USDA, Department of Defense Partner To Provide Career Training For Service Members

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Defense’s Transition to Veterans Program Office announced the recent integration of agriculture into the career training and counseling programs that service members receive as they transition out of the military.

Information about USDA resources and programs will now reach 200,000 transitioning service members every year.

Every year, nearly 200,000 service members complete the Transition Assistance Program as they prepare for civilian life. The new partnership will help to ensure that returning service members know about the incentives for military veterans in USDA programs, and the ways USDA can support military veterans and their families, from farm loans to conservation programs to nutrition assistance to rural rental housing and homeownership opportunities.

For more information, veterans can also visit www.usda.gov/veterans, a website designed specifically to educate them about USDA programs.

Since 2009, USDA has provided $438 million in farm loans to help more than 6,482 veterans purchase farmland, buy equipment and make repairs and upgrades, it says. Since it was launched in January 2013, USDA’s microloan program has provided more than $22.6 million in support to help 1,083 veterans grow their farming businesses.