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: To support military service members and veterans who desire to explore and/or pursue agricultural vocations.
Vision:
- 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.
Events
Farm Ops News and Updates
The Cornell Maple Program hosted the Maple Confections Academy from September 9-11 at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, NY. This advanced training provided maple producers with the opportunity to take their…
Read MoreTRUMANSBURG, N.Y. — Nineteen participants gathered at Hawk Meadow Farm for a hands-on workshop on outdoor shiitake mushroom cultivation, learning techniques for growing mushrooms on logs in a natural…
Read MoreNate and Misty Allanach of All Family Farm, operate by the philosophy “happier equals healthier”. The Allanachs have cultivated a livelihood centered around raising Berkshire pigs — a heritage breed…
Read More
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.
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.
