Programs Provide Pathway for Veterans, Service Members to Begin Farming
MANHATTAN, Kan., June 18, 2018 — With more than two million service members transitioning from the U.S. Armed Forces back to civilian life, the Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education, or S.A.V.E. Farm, aims to bridge the gap between that workforce and the aging population of most American farmers. To aid the nonprofit in creating programs that provide agricultural training, Corteva AgriscienceTM, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, is sponsoring a half-day workshop Friday, June 22, 2018.
Located at Bo Classen’s farm, 4083 S. 33rd St., Manhattan, Kansas, attendees will go through several rotations. At the corn and soybean rotations, they will learn about physiology, life cycle, weeds, pests and yield success. During their weed and insect control rotation, they will learn about best practices.
“One of the core values of Corteva Agriscience™ is to build together. This event encapsulates that ideal by enriching the lives of veterans while training the agricultural leaders of tomorrow,” said Clint Pickard, territory manager, Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. “We are thrilled to be able to provide, not only supplies and technology, but our agronomic expertise to such a worth-while cause.”
The farm, which began five years ago, already uses Pioneer® brand soybean products, DuPont Crop Protection herbicide and Encirca® services Satellite Imagery to provide training for the veterans. After completing their training at S.A.V.E., the veterans are then matched with mentor farmers with the potential to eventually work on and manage their own operation.
“We have been working with Kansas State University for a while, and bringing in additional experts from Pioneer really lends another expert viewpoint to our work here,” S.A.V.E. CEO Colonel Gary LaGrange said. “The fact that they are generous enough to donate materials and their time speaks volumes about, not just the importance of this work, but their values as a company. We hope this is the beginning of a long-standing relationship.”
In addition to planting row crops, the S.A.V.E. Farm students manage bee hives, cattle, blackberries and many other agricultural endeavors. The farm will ultimately be built to train 100 service members and their families.
Media are welcome to attend this event on June 22, 2018.
Schedule of Events:
8:30 a.m. Tailgate Breakfast
9 a.m. Welcome
9:10 a.m. First Rotation
10 a.m. Second Rotation
10:50 a.m. Third Rotation
11:45 a.m. Lunch
About S.A.V.E. Farm
S.A.V.E. Farm’s mission is to provide a training farm with an adjacent clinic, assist servicemembers and veterans to transition, to find purpose and meaning in life and enable them to learn valuable vocational skills to meet the demand for agricultural ownership, employment, or other advanced schooling. Facilitate healing for those in need and place those trained on working farms.
About Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont
Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP), is intended to become an independent, publicly traded company when the previously announced spinoff is complete by June 2019. The division combines the strengths of DuPont Pioneer, DuPont Crop Protection and Dow AgroSciences. Corteva Agriscience™ provides growers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry — including some of the most recognized brands in agriculture: Pioneer®, Encirca®, the newly launched Brevant™ Seeds, as well as award-winning Crop Protection products - while bringing new products to market through our solid pipeline of active chemistry and technologies. More information can be found at www.corteva.com.
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6/18/18
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Contact:
Kacey Birchmier
kacey.birchmier@dupont.com
515.535.6149 office
515.305.0085 cell