Tricia Park | Farmer Veteran

January 16, 2018/Claire Norman

Tricia Park joined the United States Air Force after high school where she served two tours at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey and was an Aerospace Ground Equipment Mechanic. Joining the Air Force was “one of the best decisions I ever made,” she says in a video tour of her farm by The Farmer Veteran Coalition. 

Having a farm started off as a dream of her husband’s, and Tricia had no farming experience whatsoever. Today, she describes farming as food for the soul. She and her husband own Creekside Meadows Farm in New Woodstock, NY, where they produce grass-fed beef, pasture raised pork, chicken, and turkey, seasonal vegetables, maple syrup, and farmstead soap on 150 acres. What excited her about farming is being able to watch something grow into fruition that started off as a small seed. 

To initiate the start of the farm, Tricia participated in the Northeast Beginning Women Farmers program through the USDA and then began working with us at the Cornell Small Farms Program. Tricia became aware of the Farmer Veteran Coalition in 2015, and in 2017 she was awarded a farmer veteran fellowship which allowed them to purchase equipment for their farm.

Tricia would suggest to other veterans that wish to farm to really think about why you want to enter into agriculture. She also highlights that farming is like a business and should be treated as such. 

Claire Norman

Claire is a Senior in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. She chose an interdisciplinary major where she could blend her passions for small-scale agriculture and education. Claire comes from a small dairy farm in Pine Plains, NY, where she grew an appreciation for the natural environment, but it was through FFA that she developed a passion for education. She hopes to one day bring agriculture to her classroom and to support community agriculture.
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