The United States Department of Agriculture or USDA opens its doors to America’s modern-day heroes by offering careers in farm and ranch operations.
Thousands of young and men women dedicate their lives to protect our freedom. But after their duties are completed and they return to their homes, most of them find themselves conflicted with the dilemma of where to go next?
While many choose to continue their education and go to college, there are those who choose to do business instead. Still, there are others who are stuck in the limbo of looking for a career choice that suits them best.
The USDA hopes to encourage these vets to consider one of the most important yet underestimated career choices today: agriculture. According to the department, various career options are available to American veterans including owning and operating a farm, or “working in one of the many areas that support the nation’s rural fabric.”
Need financing? We can help.How does the USDA assist beginning farmers and ranchers?
There are plenty of assistance programs that the department offers to all beginner farmers and ranchers, veterans or not. These include the whole array of loan programs directed by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. These loans can help the veteran acquire land, start operations, fund operations and maintenance, or lease farm land.
With the aim of guiding the country’s veterans along with other beginner farmers and ranchers, the USDA partnered with SCORE to provide the necessary mentorship that they need to order to steer their careers to the right directions.
Whether you have previous farming experience or it is your first time to jump through the hoop, the USDA urges that the career is for anyone as long as they have the dedication and passion for their work.
FSA’s Farm Loan Programs
Programs offered by the Farm Service Agency seek to help its beneficiaries start, improve, expand, transition, market, and strengthen family farming and ranching operations. They also provide value-added, direct sale, organic, and specialty crop operations. They also advocate and support for various farming techniques, encouraging emerging methods that adapt to the needs of the population.
Current interest rates of each program effective as of November 1, 2017:
Program | Interest Rates |
Farm Operating- Direct | 2.750% |
Farm Operating – Microloan | 2.750% |
Farm Ownership – Direct | 3.625% |
Farm Ownership – Microloan | 3.625% |
Farm Ownership – Direct, Joint Financing | 2.500% |
Farm Ownership – Down Payment | 1.500% |
Emergency Loan – Amount of Actual Loss | 3.750% |
Agriculture is one of the most important sectors that provide a solid foundation for the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Per a 2015 data, agriculture, food, and related industries contributed $992 to the GDP, a 5.5 percent share. The output of America’s farms alone contributed $136.7 which is one percent of the GDP.
As populations continue to increase exponentially, the department sees the need for the country to supply not just the country’s but the world’s equally increasing demand for food and other agricultural products. The country is one of the world’s biggest exporter of agricultural produce, hence the humongous responsibility towards international demand. They hope that by further efforts to recruit more people into the country’s agricultural wing, they can keep up with the demand that is in equal measure vitally economic in nature.
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