(LEX 18) — They’ve kept the country safe, and now they’re keeping the country fed. In Kentucky, there are hundreds of farmers who have also served in the U.S. Military.
Through the Department of Agriculture, nearly 280 of these military farmers get special recognition when selling their products.
In 2013, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture in partnership with the Farmer Veteran Coalition launched the Homegrown by Heroes program. The marketing initiative aims to highlight farmers and ag producers who serve or have served in any of the branches of the U.S. Military by giving them a special logo to brand their products.
“It's a fantastic way to set yourself apart from the competition,” said Tim Gorman, who served in the U.S. Navy and now farms in Anderson County. Life on the farm is harder than it looks, especially for a rookie, Gorman quickly learned.
“As a first generation farmer, you don’t have any of the infrastructure, you don’t have any of the tools, any family to tell you how it’s done or anything,” explained Gorman.
It was a risk Gorman was willing to take when he moved to Kentucky with his wife Alex last year.
“We just wanted a more quiet, idyllic life for my daughter, and decided to try our hand at farming,” he said.
Two horses, three lambs, and a couple of barn cats later, the Gormans own and operate Baad Land Farms, specializing in Katahdin sheep, sold for their meat.
According to Gorman, the challenges of starting a farm from ground zero are matched only by serving in the U.S. Navy for six years.“I served aboard the USS Florida, an SSGN ballistic submarine.”
Gorman was deployed four times and even became a scuba diver aboard the boat.
“It was hard at times, farming is hard at times, but at the end of the day, it’s all very rewarding,” said Gorman.
Gorman’s resume as a veteran-farmer qualified him for Homegrown by Heroes. Once his flock grows and he officially begins selling product next year, he’s eager to have the extra marketing help.
“We applied for it because we wanted to set our product apart from competitors.”From the grocery store to the farmers market, consumers can look for the special Homegrown by Heroes logo, indicating the product was produced in Kentucky by a military farmer.
While the program was started in Kentucky, it became so popular that on Veterans Day in 2013, the Farmer Veteran Coalition administered Homegrown by Heroes nationally. Since then, 2,000 members from all 50 states have signed on to Homegrown by Heroes.
