Mark Bowen talks lumber, grass-fed beef, and the 2020 conference

Narrator: Welcome to the Farmer Veteran Coalition Podcast, where our mission is mobilizing veterans to feed America.

Shay

Foulk: Welcome back everyone to the Farmer Veteran Podcast, and today we're joined with a special guest, Mark Bowen. How are you today, Mark?

Mark

Bowen: I'm doing good, thank you.

Shay

Foulk: Well, I appreciate you joining us, and I was hoping that, uh, from the beautiful location that you're in there today, if you could kind of introduce yourself, describe, uh, who you are and a little bit about your business, and we'll kind of go from there.

Mark

Bowen: Yeah, sure thing. So I'm Mark Bowen and I'm the president of the Vermont chapter of the Farmer Veteran Coalition. Uh, my farm is called Meadowdale Farm, which I run with my wife Kate and my son James. And we do pasture-based meats. So primarily grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, pork, lamb. Uh, we make a lot of hay for our own use as well as we sell the hay and we're very diversified. So we do different things throughout the year. In the spring, we collect our maple sap. And we sell it to another sugar maker who turns it into syrup. In the winter, we do a fair amount of logging that goes to our sawmill, which I use in my construction business, and we also sell some lumber. And then summertime, we're busy with raising animals and making hay and things like that.

Shay

Foulk: Right. So people listening, they might be a little intimidated by that, thinking, man, this guy's got it all figured out. How long have you been doing what you're doing there?

Mark

Bowen: So I left active duty in 1999, and before I did, I worked on a business plan to start our, our farm business. We actually started with just the forest products component. So I bought a sawmill and I started doing some logging and sold lumber and firewood. And then a couple years later, we started to get into chickens first with eggs. Oh, we call that the gateway animal here. At our farm. And so then we got into lamb and pork and cows and eventually moved to a bigger piece of land where we could build a barn and a farm store and just expand and grow.

Shay

Foulk: Now, how much of that was originally part of the business plan? Was that, was that part of your greater vision on that?

Mark

Bowen: No, not really. No, it was— I worked for a guy with a sawmill in high school and a little bit in college too. And that was sort of what got me started in the forest products component. My wife likes to say I have sawdust in my veins.

Shay

Foulk: There you go. Oh, I like that. And I, I like what you said about the chickens being the gateway animal there too for our farming operation or my wife's family's history here. Uh, chickens is kind of what propelled the farm through the 1930s when they were struggling with everything going on at that time. And I think having that diversity in operations can be so crucial to a business.

Mark

Bowen: Yeah, I totally agree. And ours is, it's different throughout the season. So we sort of do what's most appropriate for the time of year here. You know, we have long, hard, cold winters with lots of snow. So we spend a lot of the summer prepping for winter as far as making hay for our animals going through the winter. And, and, you know, you just can't raise chickens in Vermont in the summer. So, I mean, in the winter, excuse me. So So we do all of that. And we got into the animals, I think, primarily, uh, pretty slowly at first, but primarily because we wanted to take the responsibility of producing our own food and knowing where our food came from and how it was raised and the life it lived and the respectful end it was given was important to us as a decision to why we got into it. And we still live by that mantra today.

Shay

Foulk: I was wondering if you can talk a little bit here briefly, uh, before we jump into specifically on the, the Farmer Veteran Coalition, of what your transition process looked like. So you mentioned in '99 was when you made that transition. How was it then? And then what do you— what's your perception of how it is for veterans leaving active duty, or, or, you know, maybe still involved in National Guard or whatever it is, that are looking to get involved in agriculture? What's the differences there?

Mark

Bowen: Well, I think the resources are a lot greater today than what they were back then. You know, certainly the FBC didn't exist back then. And I think other organizations just didn't see, not necessarily see the value, but put as much emphasis on helping veterans getting out of the military pre-9/11 as they do in today's world. Not that they weren't helpful. I got a lot of help from the Small Business Administration with my business plan and and help with them and finding financing. I think, I think it's definitely better today. I think as a nation we've done a really good job of helping veterans, not just in agriculture but in all aspects. To be honest, I think we do a pretty good job with that today.

Shay

Foulk: Right. I saw an interesting statistic here. We're just ahead of Veterans Day here tomorrow. Looking at the composition of veterans in America, 9% are female veterans. There's 18 million across the country and about 7 million of those has served in Vietnam. And I think as we go through this transition period of having been at war for the last 19 years in the Global War on Terrorism, you know, how that looks for farmer veterans today. And I think what you hit on there was so crucial, looking at the resources that we have available to us. And I think this is a great segue to jump in. You mentioned, you know, you're leading the state chapter there in Vermont. So, let's talk about how you got involved with the Farmer Veteran Coalition. How long have you been there and how did it lead you to the state chapter today?

