The-Job Training Program for a full growing season. 2018-2019 it was January through December. In 2020, we shifted to March through November, and the Fellows and our staff like the model. Three of the Farm Fellows were graduates of the Veteran Farmer Reserve. Reserve Program Participants: 75 The Veteran Farmer Reserve is a year-long, part-time training program that meets 12 weekends per year (once per month). We have had 75 Participants in the Reserve during the Grant Period. These are participants who have fulfilled the obligation of the program. We've worked with over 20 more who withdrew from the program at some point during the year. Number who have started to farm: 42 42 of our Program participants have started to farm. This means they purchased or leased land and have started some form of production. Number who are continuing to prepare, train, and/or look for land: 26 26 are still actively engaged in their Beginning Farmer Development. In addition to the general performance of our program, we also launched our Veteran Farm Incubator during the grant period in 2018. In2018, we had 2 veterans partner on an incubator plot. In 2019, we had 2 additional veterans partner on a plot (so 4 veterans with 2 businesses operating). In 2020, we had 4 new veterans join the program with 3 new businesses ventures. In total, we have worked with 8 veterans through our incubator farm. We expect at least 3 veterans to start an incubator plot in 2021. These numbers indicate that our of 81unique program graduates, 50% have started to farm within the first 3 years of competing the program. 80% of program graduates are still engaged actively engaged in agriculture, either farming, or continuing the prepare to farm. We are very proud of the success of the program, and look forward to continuing to work with our graduates and incoming veteran farmer trainees.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Arcadia's Veteran Farmer Program Evaluation Report
https://rvs.umn.edu/Uploads/EvaluationsReports/42970a8f-35bb-4d21-963c-a14bc6496cc7.pdf
Comment: Final Evaluation report for the 2017 BFRDP Grant
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Examining Outcomes of a Veteran Farmer Training Program Using a
Non-Traditional Approach
https://rvs.umn.edu/Uploads/EvaluationsReports/4e43adf6-45f9-4435-9faf-ba7f73c5de9e.pptx
Comment:
Date of Evaluation/Report: Sunday, November 15, 2020
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Arcadia Veteran Farmer Program Website
www.arcadiafood.org/VFP
Top inform people about the Veteran Farmer Program and to recruit them for the program.
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Progress 08/15/18 to 08/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience: Audience Emphasis Military veterans Record the total number of unique participants who participated in your program: Total Number of Participants: 59 Enter the actual cumulative number of participants who as a result of your program: Started farming: Target - 25, Actual - 21 Helped prepare to start farming: Target - 51, Actual - 51 Improved farming success: Target - 25, Actual - 20 Changes/Problems:We have learned a great deal from operating the program for several years. And continue to incorporate changes as we realize the need. We will explore adjusting our curriculum and farm tours to fit a more seasonal approach where we cover topics and visit farms when the peak activity is happening. This seems like a logical choice, but can be difficult since farms don't always want to host a visit when they are at their peak of activity. We are exploring a shorter Fellowship opportunity. We may conduct one that is 3 months long, and are exploring a 6 month Fellowship. 6 months is required for the VA OTJ Certification, but the 3 months may fit within the transition programming at the Army. Different lengths of time would allow us to serve people with different needs, availability, and interests. We will work with more partners for the mentorship network development, We will work with partners to offer workshops closer to Washington, DC, and on weekends (training weekends when possible). We are going to explore offering additional training workshops and farm tours outside of the current training calendar, and in different geographic areas. This would allow us to serve and engage with graduates of the program as well as veterans who are not able to join the full program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Total Meetings: 52 Total Meeting Participants: 970 Total Webinars: 0 Total Webinar Participants: 0 Total Website Visits: 5,528 Total Online Course Participants: 0 Meetings 8/25/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 15 8/26/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 14 9/29/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 20 9/30/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 15 10/27/2018: Bowie, MD -- Number of Attendees 14 10/28/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 15 11/17/2018: Thurmont, MD -- Number of Attendees 9 11/17/2018: Lovettsville, VA -- Number of Attendees 12 11/18/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 14 12/15/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 13 12/16/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 13 1/26/2019: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 36 1/27/2019: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 36 2/23/2019: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 31 