New Jersey veteran Stephen Robinson ponders the logistics of growing mushrooms and shipping them to farmers’ markets and restaurants — a far cry from the logistics he managed as an Army convoy commander during the battles in Iraq.

He runs an urban farm in southern New Jersey called Urban Farmer Stevewhere he grows mushrooms, microgreens, vegetables and flowers.

“Mushrooms have become my passion, I eat a lot of mushrooms, I grow mushrooms for farmers markets and restaurants,” he said. Farming and being around farming “just gives me life, gives me energy – and gives me hope.”

Veterans like Robinson are constantly turning to agriculture, a field historically intertwined with the military – 1 in 6 farms has a producer currently serving or who has served in the military. However, in recent years, the number of military farmers has declined. In 2022, the US had 305,753 manufacturers who served or were serving in the military, conformable an Agriculture Department census, down 18 percent from 2017.

To help stem the decline, provide career opportunities and attract a changing veteran demographic, training programs focused on getting veterans back into the field have been launched. Robinson sees himself as part of a new crop of farmers, a city dweller who grew up in Philadelphia and New Jersey and returned from the war to an urban environment.

A black veteran, Robinson aims to help others in his community learn about the opportunities he says abound in agriculture even in the city — and there are resources and opportunities available for people “who might look different.”

From the battlefield to the urban fields

Robinson couldn’t have imagined the journey when he enlisted in the Army his freshman year of college, right after the 9/11 attacks.

“It brought the country together,” Robinson said.

His father served in the Navy and Air Force, so it seemed like a natural fit. He was commissioned as an officer in 2003, but before completing his four-year degree, he was deployed to Iraq in 2005.

“It was a very hot time when we were there, we were being shot at, bombed,” Robinson, now 41, said. “I was on the road with the IED, we were in the thick of things at the time.”

He left the military in 2010 and, like many other veterans, didn’t know what to do next. It was hard for him to move from a type of environment where you’re “on the edge” all the time, “you’re trained to be alert” and “always ready for an attack or ‘something crazy’ to happen.”

“It’s hard to turn it off or reduce it once you get out of the military,” he said.

“I haven’t adjusted to civilian life yet, to be completely honest,” added Robinson. “It’s something we’re all still working on.”

He went through a few jobs — including as a claims representative with the Social Security Administration — but didn’t find the right one.

Then he found Veterans to Farmers, a Colorado non-profit organizationthrough online research. Marine Corps veteran Buck Adams launched the organization in 2013 after five years of running his own farm, Circle Fresh Farms, and training veterans in agriculture.

Since its inception and first training programs, veterans have led the organization. Navy veteran and executive director Taylor Drew joined the program in 2017. He now farms in the mountains of northwest Colorado with his wife and three children.

“It’s a good life, but a hard life,” Drew said, adding that he’s never been more content after stumbling around for several years after leaving the military.

Drew helps run the organization and what he says is the overwhelming need to move veterans into agriculture. He says their small organization has trained 220 veterans since 2013 and the network is “very strong.”

Supported by a combination of government funds and private donations, with a budget of about $250,000 annually, Drew said the group had 150 applications last year for the 18 slots in their hydroponics (controlled farming) program.

Participant and Navy veteran John Bauman, who is from Chicago, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and now rents two parcels of land near Denver, selling his produce at farmers markets. His first crop was carrots and he said farming helps him “feel better”.

A new type of farmer

As the number of veterans living in the U.S. declines, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, its demographics are also changing. Population patterns show that women, Hispanics, blacks, and adults under 50 will make up a large portion of the veteran population by 2048, according to a 2023 study from the Pew Research Center, changing the needs of veterans interested in agriculture. The Agriculture Department Census found that black farmers with military service also increased, accounting for 2.5 percent of producers with military service, compared to 1.2 percent of all American producers.

“We need to do more to support apprenticeships and train the next generation of farmers,” Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, he wrote in a report on the county’s rapidly aging farmers. Americans are more likely to meet a farmer over the age of 65 than under the age of 44 and with a Global growth of 2 billion people estimated by 2050 – there must be enough farmers to grow food. “The food supply, select manufacturing industries and even national security depend on the future of agriculture,” Braun said.

Supporting urban farmers could be part of the solution, urban farmers are generally younger than the general farming population with an average age of 44, with 32% making a living from agriculture, conformable to a report by the National Center for Appropriate Technology.

The Veterans Administration provides numerous programs for veterans to learn how to farm, and other non-profits provide services, such as Armed to Farm, which offers a program in urban agriculture in New Orleans and Farmers Veterans Coalitionwhich provides support to veterans entering the field.

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency has offered a total of $862 million in loans through Oct. 31, the federal agency told CBS News, helping more than 4,000 veterans, but many say demand far outstrips supply.

“We’re seeing continued growth in interest among the veteran population in building a life and career centered around agriculture — both in urban and rural environments,” said Jaime Wood, director of Strategic Initiatives at the USDA, which works to support the veteran population. , CBS News said. She said the USDA has a full-time veteran liaison on the team who previously served in the military.

Urban techniques bring old-fashioned fulfillment

Robinson applied to attend the Veterans at the farmers The fall 2021 program, he said, the pandemic has given him an extra boost in agriculture. “We saw limited food and a lack of produce.”

Started the 8-10 week program in 2022, flying between New Jersey and Denver for the hydroponic program, what is the technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil.

On Monday, veterans enrolled in the program received a crash course in “Agriculture 101,” and on Tuesday, they worked on various farms and had field trips to learn about farm operations.

Living in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, which has cold winters, Robinson found it important to learn hydroponic farming, which regulates the growing environment and allows for a lot of control over what was grown and how.

“It’s also very consistent,” he said.

Robinson started growing microgreens, which he said don’t require much upfront investment and can grow in 10-14 days. It soon expanded its microgreen offerings to include lettuce, herbs and mushrooms, which are easier to grow in an urban environment. It sells to restaurants and farmers markets and to consumers.

researcher at the National Center for Appropriate Technology, urban farmers can grow crops and livestock and also be structured around “the social aspects of urban agriculture, which include food security, community building and education.”

Urban farming has its limitations, research shows that half of the urban farms surveyed in 2013 had sales of around $10,000 and had to have another form of income to survive. Urban farms often lack the scale to grow large quantities of food and instead focus on selling niche products to low-volume customers, emphasizing quality and price over quantity, the research found.

Robinson said regardless of the challenges, he is committed to growing his business because it’s not just about the money, it’s also about personal fulfillment. Learning to cultivate has completely changed his perspective and life in the past two years, and he doesn’t struggle like he used to.

“When you’re grounded, you’re grounded,” Robinson said. “I feel like you get all of that from farming.”

Farming keeps him rooted in his community, and his life’s mission has changed from taking lives to “being around life.”

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