June 18, 2018 – The Cooperative Extension Program in the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences participated with Texas A&M in the “Battle Ground to Breaking Ground” (BG2BG) program hosted in Dallas, Texas, May 31, 2018. Sonny Perdue, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, attended the event in support of the initial 2014 Farm Bill designating veterans for the first time as a distinct class of beginning farmers within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Secretary Perdue met with these veteran farmers and Angela Moore, extension associate for Agriculture and Natural Resources (AgNR) at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), to discuss the importance of the program and how integral PVAMU is in building goodwill with critical stakeholders and the community in attracting inexperienced farmers to the field. During the meeting, Moore took the liberty to invite the Secretary to visit PVAMU’s campus.
Moore said, “Secretary Perdue was very personable. I especially appreciated that he took time out to not only pose for pictures but to engage with me, as well. He asked questions about Prairie View A&M University and my involvement here.” Moore also said she discussed PVAMU’s partnership with Texas A&M on the Texas AgrAbility Project, a USDA funded program geared towards helping farmers who have a disability continue to work in production agriculture. PVAMU’s role with the AgrAbility Project was to increase awareness by promoting the program and assisting with identifying limited resource/socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers who may be eligible for participation.
The BG2BG, a result of the AgrAbility program, is a USDA grant-funded program with a targeted focus of providing training, technical assistance and other resources to the U.S. military veterans with disabilities and developing viable agricultural careers with the unique skills they have from their military experience.
Last year, PVAMU hosted its first BG2BG Workshop. Following the workshop, a participant, Oscar Tyler, wrote an encouraging statement of the program’s resources. He said, “I’m a retired Senior Officer and have been through my share of workshops and conferences over the last 20 plus years, and remiss if I didn’t thank you, your staff, and contributors that played a part in delivering a ” Truly Professional”, information filled, and enlightening workshop/conference at Prairie View…Continue the great work!”
This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 1890 Extension Formula Program projects under Section 1444.
Angela Moore
Extension Associate, Agriculture and Natural Resources
almoore@pvamu.edu
(936) 261-5002