2/24/2019: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 31 3/30/2019: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 29 3/31/2019: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 28 4/27/2019: Nokesville, VA -- Number of Attendees 26 4/28/2019: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 27 5/18/2019: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 26 5/19/2019: ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Number of Attendees 26 6/22/2019: ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Number of Attendees 15 6/23/2019: ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Number of Attendees 15 6/29/2019: ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Number of Attendees 13 6/30/2019: ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Number of Attendees 13 7/27/2019: Brandywine, MD -- Number of Attendees 24 7/28/2019: ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Number of Attendees 24 In addition to the identified Training Weekends and Workshops, we employed, and provided training toFarm Fellows for approximately 5,000hours. This is significant, and is not easily identified in most reporting systems. In addition to the training offered by Arcadia, we supported outside training for participants in the program. A number of program participants attended the Future Harvest - CASA conference in January 2019. Several staff, Fellows, and Resrvists attended CRAFT programs, including a full-day conference in June 2019. One Two Reservists attended the Agroforesty Academy in July 2019. Program Director, Matt Mulder attended the Project Director meeting. Program participants have attended chainsaw workshops, poultry processing workshops, farm field days, wine harvest, and countless other trainign opporuntiies with support from the VFP, and as a result of contact and sharig of information by Arcadia staff and program participants. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated results of the program through a number of methods. Our Project Director has participated in the Annual Project Directors meeting, presented powerpoint presentations, poster presntations, and participated in panels for veterans in agriculture. He has also presented at a number of conferences and workshops on veterans in agriculture programs. We share our results via email updates to supporters of the program. These are generally distributed quarterly. We share information about our program on our website and through the press. We have had a number of press attention in the program and have articles written and stories aird on television. We are sharing information through RVS and are working to share materials and ionformation through the Farm Answers website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to perform the work of the project. The 2019 Reserve Program will continue through December 2019. We will conduct final evaluations with the group then, and follow-ups in 2020. Recruitment for the Reserve, Fellowship, and Incubator will began in July 2019. As of August 15, we had received 3 Fellowship applications and 7 Reserve applications. Interviews for Fellows will begin in October 2019, with selection occurring by December 2019. Incubator applications will open in October 2019 and will be reviewed through December 2019 with selection occurring on a rotating basis and through January 2019 as needed.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
11/13/2019 The second year of the project period spans two training cohorts of the Veteran Farmer Reserve Program - 2018 and 2019 - and two cohorts of the Veteran Farm Fellowship - 2018 and 2019. The Reserve and Fellowship programs operate from January through December. This report will include information pertaining to the last third (4.5 months) of the 2018 Reserve and Fellowship Programs, and the first 2 thirds (7.5 months) of the 2019 Reserve and Fellowship programs. 2018 Veteran Farmer Program Reserve Program The 2018 Class of the Veteran Farmer Reserve consisted of 15 Reservists and 2 Fellows that completing the full year of training in the program. The 17 participants represented all four branches of the military, with 11 veterans, 5 on active duty or in the Reserves, and one spouse of a veteran who participated in the program. From August 2018 to December 2018, the Reservists participated in 5 training weekends. Those weekends included two Business Training weekends with Ms. Davis; 2 days of field trips, during which the participants visited 7 farms and 1 farmers' market. Farm visits included visits to three farms that operate on-farm stands or stores; a mixed vegetable operation that also makes and distributes compost and soil amendments; three livestock operations that manage sheep, hogs, cattle, and goats; a goat milk dairy; two mixed vegetable operations that sell through wholesale and direct marketing outlets; and an agroforestry operation. In September, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis visited the program and spoke with the participants. This was a high point for many of the program participants. Reservists completed the program in December, and the participants presented their business and farm plans to the rest of the group at the final training session. The Reservists also provided feedback on the Reserve Program. Program feedback was very positive, with all participants reporting an increase in farming knowledge and an increased comfort in moving forward with their farming careers. Two of those new farmers began a new operation on Arcadia's Incubator Farm for the 2019 season. One graduate enrolled as a 2019 Farm Fellow with Arcadia. One graduate entered into the Army's Career Skills Program (CSP), which paid him his military salary to work with Arcadia for 3 months in an on-the-job training capacity. We plan to continue to look into the CSP as a model that could work in conjunction with our standard Fellowship Program. 