Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the project builds on outcomes from…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the project builds on outcomes from the existing veteran small farm business incubator program by creating three (3) additional and existing four (4) veteran business incubators and compensatory work therapy networks (VBI, cwtn) clusters. Each of these has five (5) lead nuclear veteran farmers (lnvf) and a minimum of three (3) to five (5) veteran outgrower apprenticeship producers (voap). This shows a total of 35 lnvf and 35 voap supported through USDA programs and services. In three years, through informal training and hands-on technical assistance for capacity building, 70 veteran producers' (veterans and military families) in seven (7) clusters will be engaged in agriculture and agribusiness. The objectives are(1) follow-up with participants as beginning farmers or gained employment in agriculture or allied industries; (2) expand recruitment targeting female veterans and military family members; (3) provide technical assistance, disaster risk mitigation support, and mobilize resources from USDA agencies, private sector, universities, and established veteran farms -- for placement and apprenticeship, mentoring, coaching, sponsorship and stewardship; (4) provide coaching support to participants, for business development, agribility, and agritherapy in the cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd).expected outcomes: seven (7) integrated VBI and cwtn established as growers groups; 64 % (45) producers demonstrating how to create resilient farms & ranches; 77% (54) producers building their capacities to create self-insured risk management systems to be able to recover quickly after a disaster; and 100% (70) producers receiving USDA programs support to develop their small farms or ranches/groups.