Veterans Day special: Coalition supporting vets in ag careers honored in Howes Hall of Fame

Todd Dills: Here's wishing all the US Military veterans in the audience a happy Veterans Day on this edition of Overdrive Radio for November 11, 2024. Honoring all of you in the audience with a dive into the work of the Farmer Veteran Coalition, the organization that got its start back in 2009 with the goal of a California produce farmer to help support returning military service members in bids to enter the business of feeding the nation for themselves. We'll hear today in my talk with Jeanette Lombardo, Farmer Veterans Coalition CEO, about the FVC's recent induction into the Howes Company's Hall of Fame, bringing another important support organization to the attention of trucking and ag industries.

I'm Todd Dills, Overdrive editor and your host today, as usual, fresh off of a couple of days worth of work out at the National Association of Small Trucking Companies annual conference held as usual here in my home city of Nashville, Tennessee. Plenty of news to share from there in the coming days and weeks, of course, none less impactful, perhaps, in the stories of our four Small Fleet Championship semifinalists with Missouri headquartered Paul Rissler Transportation and Louisville area based CW Express coming out on top to take home the title belts at the show. You can find a report on all the finalists and the winners @ Overdriveonline.com/small-fleet-champ. Also on hand, of course, in Nashville were finalists Jamie and Hilary Hagen of Hellbent Express out of South Dakota and Ohio based Brian Brewer Trucking as well. We'll hear a lot more from all of them in a future podcast. That's certain. And much more from the show, too.

Today we're going to hear from Farmer Veteran Coalition's Jeanette Lombardo here describing the value of recognition she sees in the Howes hall of Fame and the connections it's enabling between her coalition and not just new groups and people in the ag world, but also the trucking and logistics network that supports the food supply chain.

Jeanette Lombardo: We are a nonprofit. We don't have much, budget for advertising what we do, yet we're seeing this huge increase in membership. So there's a lot of word by mouth that's happening and there's a lot of things with pickups on, our chapters. We have 26 chapters right now across the country and they're doing a lot of work locally. So it's being, there's press releases going out and being picked up, and the news is spreading that way. So we were very humbled to receive the nod from Howes and even more so when we went online and looked at previous awardees and they've been great to work with this past two months as we made the public announcement. and they've introduced us to some folks and came to our conference and we introduced them to our members. And I think it's the beginning of a wonderful partnership.

Todd Dills: Howes Products’ own Rich Guida describes the mission behind the Hall of Fame this way.

Rich Guida: Well, the Howes hall of Fame was founded about five years ago to celebrate our 100th year anniversary. And our charter from the beginning was to find the people, places and things that make trucking and farming and diesel systems really of any kind, so valuable and for us to be able to give back to these people and support them. The way Jeanette was talking about is where we find reward. So we're able to put together a video and you can check that video out on our website. It's also on YouTube so people can see the videos that we produce, which allows Jeanette to use that as a tool. As a matter of fact she played the video before the start of the whole conference that they just had a couple of weeks ago. So there's value in that. And also the public relations working with great partners like Utah and other outlets that cover this. It gives them a platform to get their message out. So it's really about the House family and their ability to give back and their want to give back to those people, places and things. and it's really starting to get its own momentum in the way that Jeanette recognized too that we're going to be there to support them after this. It's not just, here's your trophy and congratulations. We were going to attend their conferences when we can and we're going to support them and who knows, maybe even introduce them to some people that are already in the hall to foster further relationships and networking. So it's become this thing that's taken on its life of its own.

Todd Dills: On the other side of a quick break for a little more of the Howes company about its flagship fuel treatment products and so much more, we'll dive into just how Jeanette Lombardo in the midst of the pandemic, would come to be inspired by and then intimately involved and leading organization with a mission aimed squarely at supporting returning military service members in ag careers of all types. Keep tuned.

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Todd Dills: You can find plenty more information about all of Howes fuel treatments to guard against winter gelling and more at H O W E S Howesproducts.com. Here's Jeanette.