2018 Farm Fellowship Our two 2018 Farm Fellows completed their year of training with Arcadia. Both were mentored by Arcadia's Production Farmer, and were matched with external mentors with whom they could plan their next steps in agriculture. One Farm Fellow started to manage a rooftop garden with one of our restaurant partners. The other Farm Fellow is looking for farmland that she will operate in conjunction with a homestead operation. Both Farm Fellows worked on special projects at the end of their seasons. 2018 Veteran Farm Incubator Two graduates from the 2017 Reserve Program formed a partnership and launched a new farm enterprise as part of Arcadia's veteran Farm Incubator. 2019 Veteran Farmer Program We began to recruit for the 2019 Reserve and Fellowship Programs in June of 2018. 2019 Fellowship We had 12 applicants for the 2019 Farm Fellowship, and began conducting interviews in October. We had space in the budget to add a part-time position that we created to accommodate a graduate of the 2018 Reserve Program who was taking classes at a local college, but also wanted to participate in the training program. We hired two full-time Farm Fellows, one Marine veteran and one Air Force veteran, for full-time positions from January through December. One Marine veteran was hired as a part-time Fellow (1,000 annual hours). Another 2018 Reserve Program Graduate joined the Arcadia team through the Army's Career Skills Program (CSP). This program pays Army personnel during the last 3 months of their service contract to work in an on-the-job training program outside of the military. We developed a 3 month full-time position that was fully funded by the Department of Defense, and our trainee had a very positive response to the experience. We are continuing to explore the CSP program as a means by which we can train more short-term Fellows in the future. 2019 Reserve Program We conduct year-round recruitment for the Veteran Farmer Reserve, and identify and selected and identified program participants in December 2018. We continued to accept applicants through the first training weekend in January 2019. We will consider adding participants after the first training weekend, but do so on a limited basis to maintain cohesion among the participants. We accepted 46 applicants into the program, with 36 participating in the first training weekend in January. We have come to accept a fair amount of attrition from program participants, with a larger number withdrawing within the first 2 months as they come to understand the commitment and other requirements of the program. By June, we had settled on 26 program participants. The current class size is 23 Reservists and 3 Fellows. The 23 2019 Reservists represent all four branches of the military plus the Coast Guard, with 7 participants who are currently active duty, and one military spouse, and one veteran spouse. The 2019 Reservists met for 7 training weekends during the second year of the grant period, and participated in a mix of classroom and hands-on training, farm visits, and business training. Land Access Arcadia launched the Veteran Farm Incubator at Arcadia Farm in 2018. The incubator farmers have access to infrastructure, ongoing support, and access to our local markets. We broke ground on 1 acre in 2018, and have space for up to 2 more acres. Each incubator plot is 0.25 acres, which is a reasonable starting size. Farmers will have the ability to scale up their operations while on the farm if they are interested and demonstrate the capacity to manage additional space. Incubator farmers have access to the land for 3 years, at a low cost ($250 per year). In addition to the 0.25 acre plot, they have access to a new Farm-From-A-Box operations center which includes water and irrigation equipment; cold storage; office space; internet access; a dedicated wash station; and a greenhouse/propagation house. Two of our 2017 Reservists co-managed an incubator plot in 2018. They continued in 2019. We added two 2018 reservists in 2019. This new enterprise was quite successful, and plans to continue in 2020. A number of our current program participants have expressed an interest in the incubator farm for 2020. The location and size of the farm will limit the number of applicants, but seems sufficient for the current program participants. As the program grows, we will continue to evaluate additional acreage on our farm and on partner farms for new incubator opportunities. We are also looking into additional incubator operations on our farm including an apiary, mushrooms, and livestock. Recruitment We have developed an extensive network for referrals and recruitment from transition offices on the 16 military bases within a half day's drive of our farm, as well as veteran advocacy organizations. Recruitment has been strong. We are currently registering our 2020 Reserve Program, with 7 applications as of August 15. We have also begun to recruit for the 2019 Farm Fellowship, and have 3 applicants for that program. We will make a determination for those positions in November 2019.
