Former Army Ranger Damon Helton and his wife Jana had no farming experience when they started their operation, The Farm at Barefoot Bend. Now, however, their farm is going strong and was recently featured on “Good Roots,” a video project of Arkansas PBS.

“Military veterans focused on sustainable and regenerative methods, like here at The Farm at Barefoot Bend, are a big bolster to the local food system, and it’s amazing to see programs that help support it.” – Good Roots

The Heltons produce eggs, pastured pork, grass-fed beef, and vegetables. Donkeys, horses, lambs, goats, and guineas round out the “little bit of everything” on the farm. Damon tells Good Roots that Armed to Farm “was absolutely instrumental in helping us get started.” 

Since launching in 2013, NCAT’s Armed to Farm program has supported more than 800 veterans from 45 states with hands-on and classroom learning opportunities. Damon and Jana were part of the first Armed to Farm training cohort in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

Arkansas Senator John Boozman toured the Helton’s farm while Good Roots was there and shared his thoughts on programs like Armed to Farm: 

“We’ve got a lot of veterans that are coming back and deciding what they want to do in the next phase in their life, and farming is something that appeals to a lot of them. And the question is, How to you get into it? It’s kind of daunting. It’s not your area of expertise. So Armed to Farm, programs like that, really do an outstanding job of not only helping them get started, but these are programs that’ll kind of hold their hands from then on.” 

The National Center for Appropriate Technology, a national nonprofit organization based in Butte, Montana, manages the Armed to Farm program through a cooperative agreement with USDA-Rural Development. For more information on sustainable agriculture training opportunities for military veterans, visit ARMEDTOFARM.ORG.