Project Lead: Nina Saeli
Veterans Assistant: Tess Noble Strohm
There are approximately 19 million U.S military veterans, representing less than 10% of the total U.S. adult population. New York State is home to over 800,000 of that military veteran population. Not commonly known and understood, military service members have unique skill sets, which easily transfer to several agricultural or horticulture vocations.
Farm Ops provides the means for veterans, active duty service members, reservists, and members of the national guard to explore agricultural and horticulture avenues. These individuals may be seeking prospects to be their own boss, paths to connect with the soil or with nature, ventures to continue to serve the community in which they work and live, or just opportunities to connect with other veterans. Whatever their interests, Farm Ops aims to serve and support the men and women of NYS, who dedicated their lives in service and support of our nation.
Mission & Vision
To support military service members and veterans who desire to explore and/or pursue agricultural vocations.
- Provide a framework within which veterans can connect with their community, other military veterans involved in agriculture, and resources including targeted programs, information networks, and organizations oriented towards helping veterans transition to agricultural vocations.
- Grow the relationships between Farm Ops and the NYS military/veteran communities.
- Assist in synchronizing the efforts of veteran service/support organizations and farmer-oriented service organizations to gain efficiencies and better align services to farmer veteran needs.
Farm Ops Resources
Join our email list to hear about new resources as they’re added.
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Upcoming Events for Veterans in Agriculture
This calendar features events specifically being offered for veterans interested in agriculture. For more event that you…
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Veteran Scholarships
The Farm Ops project facilitates veterans’ access to agricultural education and training resources. Our scholarship program is…
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Project Resources
Cornell Resources Cornell Small Farms Program Resource Page. Current information is essential to manage your farm and…
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Veteran Farm Stories and Tours
Our Farm Ops project collaborates with established Veteran and Farming groups to create a network of organizations…
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Subscribe to Farm Ops Emails
The Farm Ops SITREP is a monthly email digest built for farmer veterans and designed to enhance…
Events
Events
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Farm Tour: Small Scale Farrow to Finish
299 Yule Corners Rd, Jordanville, NY 13361 299 Yule Corners Road, Jordanville, New YorkTop Notch Livestock & Meats houses boars, barrows, guilts, and sows to support their farrowing to finish swine operation. This farm tour will focus on the permanent infrastructure and equipment needs for separating various pig operations to facilitate biosecurity, disease control, and production efficiency. Approaches, such as separating pigs by age, production stage, and health […]
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So You Think You Want to be a Market Gardener
Centurion Farm, LLC 287 Creek Road, Locke, NYThe Cornell Small Farms Program is pleased to offer an in-person workshop exploring the ins and outs of market gardening. This event is perfect for aspiring and beginning farmers who want to grow and sell vegetables produced intensively on small acreage. Whether you are already growing vegetables for yourself and your family or planning for […]
Farm Ops News and Updates
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Farm Ops Offers Agricultural Marketing Veteran Cohort
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Marketing for a farm involves promoting and selling agricultural products by understanding consumer needs, creating a unique brand, setting competitive prices, and using various channels to reach customers. With successful marketing efforts, farmers can build customer loyalty, increase sales, and ensure the farm’s profitability. With so many moving parts to consider, many farmers find creating…
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Farmer Veterans Gain Fiber Skills
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Veteran-specific events foster community, skills, and farm business growth for farmer veterans considering regenerative fiber production solutions. New York State is home to an array of specialized animal breeds that grow amazing natural fibers, and there is growing interest from new and beginning farmers in producing fiber. Notably, the Cornell Small Farms Program’s project…
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Farm Ops Supports Veteran Attendance to the 2024 Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Field Days
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Soil biology, urban soil health, soil amendments, biochar applications, crop rotation, cover crops, pest and weed management, reduced tillage—these were just some of the topics covered during this year’s New York Soil Health Field Days. No matter what farmers were growing—vegetables, field crops, grains, or fruit—there was an event somewhere in New York State to…
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Farm Ops Supports Veteran Attendance to the NYS Fiber Conference
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Farm Ops, the Cornell Small Farms Program’s veteran project, supported veteran attendance at the annual New York State Fiber Conference, helping farmer veterans develop new skills, explore value-added products, and connect with others in the fiber industry. The conference provided fiber producers of all experience levels with hands-on skills and knowledge about fiber types and…
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Exchanging the Challenges of Military Service for the Challenges of Learning about Horticulture
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Tyler Evans explored what it meant to be part of the U.S. Marine Corps, and he lived with a mindset to defeat the challenges that hinder progress. After completing his service, he explored and now works with nature to challenge himself and progress to build an agricultural business. When Marine Corps veteran, Tyler Evans, left…
About Nina Saeli
Nina joined the Small Farms Program in 2020 after five years of collaboration with the program as a beginning farmer. She works to support both current and future farmer-veteran programming efforts. Nina’s transitioning from almost 20 years of military service into the civilian community helps to inform the program on how of some of the physical, social, and psychological challenges veterans face. Nina’s work aims to help transitioning veterans find solace in aspect of agriculture that supports that veterans health, self sustainability, community inclusion or other life goals.
About Tess Noble Strohm
Tess joined the Small Farms Program in 2025 as a veterans project assistant with Farm Ops. Her love of the outdoors began by hunting for insects in her Brooklyn backyard as a child. After studying environmental science at Bard College, she worked on a small farm in the Hudson Valley, and then went on to study soil science at Colorado State University. Tess moved to Ithaca, NY, to work as a Research Support Specialist at the Cornell Soil Health Lab before joining the Farm Ops team where she helps veterans thrive in agriculture and ensures they have the tools and resources they need to succeed.
Subscribe for Updates and Opportunities
The Farm Ops SITREP is a monthly email digest built for farmer veterans. Emails will share upcoming events and training/educational opportunities, external news, curated agricultural articles, stories about fellow farmer veterans across New York State, and more.