Publications
|
Progress 08/15/17 to 08/14/18
Outputs
Target Audience: Audience Emphasis Military veterans Participants Served Record the total number of unique participants who participated in your program: Total Number of Participants: 33 Enter the actual cumulative number of participants who as a result of your program: Started farming: Target - 25, Actual - 11 Helped prepare to start farming: Target - 51, Actual - 26 Improved farming success: Target - 25, Actual - 7 Changes/Problems: We have learned a great deal from operating the program for several years. And continue to incorporate changes as we realize the need. We will explore adjusting our curriculum and farm tours to fit a more seasonal approach where we cover topics and visit farms when the peak activity is happening. This seems like a logical choice, but can be difficult since farms don't always want to host a visit when they are at their peak of activity. We are exploring a shorter Fellowship opportunity. We may conduct one that is 3 months long, and are exploring a 6 month Fellowship. 6 months is required for the VA OTJ Certification, but the 3 months may fit within the transition programming at the Army. Different lengths of time would allow us to serve people with different needs, availability, and interests. We will work with more partners for the mentorship network development, We will work with PEC and other partners to offer workshops closer to Washington, DC, and on weekends (training weekends when possible). We are going to explore offering additional training workshops and farm tours outside of the current training calendar, and in different geographic areas. This would allow us to serve and engage with graduates of the program as well as veterans who are not able to join the full program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Delivery: Total Meetings: 25 Total Meeting Participants: 416 Total Webinars: 0 Total Webinar Participants: 0 Total Website Visits: 0 Total Online Course Participants: 0 Meetings 8/26/2017: Purcellville, VA -- Number of Attendees 16 9/30/2017: Middletown, MD -- Number of Attendees 14 8/27/2017: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 15 10/1/2017: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 15 10/28/2017: Sperryville, VA -- Number of Attendees 15 10/29/2017: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 16 11/18/2017: Beltsville, MD -- Number of Attendees 15 11/19/2017: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 14 12/16/2017: Lovettsville, VA -- Number of Attendees 13 12/17/2017: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 14 1/27/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 25 1/28/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 24 2/24/2018: Purcellville, VA -- Number of Attendees 19 2/25/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 19 3/24/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 18 3/25/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 17 4/28/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 16 4/29/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 17 5/19/2018: Lovettsville, VA -- Number of Attendees 16 5/20/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 16 5/8/2018: Warrenton, VA -- Number of Attendees 24 6/23/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 14 6/24/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 15 7/28/2018: Alexandria, VA -- Number of Attendees 14 7/29/2018: Upper Marlboro, MD -- Number of Attendees 15 In addition to the identified Training Weekends and Workshops, we employed, and provided training to 2 Farm Fellows for approximately 1,500 hours for each person. This is significant, and is not easily identified in most reporting systems. In addition to the trainign offered by Arcadia, we supported outside training for participants in the program. A number of program participants attended the Future Harvest - CASA conference in January 2018. Several staff, Fellows, and Resrvists attended CRAFT programs, including a full-day conference in June 2018. One Fellow and one Reservist attended the Agroforesty Academy in July 2018. Our farmer LaRon Murrell, a veteran and program graduate,attended a Farmer Veteran Coalition conference, as well as several small farm conferences. Program Director, Matt Mulder attended the Project Director meetings and attended, and presented at, the Land For Good conference in Denver imn June 2017. Program participants have attended chainsaw workshops, poultry processing workshops, farm field days, wine harvest, and countless other trainign opporuntiies with support from the VFP, and as a result of contact and sharig of information by Arcadia staff and program participants. