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Pilot program trains veterans for farm jobs

ROSS TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A dozen jobless military veterans have gone through a four-week course that could move them into the farm labor force.

They took part in a pilot program called Vets to Ag, run by Michigan State University and the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth.

The training took place at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station in Kalamazoo County's Ross Township, about 50 miles west-southwest of the Michigan State campus in East Lansing.

"The program is designed for United States veterans who are currently unemployed, some of whom were residing in homeless shelters in Detroit," spokeswoman Eileen Gianiodis wrote on the school's Web site.

The trainees, mainly from Detroit, were "specifically trained for work on a Christmas tree farm, but training will include a strong basic foundation in the plant and soil sciences, equipment operation and general agricultural knowledge, all applicable to work in other agricultural commodities," she said.

Organizers held a recognition ceremony Oct. 2 for the first group of trainees.

They included Clinton Boyd, 46, who was laid off from his 13-year welding job.

"This program will give me a chance to develop more skills," he said in a statement. "For me, working more means providing more for my three children."

The program grew out of a demand for farm workers, particularly in the Christmas tree industry.

"It is through programs like this that students become a highly educated work force, which is exactly what Michigan needs," said Eunice Foster, director of Michigan State's Institute for Agricultural Technology.

The program also includes lessons in conversational Spanish because trainees will work alongside Spanish-speaking migrant laborers.