Jeanette Lombardo: So I, joined Farmer Veteran Coalition in the middle of the pandemic in, July of 2020. Well, first of all, I'm a farmer. I grew up on a dairy farm, and potato farm outside of Erie, Pennsylvania. And my whole life I've been in agricultural lending for 24 years and I've been an advocate for agriculture, first through, California Women for Agriculture. I was, one of their state presidents, national President for American Agri Women. And I've had several federal appointments and state appointments, mostly working on water, trade, environmental, issues. And now I'm serving, with the usda, on the advisory panel for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, which is a perfect fit for the Farmer Veteran Coalition as our mission is to help those transitioning out of service into either a career in the agriculture agricultural sector or starting their own farms and ranches.

Todd Dills: Jeanette Lombardo then elaborated on her role advising the USDA Food and Agriculture Institute's Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program, dovetailing closely with the mission of the Farmer Veteran Coalition.

Jeanette Lombardo: In fact, it's my third federal appointment and it's through the USDA and there's 20 people across the United States that help, getting farmers and ranchers overcome obstacles, to help their farms succeed. So we work on things like financial access, land access, capital access, so, and do some technical assistance and outreach to help people, you know, because the USDA is 29 different agencies, so trying to figure out which one to go to for what and how to get grants or supports or, you know, because the barriers to entry into agriculture are very high. Tractors are not cheap, land is not cheap and it's hard to find. so if you want, if you're beginning, you just need a little bit of a push. And as a country, as part of our own, you know, national security, we have to be able to feed our own people, because we have seen what happens in other countries and not, you know, not too long ago, like Greece comes to Mind, when you couldn't, couldn't feed your people and the chaos that ensues. So it's very important that you know, now we get the farm Bill passed. We've been, it's been renewed and renewed and you know, there's a lot of supports in there that will hit the dairy industry really quickly, if we, if we don't get, you know, get things passed. So that's what I think. What's next for us? And working also on a lot of, issues with the va.

So we, we help on both sides of the fence, on the farmer side and the veteran side, to make sure that you know, we have a lot of folks that are maybe, disabled, and we work with organizations that help help veterans continue to farm even with their disabilities.

Todd Dills: Right. The role that you're playing at USDA and Farmer Veteran Coalition, there's a lot of similarity there.

Jeanette Lombardo: Yeah. And it's all volunteer, but it allows me to be the voice of our members. Sure. you know, so I, I listen a lot to my members. You know, even this conference we did, we did a lot of surveys and we want to know what the roadblocks are. We want to, you know, and then also I think my, my banking background helps in that regard too. Ag finance is, is not easy. It is high risk. you know, and the way the USDA works, not to get too far down in the weeds, but, you know, to get a loan with fsa, you have years of experience. And if you're just coming out of the military, your military service counts as one year. And then we have M. Ag training programs through our Ag Vets grant with USDA that provides the second year. And then the third year is normally a mentorship or an internship or an apprenticeship. And we help connect our beginning farmers and ranchers with those that meet those criteria so that they can have direct hands on. So when they get their loan, they're going to be. Have better chance of success because they have received all this training and they're ready for everything that's going to come at them. So yeah, we started back in 2009 in Davis, California. and we grew and grew and grew into a national organization. and because we had a national focus, we soon realized as, we're now up to over 52,000 members, that we needed to sort of be in the central part of the country, because of, you know, by the Time we got in the office, the day was half over for the East Coast.

We decided on Texas because it's our state with our largest membership. And we decided on Waco because it was smack dab in the middle of the state. Sort of avoided most of the hurricanes and most of the tornadoes. And it was the home of the Texas Farm Bureau and had a regional airport. So we landed there and we moved there about three years ago. We've been growing our programs throughout this whole time. One of our staple programs is our fellowship fund, which allows for beginning farmers to receive a grant of up to about $5,000 to help them purchase their equipment to start their operations. So they prepare a business plan and we do that, to help them with market access. We have our homegrown by Heroes label that they use to when they're selling either at the roadside stand or with their CSA or the farmers market. and it helps give them a little bit of edge on their marketing. we also have an online sales platform called Market Maker that allows them to sell online direct to consumers. and it's been a huge tool for a lot of our remote farmers to expand their businesses throughout, you know, not just locally but throughout their states and nationally and internationally for some. So that's a great tool.

