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The BattleGround to Breaking Ground Program (BGBG) is a training program that consists of several Program Tracks developed for active duty military, military veterans, their families, and the general public who are new / beginning farmers and ranchers to assist them in starting or enhancing a production agriculture business. The program offers online business planning courses, hands-on training and mentoring, and online agriculture production courses for the Skills Training Program, Traditional Program, and Condensed Programs. It also has Tracks that offer an introduction to agriculture type workshops through the Introduction to Agriculture Business online course and the in-person Introduction to Production Agriculture Boot Camp.
The mission of this program is to increase the number of beginning farmers and ranchers in the U.S. and enhance their enterprise sustainability through an innovative, holistic model for education, training, technical assistance, and outreach; thus, reducing self-employment barriers for veterans and others (particularly those with disabilities) to enter and remain in production agriculture. One of the unique and innovative aspects of the project is that it addresses not only the educational needs of beginning farmers and ranchers, but also offers a professional learning community that provides ongoing beginning farmer business development and ag-specific technical guidance, access to farm management and production expertise, and potential linkage to land opportunities.