Mark

Bowen: Sure, so we found out about the FVC before there was a state chapter. There weren't actually any state chapters back then, and then so we were members, and then we found out about a small group that was trying to form a chapter in Vermont. So we all got together and had a meeting and made a decision that we wanted to pursue this chapter idea, and then we did. Vermont was one of the first 3 chapters in the country. And I think about 2017 or so, I, I took over as the president of the chapter.

Shay

Foulk: And when were you first involved with the Farmer Veteran Coalition?

Mark

Bowen: Oh, it was really early on, probably 2012 or so, '13, somewhere in there. Yep.

Shay

Foulk: And so for those who may not be super familiar with the background on the Farmer Veteran Coalition, can you get just a brief overview of of kind of why the Farmer Veteran Coalition was started, what the purpose is, how long they've been around, and what the organization looks like today.

Mark

Bowen: Sure. So, started by Michael O'Gorman in California, and essentially he was looking for skilled labor to help in his operation in California, and he just identified that veterans had the skills and the personality traits that would make good farmers. And so he didn't start the idea immediately of the Farmer Veteran Coalition. Really, he was looking for a way to find, uh, help with creating the next generation of farmers and help with his operation. And he had a meeting, he posted a sign, I think at his local feed store maybe, and It was really well attended and several Gold Star mothers came and he realized that very quickly that there was something powerful about this idea of veterans in agriculture. And it sort of took off from there. As an organization, you know, the growth stage was fairly slow early on and it took some time and a few years to, to build the organization.

And then we're sort of at the stage now where it's I would say rapid growth and expansion. We're on the upward leg of the bell curve, if you want to say. Right. And so now, you know, chapters are either in operation or in some stage of being founded in states all across the country. Members in all 50 states. I think we're up to somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 members now.

Shay

Foulk: I was going to ask you what that number looked like. And going back to last year, it was my first year in attendance there. And there were over 500 people at this conference, at the annual conference, and we'll get into how that looks a little bit different this year with everything going on. But I was just, you know, overwhelmed by the amount of people that had made the trip down to Texas to learn from one another, to listen to some of the fantastic speakers that were there. And it's a really, really cool experience, and I don't see a limit on that.

As you talk about this exponential growth, what has been built and over the last decade or more is really culminating into a really neat experience, I think, for any farmer veteran, whether you've been transitioned out and farming for 7, 8, 20 years and haven't been involved, or you're fresh out of the military, just off of active duty, or you're still involved in the National Guard. There's a fit there for everyone because when you look at the variety of farm operations that are in attendance there,, there, there's something for everyone to go see.

Mark

Bowen: Yeah, absolutely. And I would add that it also is a good fit for people of, uh, every skill level, or I should say experience level in farming. You know, we have members who grew up on, you know, huge farms and lived it their whole life and went off to the military and returned. But then we also have lots of members that have never been involved in agriculture and just want to get involved and want to know where their food comes from. And that's sort of where I fit in. I'm a first-generation farmer. You know, everyone has relatives at some point who are farmers, but, you know, I didn't grow up doing it or living it, and just something that, that we've sort of grown into.

Shay

Foulk: I really like that you said that too about the experience level there because There were people there last year that were talking way over my head. I've been involved in agriculture my whole life and they were on a different plane. And you know what? There was a group of people that, you know, when you sat down and talked with them all together, they were all on that same playing field. And so, they formed a good group there and found someone similar. And, you know, the Farmer Veteran Coalition, everything from timber to poultry to, vegetables to fish to, I mean, anything and everything in between. There is the diversity there that provides a true experience, I'd say, for anyone that's looking to get involved. Now, this year, and may— this might be a good point to jump into it, will be virtual because of everything that we have going on.

And you and I were talking about this a little bit offline yesterday of what's that experience going to be like, because I think You and I and most of the listeners both know sometimes you get just as much out of a conversation sitting, drinking a cocktail, talking to someone as you do going to some of these events. And there was certainly a lot of that last year. I see a lot of positives with the virtual side. I think it's going to be great for people all over the country. It's hard to have 20,000 members in one place at once, nonetheless in a pandemic.

Mark

Bowen: Right.

Shay

Foulk: Can you talk a little bit about, you know, what you see with it being virtual here this year, Mark?

Mark

Bowen: Yes, sure. I think the big benefit to being virtual is that everybody can go, you know, and you don't have to buy a plane ticket or pay for a hotel or take time off from your, your work job or you find someone to watch the farm for you while you're gone. You know, you can sign in, you can watch one breakout session, or you can watch 2 days worth of breakout sessions. Plus they're all being recorded, so, you know, if two sessions are interesting to you but they're at the same time, you can do one and then watch the second one later. I think it's going to be great. I'm hoping that as an organization we can reach more members because it's virtual. You know, they're somewhat limited in the in-person conferences to the number of people who can attend. The last biggest Of course, everything's bigger in Texas, right? So there you go.

