Getting Veterans Involved In Agriculture

 

The breadth and depth of Michigan State University Extension resources make it a unique and exceptional organization. Resources to veterans and their families are included, but what about veterans interested in agriculture? MSU Extension and the Veterans in Agriculture Network are cooperating to offer support and job opportunities to veterans interested in agriculture as a career.

 

Programs like Heroes to Hives and the Farm Incubator Program at the Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center serve as great opportunities for veterans to get involved in agriculture. The Veterans in Agriculture Network is a veteran-led group operating within Michigan Food and Farming Systems. The Veterans in Agriculture Network offers farmer veterans access to resources, education, mentorship and advocacy throughout Michigan and the nation. Their vet-to-vet approach provides a community for Michigan’s farmer veterans who work together to ensure the long-term success of one another.

 

The Agriculture for Tomorrow Conference on March 7, 2017, at Bay College in Escanaba, Michigan, will be offering free registration to three Upper Peninsula veterans interested in farming as a career. A simple letter detailing interests, location and contact information can be sent to Monica Jean, MSU Extension field crops educator, at atkinmon@anr.msu.edu. Dylan Thomas, owner of Two Pines Farm and co-director of the Veterans in Agriculture Network, will be presenting at the Agriculture for Tomorrow Conference about how he uses his personal story to make connections between veterans and farming. Registration for the event at Agriculture for Tomorrow Conference.

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.