{"id":281,"date":"2026-05-21T11:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=281"},"modified":"2026-05-21T11:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:34:08","slug":"how-colorado-veterans-are-harvesting-benefits-with-goodwill-farming-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=281","title":{"rendered":"How Colorado veterans are harvesting benefits with Goodwill farming program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

PALISADE \u2014<\/strong> When Robert Stanley harvests honey from the apiary and orchard he and his wife, Laura, operate in Palisade, he\u2019s participating in a tradition that dates back to World War I. Soldiers returning to the civilian world by the federal government to raise bees as a peaceful, economically viable livelihood set in the outdoors, which experts were already discovering was a powerful place to process trauma.<\/p>\n

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Both Stanleys did combat tours with the U.S. Army \u2014 Robert as a tank mechanic, Laura in intelligence. Both were injured in Iraq \u2014 Laura in a vehicle rollover and Robert when he was hit by a tank. Both served multiple tours before Robert retired in 2010 and Laura in 2022. \u00a0<\/p>\n

They settled in Palisade, where they can raise their children in a small-town setting. Out on the Western Slope, they can fulfill their dream of owning land and participating in agriculture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They bought 3 acres on a corner lot with access to irrigation water rights from farmers upstream of them on the Colorado River and started converting it to agricultural status. Robert\u2019s day job is with the Western Area Power Administration in Montrose, and Laura is a county commissioner-appointed veteran service officer with the Mesa County Veterans Service Office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Laura had always wanted to try beekeeping, so once they were settled, she joined the Western Colorado Beekeepers Association, with a branch specifically for veterans and first responders. She went to meetings and \u201cwas totally overwhelmed,\u201d she said. But before long, she and Robert were adding the apiary \u2014\u00a0 now with 32 hives \u2014 to an orchard with peaches, cherries, apricots, pluots and plums. The only catch: Soon they were selling products, but their business plan was severely lacking. And they dreamed of funding a farm where they could grow their own food and teach local kids about the benefits of farming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Enter a seemingly unlikely aid: Goodwill of Colorado. Since 2023, with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it has operated a program called FarmAble that assists veterans and underserved farmers with hands-on business planning, economic stability and navigating USDA grants and loans.<\/p>\n

Maddi Hughes, a program specialist for FarmAble, says the program was much needed, because veterans and agriculture \u201cgo hand in hand. \u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cAgriculture requires a lot of discipline,\u201d she said. \u201cIt requires waking up at the crack of dawn to milk your cows, to plow your fields, to seed and pick rocks.\u201d What\u2019s more, when he speaks with veterans who have experienced trauma from being in service, she says, \u201cthey say, \u2018I want to get out of society. I want to reconnect with the land.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Military veteran producers are underrepresented in Colorado (current estimates put them at around 10%). They\u2019re often first-time farmers and in many cases need help when trying to turn farming or ranching into a business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Feb. 5, Hughes launched the first class in a 10-week program she created called From Field to Funded that walks participants through the steps of starting an agricultural business. They include things like creating a mission and vision, developing a business concept and analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The classes tackle areas such as operations planning, market research, sales, management, financial planning and funding preparation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Throughout the course, participants build their plans section by section, focusing on practical decisions such as what they will produce, who their customers are, how products will reach the market, what resources and infrastructure they need and what funding options may support their next steps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The goal is to help give producers a stronger understanding of their operation, a more realistic growth plan and a written document of how they\u2019ll go about starting a business \u2014 instead of the plan residing in their head \u2014 that they can use in conversations with lenders, funders and agricultural service providers.<\/p>\n

The Stanleys were in the first class, which graduated in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From field to funded\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The Stanleys were already growing fruit, tending bees and selling some of their products at Smith\u2019s Family Orchard when Laura heard about From Field to Funded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their two young sons, Covie and Wayne, were already becoming adept farmers too, at the tender ages of 7 and 8. Both have beekeeper suits \u2014 they look like something tiny astronauts bound for the moon would don before boarding a rocket. <\/p>\n

They sell their honey in traditional bear-shaped bottles, hard candies made with honey and jams and salsas made from the fruit at their farm. Their stand sits at the end of the family driveway. They donate their proceeds to charitable causes like the American Heart Association\u2019s Kids Heart Challenge, for which they raised $1,200 last season. And on teacher appreciation day at their school, they load up their teachers \u2014 and janitors, and lunch ladies \u2014 with their farm-grown goodies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seeing how farming has helped his kids grow into such outstanding humans \u2014 and understanding the need to find the next generation of farmers in a declining industry \u2014 Robert says he wanted to extend the same opportunity to other children in the Palisade region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he needed funding and wasn\u2019t sure how to get it, which Hughes says is a common problem among her participants at a time when the need is heightened \u201cwith everything that\u2019s going on in the world, including the drought.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

If a producer wants to go to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which offers funding for things like water conservation projects, \u201cyou can\u2019t just walk up to someone and say, \u2018Hey, I need $500 but I\u2019m not going to tell you what for,\u2019\u201d she adds. \u201cYou have to have written down what you\u2019re doing, where you\u2019re going and how you\u2019re going to implement your plan. You have to have those so you\u2019re not a phony.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Through the program, veterans wanting to make a living out of farming or ranching can also practice mock interviews, learn about banking and finance and figure out a succession plan for the day they may find themselves ready to hand off their operation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If things continue on the track they\u2019re on now, the Stanleys will have two farm educated, upstanding successors to carry on helping their community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In an even better scenario, Laura and Robert will help build an army of new producers, to keep Coloradans fed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Following multiple combat tours, Laura and Robert Stanley are learning to turn their Palisade apiary and orchard into a place that can help others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Colorado veterans are harvesting benefits with Goodwill farming program - Colorado Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=281\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Colorado veterans are harvesting benefits with Goodwill farming program - 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