Todd Dills: Last mile transportation in these direct to consumer online sales is an ongoing pain point for farmers, as you'll hear Lombardo note later on, much of it occurring not in big truck equipment, but smaller delivery vans and the like. The next program, Lombardo Details though, is perhaps where the FVCs work most closely dovetails with the trucking world.

Jeanette Lombardo: We have our Ag careers department which we. Ag Careers is an international ag placement agency and they have a plugin on our website and we allow, right now I think we're posting remote jobs. So some folks who are just starting their farms and need off farm income, that's a great place to go to look for remote jobs in logistics, distribution, food safety, quality control, marketing all. There's so many aspects to agriculture. I don't think people realize that. And of course the military fits great, especially with the, you know, with your truck drivers. I would have to say logistics and distribution are huge because ag, you know, the food rots if it doesn't move from the, from the, the farm, in the field to the, to the grocery stores. And you know, we're as a nation, I think we're trying to stop a lot of our food waste issues. And so that timing and that, you know, people don't realize how much truck drivers have to implement. They have to be where they have to be, when they have to be there. And there's you know, no stopping them because if you know whatever they're hauling could rot. So and in bad weather, you know that's it's very scary out there for the drivers. And we've had a lot of bad weather here in the last six months.

Todd Dills: So it's, it's happening all over the bad weather.

Jeanette Lombardo: Yeah, for sure.

We have too a lot of different. programs, we work on a lot of grants. right now we're working on food insecurity at our basis. and we're working with companies like Armed Services, ymca, the USO Feeding America to try to take some of the food from our homegrown by heroes or growing and put them into our military bases and communities that have like a 24% food insecurity rate.

Todd Dills: When you talk about the, I guess it was the Agriculture careers department, the remote jobs postings, how do those jobs find their way to that. Is it you said it's through a third party company I guess?

Jeanette Lombardo: Yeah, Ag Careers is a third party company and so our farmer veteran coalitions can go in and set up a profile and they can list what type of jobs they're interested in and they'll shoot them, the jobs when they come. Specifically looking for a lot of companies that hire veterans and we have quite a few of them in the agricultural sector that do that and so much so that we increased what we're doing with our Ag careers department by adding a job certification program. And we're doing ah, a pilot right now at Fort Cabazos, down in Killeen, Texas with Kubota where we're trying to train some diesel mechanics. They need 1800 diesel mechanics across the United States and their dealerships. So we're trying to go through an eight step certification process over 12 weeks and get them plugged into that. And other large ag organizations have contacted us who need people to do like water sampling, soil monitoring, drone flying, you know, so there's a lot of changes happening in agriculture right now with Precision Ag and Climate Smart Ag and so that even makes a better fit with a lot of our military service, people who have those skills and to transfer it over.

Todd Dills: What is, involved in, a membership, for, you know, an individual that, might be looking to kind of utilize, those services.

Jeanette Lombardo: So our services are free to veterans. And, that's because of wonderful partners like Howes and others that help maintain a very small but mighty, staff that we have here at the Farmer Veteran Coalition. but they just go online, they complete the application. There is a section that does require a verification that they're a veteran through I.D. meat, and then they get a membership card. And that membership card allows, them access to all our programs, but also, through discount partners, allows them to get breaks, on purchasing things that they need for their farm, and to take care of their animals.

Todd Dills: The Farmer Veteran Coalition and Jeanette Lombardo, Rich Guida from Howes too, were fresh off the organization's annual conference when we spoke last week. Still recovering in some ways, as Jeanette put it, from a whirlwind of activity after an entire year of planning for it. The way she described it reminded me of the national association of Small Trucking Companies annual fair here in Nashville.

