Promoting Agriculture Jobs, Farming, and Ranching for Veterans

Thanks for making us aware my friend COL Mikel J. Burroughs that USDA Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Deputy Under Secretary Lanon Baccam signed the joint agreement with Eric Eversole, vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with the stated goal of increasing employment opportunities in the agricultural sector for military veterans and their spouses.
Hopefully this agreement will bear fruit very soon and many veterans and family members will reap the benefits.
LTC Stephen C. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Capt Christopher Mueller Capt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt (Join to see) SGT (Join to see) SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT Forrest Stewart SGT John " Mac " McConnell SGT Robert George SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM

After separation I had enough of the corporate world, I ran away to Northern Michigan. I sold my business and with the proceeds I figure my wife and I could be independently poor for the rest of our lives if we managed our money carefully. It turns out 38 is too young to be retired if you want to remain married, out of jail, sober, and weigh less than 300 lbs.

I took a hobby that was costing me a significant amount of money, cheese making, and turned it into a string of related revenue streams. Every waste product from one farming activity is a resource for the next. It took five years to start breaking even, another three years to recover the money I lost on the steep side of the learning curve, another three years to stop supplementing my lifestyle from my portfolio.

A 10 hour day is a short day. A 16 hour day isn't unusual. I have not had a full day off in 18 years. I fall asleep in my chair at the dinner table sometimes. I am sore more often than not. I often reek of goat urine or horse manure or poultry poop, even after a long hot shower. I have hand fed goat kids only to have them die in my arms, or had to put them down because a stray dog tore them up. And if I underestimate the cruelty of weather, mother nature, or the marketplace I could lose it all.

But I am debt free. I just bought 70 acres and a good used 28 year old tractor with cash. I call the shots. I feel a spiritual connection with my work. I always sleep well, even if not enough. I put good food on good people's table. And that is not a bad thing to have on my gravestone. I fully expect that when I die, I will have a pitchfork in hand and fall into a pile of manure face first and that is where I will be found. I like the imagery.

its good for the Soul and Keeps you mind off other problems... it's almost therapeutic...