![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636017585293079265-farm-elliotjpg.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRobert Elliot, a Marine veteran who turned to agriculture in his post-military career, now teaches aspiring farmers how the work is done.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: Jasmine Cen\/Medill News Service<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Acquiring land, Elliot said, is one of the biggest challenges facing those new to the industry.\u00a0The average cost of farm land and associated buildings was about $3,020 per acre last year, up 2.4 percent from 2014, according to the USDA.\u00a0The property costs on the comparatively\u00a0small plot that Cypress Hall sits upon\u00a0would run between $90,000 to $120,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why the USDA has been encouraging vets to take advantage of its programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seth Eure, an active duty\u00a0Marine, is working with Elliot to learn the trade and, he hopes, realize his dream of becoming an organic peanut farmer. Eure has come to Cypress Hall on a “permissive temporary assignment detail” from Camp Lejeune, so he can develop\u00a0his farming and business. He wants to become an agricultural\u00a0entrepreneur upon transitioning out of the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Growing up on a large-scale conventional farm with more than\u00a040,000 chickens, Eure wasn’t sure at first about going into this line of work for his post-military career. He said he enjoys\u00a0being outdoors, though,\u00a0and made his decision after spending time at Cypress Hall. Eure said he plans to apply\u00a0for a USDA\u00a0loan after he completes his studies with Elliot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a farmer, “I am nourishing life,” says Eure, who wears a black metal wristband in honor of a fallen comrade. “I got to see that baby chicken hatch from an egg, grow up to be a full-grown chicken, and lay its own egg. …\u00a0Walking outside with my cup of coffee in the morning, and a chicken comes to greet me at the door and say hi. It is a good feeling the animal trusts me with its life.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s\u00a0other motivation, too.\u00a0The veterans-helping-veterans approach to farming is seen as one means to help those who’ve\u00a0experienced service-connected post-traumatic stress and, it is hoped, to reduce instances of suicide.\u00a0Farming provides goals and a sense of mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Elliot, who says he’s lost Marine buddies to suicide,\u00a0was laid off from a civilian contract job with the Marine Corps in 2011, a time when veterans’ unemployment stood at 8.3 percent, according to the Labor Department.\u00a0He earned an associate\u00a0degree from a community college and moved on to North Carolina State University where he majored in engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Elliot struggled to fit in, he says, and soon\u00a0left school for the sanctity of his family farm. Working with his chickens, he says, has\u00a0been more rewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I think it was more a cultural shock than anything that really messed me up,” he says. “I couldn’t relate to the way that civilians acted. …\u00a0Out there is the civilian world, nobody cares about you, is the impression I get, whereas in the Marine Corps, and in the military, one of the first things you are taught is you take care of each other.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the USDA looks to boost the number of veterans who join this workforce, it relies on a nationwide network of grassroots organizations to help teach the requisite skills, connect individuals with rank-and-file employment opportunities and\u00a0support more ambitious entrepreneurial\u00a0endeavors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rich Murphy, program director for Veterans to Farmers, a Colorado-based nonprofit,\u00a0says the program provides\u00a0classes about farming techniques. Inquiries, from veterans across the country, are on the rise, he said, adding that about 50 percent of those in the program are interested in learning about small-scale production and using farming as a form of therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Colorado, the Food Cottage Act\u00a0allows an individual to sell certain types of products from their home kitchens. So this provides incomes for modest\u00a0producers. Those who\u00a0want to test the waters should start\u00a0small anyway, Murphy recommends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, the profession is well suited for young veterans, Elliot says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The American veteran is the one who needs to be able to take over the farms of tomorrow,” he says, “… simply because there is no other demographic of people that has a work ethic, gets dirty, gets up early, goes to bed late and is willing to put in whatever they have to do to accomplish the mission.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “There is no other demographic that … is willing to put in whatever they have to do to accomplish the mission.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":89641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":29,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[643],"class_list":["post-53502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-transition"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"J32TSGTEMNCEHGHCBEHKQOPAEE","arc_canonical_url":"\/education-transition\/jobs\/2016\/06\/18\/uncle-sam-wants-you-to-become-a-farmer\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n