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated results of the program through a number of methods. Our Project Director has participated in the Annual Project Directors meeting, presented powerpoint presentations, poster presntations, and participated in panels for veterans in agriculture. He has also presented at a number of conferences and workshops on veterans in agriculture programs. We share our results via email updates to supporters of the program. These are generally distributed quarterly. We share information about our program on our website and through the press. We have had a number of press attention in the program and have articles written and stories aird on television. We are sharing information through RVS and are working to share materials and ionformation through the Farm Answers website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to perform the work of the project. We are currently registering our 2019 Reserve Program, with 17 applications as of August 15. We have also begun to recruit for the 2019 Farm Fellowship, and have 8 applicants for that program. We will make a determination for that position in November 2018. The 2018 Reserve Program will continue through December 2018. We will conduct final evaluations with the group then, and follow-ups in 2019. The full evaluation report for 2018 will be submitted when finished, as we are part of the way through the program. 2019 Veteran Farmer Program Recruitment for the 2019 program began in June. By 8/15, we had 17 Reserve Program applicants and 8 Fellowship candidates. We will interview and select the Fellows in October and November 2018. The Reserve Program participants will be selected in November-December 2018, and both programs will begin in January 2019. The reserve Program will follow a similar schedule to 2018, and will meet for 12 training weekends with four focused on business training by our outside business trainer. We plan to bring Shane LaBrake back for a tracotr workshop in 2019 as well. Much of topics covered and materials will be similar, but revised. We plan to employ 2 Veteran Farm Fellows in 2019. Their schedule will be similar to 2018. We may add an additional short-teim Fellowship if there is interest and if we can determine how to compress the training experience while remaining informational. Veteran Farm Incubator Ground Preparation occurred in February 2018 with farmers provided with access in March-April 2018. The Incubator farmers have operated their farms all season. We will solicit and review Incubator applications in November and December 2018 and make selections in December 2018-January 2019. The farmers will have access to the greenhouse and farm site beginning February 15. We will continue to work with PEC to develop and provide land leasing workshops. We will finish the 2018 Cohort and conduct a final evaluation. The report will provided when finished.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The first year of the project period spans two training cohorts of the Veteran Farmer Reserve Program - 2017 and 2018 - and one cohort of the Veteran Farm Fellowship. The Reserve and Fellowship programs operate from January through December. This report will include information pertaining to the last third (4.5 months) of the 2017 Reserve Program, and the first 2 thirds (7.5 months) of the 2018 Reserve and Fellowship programs. 2017 Veteran Farmer Program 2017 Reserve Program 7 completed the full year of the program representing all four branches of the military, with 13 veterans and 4 still on active duty or in the Reserves. From August 2017 to December 2018, the Reservists participated in 5 training weekends. Those weekends included two Business Training weekends with Poppy Davis; 5 days of field trips, during which the participants visited 12 farms, 2 farm to table restaurants, and one wholesale produce buyer/retailer. Farm visits included visits to a cut flower operation; a whole-diet CSA; an orchard with a hard-cider production operation; a mixed vegetable operation that also makes and distributes compost and soil amendments; three livestock operations that manage sheep, hogs, cattle, and goats; a goat milk dairy; and a small-scale mixed vegetable operation that supplies food to a high-end farm to table restaurant. The visits to the farm-to-table restaurants and retailer provided opportunities to speak with potential buyers who discussed how they purchase from local farmers and the best approach for farmers to take to get into those markets. Program feedback was very positive, with all participants reporting an increase in farming knowledge and an increased comfort in moving forward with their farming careers. Of the 17 participants, three were actively farming before participating in the program. They reported that the program had helped them better manage their operations and would increase their likelihood of their success. Within 4 months of finishing the program, six program participants had started to farm, either on their own operations, or in partnership with, or in the employment of, another farmer. Two of those new farmers began a new operation on Arcadia's new Incubator Farm. 2018 Veteran