Rural areas finding ways to support veterans interested in farming
By Aleah Bright, AG DAILY
Whether it’s Fourth of July, Veterans Day, or just another day where we live and breathe free, it is noteworthy to reflect on the industry that helped to build this nation and how it continues to support the success of our service members today. As has been the case in major wars throughout U.S. history, many veterans and active-duty military still come from farming communities. Rural America grows young men and women who step up to serve, but there is a struggle for them to find agricultural work upon returning home.
In 2004, more than 44 percent of military recruits came from rural areas, and the farming industry is continually looking to give veterans job opportunities that can support them when they return to their rural roots.
The farming community built this nation. From the very start, agriculture has fueled the economy and fed a growing population. As the 20th century began, agriculture progressed with the first successful U.S. made tractor, and slowly farming with horsepower began to fade. The American tractor grew in popularity in the ’30s and more so as the economy boomed despite wartime rationing during World War II. On the home front, farming continued but with less workforce as thousands of farm boys lined the streets to support the war effort.
Today, programs across the nation are providing an increasing amount of support for veterans, helping in areas such as mental wellness and finding the jobs and careers they want. Still, a sometimes-overlooked avenue is farming and the power of healing that comes with it. Over the last several decades programs connecting veterans to the land are seeing more and more potential.
This potential is something Jason Alves of the Washington State Department of Veteran Affairs is passionate about. He has witnessed firsthand the results of these programs, and for the past several years has dedicated his work to exploring and developing these ideas further. Alves was born in the southeastern corner of Oregon, where he grew up on his family’s ranch raising alfalfa and working on a cow/calf operation of 350 to 500 head of cattle before joining the Navy in 2001.
“I jumped at the chance to serve my country and look at potentially going into higher education and going to college,” Alves remembers.
During his four years in the Navy he served on the USS Kittyhawk, spending three years overseas in Japan.
Upon returning home, Alves’ passion for giving back and helping veterans ultimately led him to the state department, where he works as program manager of the Veterans Conservation Corps and the Vet Corps program — specifically focusing on counseling and wellness.
These programs connect veterans with nature and the state’s natural resources, with the goal of transitioning often into employment. Opportunities for veterans in these programs center around peer-mentoring, which gives veterans the chance to serve again by teaching and learning together.
The Veterans Conservation Corps began as an avenue to get outside and work primarily with salmon and stream restoration, but Alves said that as the programs continued, more and more calls came in from veterans asking how they could become involved in agriculture.
“Overall, there is a community movement in the Pacific Northwest to connect with food and where food comes from,” Alves said. “I think veterans are also caught up in that. But the bigger reason we turn to ag is due to the high rural veteran unemployment rate in our state.”