On Veterans Day, we thank the men and women who have served our country. We also want to highlight exciting opportunities for those who served and returned to a life in agriculture. This year, we feature Cass County Farm Bureau members Seth and Rachel Connell and their work with two special groups.

The Farmer Veteran Coalition 

The Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) is dedicated to helping military veterans get involved in agriculture by assisting with mentorships, fellowship grants, networking, education, and connecting veterans with the right resources.

FVC of Minnesota has been a state chapter for two years. MFBF members Seth and Rachel Connell were a part of the chartering group of members and are still on the Board of Directors. FVC of MN is partnered with Kubota and holds multiple giveaways on tractors each year to help a Farmer Veteran in need.

Membership is free and all are welcome; many spouses of veterans also choose to join the organization and participate. 

Want more information? Visit the links below!

https://farmvetco.org/

https://farmvetco.org/my-profile/?uid=103

Farm Law Enforcement Training

The Connells and the Cass County Farm Bureau also host an annual training designed to help those in law enforcement learn best practices of handling livestock and other farm and ranch-related incidents they may encounter while on the job. 

The law enforcement training was mainly Rachel's father, Mike Sams' brainchild. He created the course and teaches it once every year. This course occurs every year in June at the Crow Wing County Fairgrounds, put on by Cass County Farm Bureau in cooperation with the Brainerd, MN Central Lakes College Law Enforcement instructors, and is also an accredited course. 

It is an incredible opportunity for law enforcement students, where they learn how to ID cattle and horses by color, brands, ear tags, as well as how to best handle a livestock road accident should there be a vehicular and trailer accident. They also learn some basic livestock handling skills with live animals (cattle and horses), as well as the most humane way to put down a severely injured animal once conferring with the owner and possibly a veterinarian. 

A few years ago, Seth and Rachel were chosen by the Cass County Board of Directors to present this course during the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting,  speaking to over 500 attendees about the training and how they could adapt it to their states.