You know, it was the biggest conference that we've ever had, which is great and absolutely appropriate for the growth of the organization. Um, but you know, we could get 1,000 people on the virtual one or more. So, um, hoping it's going to be really good to reach out to more people and get more people, uh, involved in the organization and, and help more people. That's our ultimate goal, right, is to help veterans get involved in agriculture. So if we can reach more people That's certainly a good thing.

Shay

Foulk: And I'll go ahead, I'll put myself on the line out there. If you're listening to this conversation right now and you're, you're unsure about whether you want to attend, you don't know if you can make the time for it, you've not heard of the Farmer Veteran Coalition, or you don't know much about it, I'll put myself on the line by saying that if you attend this year, it will be worth every penny that you spend on it. And, and not only for this year, but when you realize the group of people that are involved in this, you're going to want to go to next year's conference. You're going to want to be there in person. To see these meetings, to meet with some of the awesome people that are there and just, and just get started.

You know, if you've had even an inkling in your mind of something that you want to do different, that you want to diversify your operation, you want to grow your operation, this is the place to be. These are the people to talk to. These are the veterans and the communities that are making it happen out there today.

Mark

Bowen: Yeah, absolutely. The conferences are just amazing experiences. I've been to all but one of them, and every time I come away feeling reinvigorated and motivated and inspired, you know, just talking to the other people that you meet there and attending the breakout sessions. And the breakout sessions are really good because they're very informative, but they're also generally run by other veterans who are doing it and have done it and have knowledge to share. So it's really cool that you're You're learning from people that have already done it. We're in the same position you are, right? They're a veteran getting into agriculture and out there making it happen.

Shay

Foulk: So, right. And one of the last things I'll say in regards to the actual virtual conference is they, they have designed it so that there will be interaction not only with the speakers during the event. I think— are you presenting, Mark?

Mark

Bowen: I am, yes. I'm doing timber. So the forest products component of our farm.

Shay

Foulk: I'll be speaking there, talking a little bit about peer groups and how important that can be in agriculture, you know, learning from each other. And so, you know, we are going to be there at the time of the airing for the original presentation to have interaction. So if folks have questions, if they want to reach out, they're going to make that portion interactive. I think they have a a virtual experience where you can go in and kind of see who all is in the chat room or bar room or however they have it set up there. I mean, they're doing a lot of really good things to encourage that portion of it. And you hit the nail on the head when you said, hey, these are being recorded. You can go back in and listen to these.

And how they've had the resources set up and the contact information set up in the past for the Farmer Veteran Conference, you can reach out to anybody that you want and ask questions. And that's what we're here for, right? This is the network that you can reach out you can learn, and this is a good environment for that.

Mark

Bowen: Yeah, absolutely. And you can talk to people who maybe are doing something that you're thinking about getting into, and then you can see what, you know, what they did right, what they did wrong, you know, what they've learned, what they wish they'd done differently, etc. That kind of resource is invaluable, right?

Shay

Foulk: One thing I always learned from my dad is he said, you can't make all the mistakes, you got to learn from someone else to not have to reinvent the wheel and, and to help other veterans out there get started and get rolling. I think that's great. So Mark, any last thoughts here?

Mark

Bowen: Uh, I would just encourage everybody to sign up for it. Um, it does cost, I think, $35, but it's well worth it. And you can do as much or as little of the conference as you like and as you can fit in your schedule. But if you're on the fence, I would just absolutely encourage you to do it. You— I promise you won't regret it. You'll learn something, you'll meet someone, you'll make some connection that'll be worth your time and effort.

Shay

Foulk: Absolutely. And for those listening, just go to Farmer Veteran Coalition, just Google that. You'll find the website. At the top, you'll see the conference registration. If you're interested in learning more about being a member, that information's there. And the other thing too is there's, you know, encyclopedias of resources in there too. So as a beginning farmer, they've done a really good job, or even a current farmer looking to do something different, they've done a really good job of compiling those resources. To help folks like you and I get up and running.

Mark

Bowen: So, Mark, also, I'd like to just put a plug in for the state chapters too. So if you're in a state that has a chapter or is developing a chapter, reach out to them. And the more people we can get involved, the better it's gonna be. These chapters are all run by the members. You know, it's— you can do as much or as little as a state chapter as you like. It's gonna be as good as you wanna make it. So, get involved. The more people, the better. And I look forward to being at the virtual conference and meeting people and seeing you there.

Shay

Foulk: Absolutely. Thanks for hitting on the state chapters there. And thanks everyone for listening to this podcast. Again, this is your action item. Go out there, check out Farmer Veteran Coalition, find us on Facebook, look up the sessions, see what you want to be interested in. You won't regret it. And thanks everyone for listening. We will catch you next time on the Farmer Veteran Podcast.

Narrator: Thank you for listening to another episode of the Farmer Veteran Coalition podcast. Be sure to check out more resources at farmvetco.org and also search for Farmer Veteran Coalition on Facebook. We'll catch you next time.