Our Mission
Little Farms for Veterans (LFV) affords opportunities to veterans and their families to grow together through education, training, and shared experiences in sustainable agriculture. LFV provides a setting where veterans and their families develop a flexible individualized plan that focuses on traditional agricultural practices. These practices work with the land and the family for their mutual benefit. LFV offers a compassionate, supportive, and patient community that teaches unity, self-reliance, and foresight.
Things that makes LFV different from existing programs:
- LFV includes families. Rather than the spouse and children sitting on the sidelines, they work and grow together to promote a complete agricultural lifestyle that the family helps to design and achieve.
- LFV is neither a single farm nor a single method. LFV involves dozens of farms and methods with experts, and farmers with years of experience to train the students in all aspects of agriculture. This allows students to develop a tailored post-graduation farm that meets their needs, capabilities and desires with a firm understanding on what it takes to be a farmer.
- LFV is a total immersion-training program. Students live onsite for one calendar year. Students are involved and engaged in every facet of agriculture including planning, planting, stock management, harvesting crops, food processing, marketing, and sales. LFV provides students the most thorough understanding of what it means to be a farmer.
- LFV supplies/aids graduates with farm acquisition and maintenance through at least four models. This includes a lease to own and farm transfer. This increases the odds of success, with little to no debt.
- LFV partners with the veteran farmer community/cooperatives to share equipment, marketing, profits, success, effective strategies, and a legacy that to be passed on to future students and their families.
History
After over a year of planning and coordinating with multiple professional organizations, groups, and individuals, LFV organized on 26 Nov 2018. LFV is brainchild of Deven Little, a 19-year veteran of the US Army. He developed and dedicated LFV to provide opportunities to veterans and their families to grow together through education, training, and the shared experiences in sustainable agriculture. Since its founding LFV, has been working to establish a school on a functioning farm in southern Ohio. There the veterans and their families can work in a total immersion agricultural program and develop a flexible individualized plan. A plan that focuses on traditional agricultural practices that work with the land and the family for their mutual benefit.
In the ensuing years, LFV has built relationships with dozens of agriculture professionals, educators, subject matter experts and independent farmers. All of whom have promised their time, expertise and practical knowledge in the establishment of LFV as the first registered Agricultural trade School in the state of Ohio. They further have assisted in the development of a unique curriculum that will allow students the most options and experience as they design their own future family farms.
In May of 2024, LFV received accreditation from Ohio Apprenticeship Program to a form the first agricultural trade school in Ohio and the first such trade school for families in the United States.
LFV was recognized by the IRS as a 501c (3) not-for-profit on 31 Nov 2018 and is scheduled to begin its pilot program in January of 2025.
Board Members & Advisors
Board Members
Deven Little – President
Deven Little is a 19 year veteran of the US Army where he served at all levels of the military and participated in two OIF deployments, one OIR deployment and one tour in South Korea. He has a Bachelors degree in Music from Morehead State University and over 20 years of independent study and application of traditional and small scale sustainable agricultural practices. Deven developed a love of agriculture in his youth in Montana, where he bucked hay bales, chased cows and managed beehives during his summers. Little Farms for Veterans was developed after Deven and his wife Celeste were unable to find an agriculture training program that allowed family integration, even amongst the existing programs that assist veterans.
Charles Hutchinson – 1st Vice President
Charles Hutchinson served in the US Army for 23 years as a technical engineering supervisor, deploying 4 times in support of OIF, OEF and Bosnia during his term of service. Upon departing military service Charles worked for the US Forest Service designing, building and maintaining roads for timber hauling in New Mexico and Idaho. Charles grew up in northern New York (aka the country) surrounded by farmers and small land holders, many of which were living off what they could and could not grow. He has Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from Binghamton State University and has worked in his field for over 30 years. Charles continues to remain committed to the veteran community which includes his deceased father and 4 of his 5 sons (two of which are disabled), and who collectively have served in three branches of the armed forces.
Robert Anderson – Secretary
Robert Anderson has served over 22 years in the US Army and complete two combat tours. He grew up on a ranch milking cows, bucking bales and hauling irrigation pipe all over southern Utah. Robert is happily married with 7 children. As he exists military service Robert is looking forward to returning to the land and reconnecting with natures abundance.
Jeanne Anderson – Treasurer
Jeanne Anderson is the wife of a US Army Veteran, and comes from several generations of farmers. She has over 10 years of professional experience in the fields of bookkeeping and accounting. In addition, she has a Bachelors of Science degree in Special Education from Utah State University, which has helped her son with special needs deal with the challenges of multiple deployments and moves that come with military life.
Advisors
Tony Nye
Agricultural Advisor from OSU CFAES where he currently serves as an agriculture and natural resources educator, and the County chair for Pike, Ohio.
Laura Ackerman
USDA AgrAbility Disability Services Coordinator / Ohio AgrAbility
Darryl Gaither
Serves as the Veterans liaison officer with the Ohio Apprenticeship Program