Jeanette Lombardo: It's sort of like a wedding when you have a conference, right? It's like you plan all year and then it feels like it goes by in 10 minutes. But, the members, I would say 75% of the members, it was their first conference, and there was a lot of learning, to be had. And they ate it up like a sponge because, they're all trying to, you know, grow their operations and then also find a niche, to help them, in sales and to grow and expand their business. And, just the whole agricultural, space is very welcoming for veterans. you know, working the soil and the land is just very therapeutic, for them. And it's a good place for them to heal as well.

Todd Dills: So in terms of that conference, I'm just curious, because we did talk about logistics, distribution, trucking, side of ag being a part of this. Of course, it sounds like what you. What you put together is essentially just a business conference, related to agriculture. Is there a trucking component to it, to the conference itself?

Jeanette Lombardo: You know, there hasn't been, but that doesn't mean there can't be in the future, because I'll tell you, one of the things they're trying to overcome right now is the. In the local food movement and food hubs is distribution. When you sell online through consumers. And that takes us sort of, you know, they're trying to patch it together right now, using sort of like Uber, vans to go to the farms, pick up the food and deliver it to like restaurants in the area. But it, it's trying to find a long term solution for these smaller deliveries. you know, so there's, there's something, you know, we need to work out with that, logistically to make that become a reality and for there to be growth in that sector. What's neat about agriculture is we have a lot of people to feed, right? Every day, three times a day, day after day. We need all growing methods, and we need all size farms and the farms that are small today hopefully will continue to grow into medium and large size farms and replace a lot of the farmers that are retiring, from larger farms that don't have folks stepping into run them anymore. Because it is not an easy industry. Sort of like trucking, right? It's, it takes someone who is not afraid of work and can overcome a lot of obstacles and has a lot of grit and that's hard to find sometimes. but definitely I think that's the one thing the trucking industry and the ag industry have in common, I would have to say. Well, I think if anyone's interested in our programs, they need to go to our website. the former Veteran Coalition, become a member, get connected with their state chapters if there's one in their state. If not, start one. we have members in every state and in every territory. you know, and I think as we approach Veterans Day, I think all of us as a nation need to stop, especially as we, we've just had an election here recently, that we need to just be thankful for the freedoms we have, this great country that we have. And we all need to come together to help move it forward, in a positive direction. So I think you know, we, we have a lot to thank truckers for. We have a lot to thank veterans for. so we just need to, I think, and I'm thankful for, for Howes, for you know, making like this introduction, but also for just recognizing our mission and our work and, and you know, that means more to us than, than you can imagine because it, it does get hard, every day with a staff of just 10. And we, and there's a lot of need and we try to m. Meet it all, and do as much capacity building as we can.

Todd Dills: So big thanks to Jeanette Lombardo and the fine folks at the Farmer Veteran Coalition for sharing their mission with us for the special Veterans Day edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast. Congrats on the organization's induction too, into the Howes hall of Fame, which Howes’ Rich Guida noted is always open for nominations from listeners here.

Rich Guida: People can nominate on our website howesproducts.com you'll find the nomination form. So if you know someone, someplace or something that you think is worthy, by all means feel free to submit it. Otherwise, we're doing our due diligence and keeping our ear to the ground.

Todd Dills: Visit howesproducts.com/hof to nominate a potential hall of Fame inductee. Among them, you'll find the organizations Rich mentioned earlier, as well as individual farmers and truckers, some featured here on the podcast, like owner operators Angelique Temple and Kate Whiting in relatively recent memory. Again, that's howesproducts.com/Hof find more about the Farmer Veteran Coalition and all of its programs via farmvetco.org that's farmvetco.org I'll share Howes video about the organization and the public host that houses this podcast for November 11, 2024 Veterans Day at Overdriveonline uh.com Overdrive radio and all of those links will be in the show notes.