Farmer Program Fellowship We had 10 applicants, and selected two participants, a Marine veteran and an Army veteran. The two Fellows began the program in January and have spent the past 8 months as full-time farm employees participating in an on-the-job training program with our two full-time farmers. Both of the Fellows had benefits remaining with their GI Bills, and have been able to receive additional financial support through the VA's On-The-Job Training Program, as the Veteran Farm Fellowship is approved by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs in Virginia. The Fellows have work 40 hours a week on the farm, participating in all aspects of farm production and management. They also participate in all of the Reserve Program training weekends, as well as external training opportunities. In July, one Fellow participated in the week-long Agroforestry Academy at the Center for Agroforestry in Missouri. Bothe Fellows participate in local training workshops and programs, and have each been connected with Farm Mentors and advisors. Both Farm Fellows plan to operate their own farms in the future, but both are looking at the possibility of working with another farmer after finishing the program to continue their development. Reserve Program We accepted 26 applicants into the program, with 25 participating in the first training weekend in January. Due to expected attrition, we ended up with the current class size of 15 - 13 Reservists and 2 Fellows. The 13 2018 Reservists represent all four branches of the military, with 4 participants who are currently active duty, and one military spouse who participates fully in the program with her veteran husband. The 2018 Reservists met for 7 training weekends during the first year of the grant period, and participated in a mix of classroom and hands-on training, farm visits, and business training. Outside of the training weekends, Reservists are assigned readings and homework to support their continued development. Reservists are also provided with financial support to attend outside training opportunities, including a group membership to Future Harvest CASA which provides free and reduced-cost access to workshops and their annual conference. We communicate with the Reservists via a Google-based group that allows us to share information about the program and other opportunities and provides a message board for participants to stay in contact with each other. During the first 7.5 months of the program, the Reservists have worked with Arcadia's staff and outside trainers, and met with a number of farmers, government employees, and outside experts to learn about agriculture and farm business planning and management. They have worked with Business Trainer Poppy Davis over two weekends, with two more scheduled for September and October. In June, they spent the weekend in a two-day, intensive tractor training workshop with Shane LaBrake where they learned about tractor operation, maintenance, and safety. They have also interacted regularly with previous program participants. We hope that this interaction ill lead to opportunities to collaborate and develop possible mentor relationships. Land Access Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) manages a farm-link list, and offered 1 of 2 programs planned for 2018 in May. 40 people registered for the workshop, with 24 attending. 6 of our program participants and graduates attended. Arcadia launched a new Veteran Farm Incubator at Arcadia Farm in 2018. We currently have two incubator farmers, both graduates of the 2017 Reserve, farming in a partnership. We will add more Incubator Farmers in 2019. Mentorship We are continuing to contact possible mentors and building a directory of those interested in mentoring program participants, but the progress has been slow. We have established relationships with multiple farms around the region for continuing independent training of our trainees, including participation in chicken processing on farm, pig castration, and wine grape harvesting. We are planning to push more on this in the next 12 months with our partners, and expect to make good progress. Additional Support We established pro bono legal support from Venable LLP for our Veteran Farmers on the Incubator. Our Business Trainer is providing one-on-one consultations with our trainees who own farms or are purchasing land. We purchased food wholesale from several graduates of our program for use in our programs. We launched a farm stand on our property to promote veteran-grown produce, manned by members of our training class. We are consulting with two Virginia farms on how they can become On the Job Training Programs with the VA. Our intention is to support their applications by allowing their apprentices in our Veteran Farmer Reserve Program. This will increase our impact and footprint and benefit the local farm economy.
Publications
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