Article Provided by Boots to Roots in honor of Veterans Day
For many veterans, leaving the military means more than changing careers. It means leaving behind a way of life built around shared purpose, responsibility, teamwork, and belonging.
The transition into civilian life can be exciting, but it also raises difficult questions: Where do I belong? What comes next? How do I find work as meaningful as the mission I left behind while still providing for my family?
At Boots to Roots, we believe veterans deserve more than a successful transition out of the military. They deserve the opportunity to build a meaningful life after it. Through hands-on training, mentorship, and real career pathways in regenerative agriculture, we're helping veterans find renewed purpose, community, and a way to make a living while caring for the land.
This Veterans Day, we're celebrating the veterans building their next chapter and the growing community helping make it possible.
More Than a New Career
Wayne, an Army combat veteran who served three tours, wasn't sure what to expect when he got involved with Boots to Roots. Looking back on his experience, he shared:
"The peace I have found is something I didn't think was possible."
His experience reflects something we've heard repeatedly. Veterans aren't simply looking for another job. They're looking for meaningful responsibility, connection, and an opportunity to contribute to something larger than themselves.
Kellen, another veteran who participated in Boots to Roots, described it this way: "Veterans need meaningful work and responsibility. The hardest part for most isn't the work, it is figuring out where you belong after you leave service."
Working with livestock and restoring the land offers something familiar in an entirely new environment: a mission, a team, and the satisfaction of seeing the results of a hard day's work.
Learning by Doing, Finding Belonging
Boots to Roots is a veteran-focused nonprofit providing transitioning service members and veterans with immersive, hands-on training in regenerative grazing and land stewardship.
While workshops and field days are valuable, our approach goes further. Participants learn through real work on working landscapes, developing practical skills through repetition, mentorship, and increasing responsibility.
Alongside experienced ranchers and land managers, they learn livestock handling, temporary and virtual fencing, water management, forage assessment, equipment operation, and adaptive grazing planning.
Over the past year, 20 veterans and transitioning service members have participated in our training opportunities on California's Central Coast. Through partnerships with organizations like the Land at Home Project, as well as military transition programs such as SkillBridge, we're creating opportunities for veterans to experience agriculture firsthand. Some participate for a short time, while others pursue extended training. Many arrive with little or no agricultural background.
Gabriel, a transitioning service member, shared: "The program gave me a new sense of purpose in life. All I knew was the military and this program showed me there are other routes to invest your livelihood in."
But the impact goes beyond technical skills. Military service creates strong bonds through shared experiences, common goals, and mutual responsibility. At Boots to Roots, participants rediscover that sense of community by solving problems together, moving cattle, maintaining equipment, sharing meals, and learning from mentors who understand the challenges of military transition.
Jennifer and her husband, Eric, are both Air Force veterans. After participating in the program, Jennifer described the difference she saw in her husband: "It has been great for our family, my husband and our kids. My husband seems so much happier."
Our early participant surveys reinforce these stories. Average ratings improved across every measure tracked, with the largest gains in meaningful time outdoors, sense of purpose, belonging, and community connection.
These early results are encouraging, but the stories behind them are what matter most: veterans finding meaningful work, supportive relationships, and renewed confidence in their future.
Creating Opportunities Beyond the Program
The goal isn't simply learning to move cattle. It's discovering what's possible next.
Kellen has been approached about managing land in his hometown. Through his experience with Boots to Roots, he's gained the knowledge to assess the land, identify resources, and develop a management plan.
Cole entered the program concerned about civilian life. He left with multiple employment opportunities and greater confidence in his ability to work in agriculture. His advice to transitioning service members:
"It does not have to be a scary transition. There are people willing to help."
These are the outcomes we're working toward: veterans prepared for meaningful employment, advanced training, entrepreneurship, and other opportunities in agriculture and land stewardship. But creating those opportunities requires more than a single training program. It requires a network of people willing to open doors.
Putting Down Roots in San Miguel, Building Opportunities Nationwide
Through a partnership with the National Grazing Lands Coalition, Boots to Roots is working to expand its impact to provide a nation-wide network of resources through a Veterans Grazing Coalition. While there are many organizations helping service members connect to opportunities in agriculture, the Veterans Grazing Coalition is focused on expanding opportunities specific to grazing livestock. An exciting first step begins this fall through a partnership with Ag Land Trust, to create a place where veterans can live, earn, learn, and work alongside experienced mentors.
By providing housing and paid training opportunities, we're addressing two major barriers to entering agriculture: earning a living while learning and gaining access to land and experienced mentors.
San Miguel, California will serve as both a hands-on training center and a gathering place for veterans, ranchers, families, and community partners. It's where participants can develop their skills, build relationships, and explore what comes next. But our vision extends far beyond California's Central Coast.
Across the country, farmers and ranchers need skilled people to carry their operations into the future. According to the USDA's 2022 Census of Agriculture, the average American agricultural producer is 58.1 years old.
Meanwhile, thousands of service members leave the military each year with leadership experience, problem-solving skills, and a desire to continue contributing. We see an opportunity to bring these two communities together. That's why Boots to Roots is building the Veteran Grazing Coalition, in association with the National Grazing Lands Coalition.
Starting from our home base in San Miguel, we're developing a nationwide network of ranchers, producers, conservation organizations, military partners, and training providers committed to creating meaningful, hands-on opportunities for veterans.
Veterans shouldn't need to own land, grow up on a ranch, or have agricultural connections to enter the industry. And retiring farmers and ranchers shouldn't have to wonder who will carry their life's work forward. Our vision is to create a pathway for experienced producers ready to transition out and veterans eager to find their way in.
A New Mission Worth Serving
This Veterans Day, we honor the service and sacrifices of our nation's veterans. But we also celebrate what comes next.
We celebrate Wayne finding peace he didn't think was possible. We celebrate Gabriel discovering a new sense of purpose. We celebrate Kellen building the confidence to manage land in his own community. And we celebrate every veteran taking the difficult step of beginning something new. Military service may end, but the desire to serve, contribute, and belong doesn't disappear. Sometimes it just needs a new place to take root. At Boots to Roots, we're proud to help veterans find that place. Through the Veteran Grazing Coalition, we're working to make that opportunity available to many more.
To the veterans who have joined us, shared their stories, and helped build this community: thank you. We're honored to be part of your next chapter.
Learn more about Boots to Roots, explore training opportunities, or become a Veteran Grazing Coalition partner at bootstoroots.org.
