Farming programs helps veterans learn to farm

Damon Helton had one problem when he bought a 160-acre farm in Lonsdale four years ago - he didn’t know the first thing about farming. Three years out of the military, the retired Army Ranger was still transitioning back to civilian life. He had a well-paying sales job, but it took him away from his wife and children too often. So he bought the Farm at Barefoot Bend in Garland County. “Then, it was like ‘Holy crap, what did we just do?’” he said. Fortunately for Helton, he discovered resources that catered to someone like him - a veteran looking to start a farm. More precisely, he found the National Center for Appropriate Technology’s Armed to Farm Program, the state Agriculture Department Homegrown By Heroes program and the Farmer Veteran Coalition.