Veterans Day is tomorrow, one of the priorities remaining to be providing outreach services for those who have served our country. And as Gary Sinderson explains.
This includes more opportunities for vets that are involved in farming. Chris Ishler is the co-owner of Egg Hill Farm near Spring Mills Centre County.
“20 years ago, I was a senior in high school. When September 11th happened and I felt the call of duty to serve my country. I joined the United States Army Reserve as a mechanic.”
Ishler was deployed to Iraq for eight years when he returned home to the family farm. They were raising crops, several years passed and then romance,
“And I met Eliza at a local hay auction. It’s kind of a funny way we met. Look what happened? She had some cows and no farm, and I had a farm and no cows.”
In 2019, the couple opened a beef operation, Sinking Creek Meats. It’s now showcased in the State AG Department’s Home Grown by Heroes program. By looking for the program logo on a variety of goods, consumers can support veteran
operated businesses.
Past two years alone, the state has invested $3 million in the program that also connects vets with resources, grants, opportunities and other vets in agriculture. Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding.
We recognize that there are roughly 2% of our community at large here in the United States who have served in the military.
There’s another 2% that are engaged and production agriculture. So think about the responsibilities that we place on 4% of our population, right? 2% allow us to sleep well and another 2% allow us to eat well. That is a 4% that I’ll stand with any day in Centre County.
