Veterans: From Battleground to Breaking Ground

SAN ANTONIO – The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, in cooperation with the Texas AgrAbility Project and U.S. Department of Agriculture, is presenting a free workshop, “From Battleground to Breaking Ground: A Transformational Journey,” which targets returning veterans who are interested in agriculture production as an employment option.

The first workshop will be in San Antonio on November 9 in conjunction with the San Antonio International Farm and Ranch Show.

The workshops address specific issues related to agriculture production for veterans with disabilities, however, any veteran interested in farming or ranching is encouraged to attend.

Each workshop hosts a military veteran who is operating or in the process of starting an agriculture production business.

For more information on the workshops, contact Cheryl Grenwelge at (979) 845-3727, [email protected], or agriculture workshop program coordinator Erin Pilosi at (979) 847-6185, [email protected], or visit http://txagrability.tamu.edu/.

Nearly 45 percent of returning veterans are from rural areas, noted Dr. Cheryl Grenwelge, affiliated faculty at the Center on Disability and Development at Texas A&M, AgriLife Extension Specialist and Texas AgrAbility project coordinator.

The program “has been uniquely designed with input from many organizations and agencies, including Texas AgrAbility, USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, National Farmer Veteran Coalition, Farm Service Agency and the Texas Department of Agriculture,” said Bryan Davis, AgriLife Extension agent for Bexar County.

A series of ten workshops will be held across the state through 2014. The workshops will be located in San Antonio, Dallas, Weslaco, Temple and El Paso.

Source: Education & Human Development at Texas A&M University