Veterans & Young Farmers Alliance Welcomes Full Stroke Media Radio as an Official Sponsor and Communications Platform The Veterans & Young Farmers Alliance (VYFA) is proud to announce the launch of Full Stroke Media Radio, a new 24/7 online radio station that will serve as an important communications platform in support of VYFA's mission to strengthen America's veterans, farmers, rural communities, and the future of agriculture. Owned and operated by Midnight Havoc Racing Com

Something historic is starting, and you have the chance to be part of it from the very beginning. The Veterans & Young Farmers Alliance (VYFA) is a bold new nonprofit organization with a mission unlike anything else in the country: to end veteran foreclosures and open the door for the next generation of American farmers . This is a moment where action, advocacy, and innovation intersect—and the need has never been greater. Why We Exist Our veterans sacrificed for our country

Every day, the dream of homeownership — long a symbol of stability, family security, and the American Dream — slips through the fingers of those who defended this country. While most of us go about our daily lives, thousands of veteran families are on the brink of losing the roofs over their heads. This is not a distant problem. It’s here. It’s now. And it matters to every community in this nation. Veterans Still Own Homes at Much Higher Rates Than Most Americans Veterans hav

There is a number in the dairy industry right now that should get everyone's attention: $13 billion. That's the amount of announced investment in new and expanded dairy processing capacity across 19 states. At the same time, the U.S. dairy industry is preparing for approximately 15 billion more pounds of milk production by 2030. On the surface, this sounds like a success story. Demand is growing. Processing capacity is expanding. Technology is improving. Productivity is incre

A new report from Dairy Herd highlights a major transformation underway in American dairy: the United States is preparing to produce approximately 15 billion additional pounds of milk by 2030 while continuing to operate with fewer dairy farms. That is not simply a story about dairy. It is a story about the future structure of American agriculture. According to the report, U.S. dairy processors have announced approximately $13 billion in new and expanded processing capacity ac

There is a problem in American agriculture that doesn't get enough attention. We talk about the aging agricultural workforce. We talk about farmland access. We talk about beginning farmers. We talk about veterans entering agriculture. We talk about agricultural labor shortages. We talk about succession planning and the need to bring a new generation into farming and ranching. But there is another gap underneath all of those conversations: The experience gap. There are farmers

When We Train the Next Generation for Agriculture, We Must Also Make Sure They Have Somewhere to Farm. I woke up this morning and read an article about Riverview's effort to cultivate the next generation of dairy leaders. And honestly, my heart broke. Not because young people are being trained in agriculture. We desperately need agricultural education. Not because internships are bad. They aren't. Not because large farms have no place in American agriculture. They do. My hear

Every time Congress debates a Farm Bill, the headlines are predictable. One side claims victory. The other side claims disaster. Arguments erupt over funding levels, conservation programs, nutrition assistance, commodity programs, crop insurance, and countless amendments. Political commentators keep score as though the Farm Bill were another election campaign. But while Washington argues over who won, many family farmers are asking a much simpler question: Will this keep me f

For years, America's farmers have been told to "hold on just a little longer." Hold on through record inflation. Hold on through historic droughts and floods. Hold on through rising fuel prices. Hold on through skyrocketing fertilizer costs. Hold on while milk prices swing wildly from one month to the next. Now, once again, Congress has failed to deliver the certainty that farmers desperately need. While lawmakers continue debating the next Farm Bill, family farms are left wo

Across rural America, a familiar pattern is beginning to emerge. Families are working longer hours, borrowing more money, delaying equipment purchases, and hoping next year's harvest will be enough to keep the operation alive. For too many farmers, that hope is running out. Recent data shows that Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcy filings rose dramatically during 2025, increasing 46% over the previous year. While these numbers remain below the historic highs of the 1980s farm

Veterans & Young Farmers Alliance Calls for a Serious Review of How Managerial Experience Is Demonstrated by Beginning Farmers To the leadership of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Farm Service Agency: America has a farm succession problem. We have an aging agricultural workforce, barriers to land access, rising costs of entering production agriculture, and a generation of potential farmers who are ready to work but often lack the traditional historical documentation us

July 27, 2026 Farming Doesn't Happen in a Vacuum When we think about farming, we often think about planting, livestock, equipment, soil, harvests, and the day-to-day work of producing food. But American agriculture is influenced by much more than what happens in the field. Trade policy, weather disasters, farm income, interest rates, input costs, government programs, land access, livestock numbers, conservation policy, and even international events can affect whether a farm s

New foreclosure data suggests that financial pressure on American households continues to intensify. According to an ABC News analysis of ATTOM property data, foreclosure filings increased 71% between 2020 and 2025, with Florida recording the highest annual foreclosure activity per ZIP code. Although current foreclosure rates remain significantly below those seen during the 2008 housing crisis, experts point to persistent affordability challenges—including elevated mortgage r

A Home Is More Than Four Walls For generations, America has promised those who serve that their sacrifice will be honored. One of the most important benefits created from that promise is the VA Home Loan Program — a benefit designed to help veterans, active-duty service members, and surviving spouses achieve the stability of homeownership. A home is not simply a building. For a veteran family, a home represents: A place to recover after service. A place where children grow up

For generations, the American family farm has represented something deeper than a business. It represents independence. Hard work. Stewardship of the land. Communities built around neighbors helping neighbors. It represents the people who wake up before sunrise, work through droughts, floods, rising costs, and uncertain markets, all to make sure food reaches our tables. But today, the future of America’s family farms is facing growing challenges — and many Americans do not re

As communities across America grapple with the future of agriculture, one question deserves far more attention than it receives: Should environmental review focus only on whether an individual facility can meet its permit requirements, or should it also consider whether the watershed itself has the capacity to absorb additional impacts? This question has become especially relevant in west-central Minnesota, where Riverview LLP has proposed expanding its West River Dairy near

Across the United States, agricultural environmental regulation is primarily built on a permit-based system. Individual facilities are evaluated for compliance with state and federal requirements related to air quality, water quality, manure management, and operational standards. This system has helped establish consistent baseline protections. However, as agricultural systems have scaled and concentrated in certain regions, a growing question has emerged: Does evaluating far

Across the United States, agriculture continues to evolve. Farms are becoming more technologically advanced, production methods are changing, and communities are working to balance economic growth with the long-term protection of natural resources. As these changes occur, one question becomes increasingly important: How do we ensure that agricultural growth remains sustainable for future generations? At the Veterans & Young Farmers Alliance (VYFA), we believe the answer begin

Across the United States, agriculture operates under a patchwork of state rules, federal programs, conservation standards, and environmental compliance systems. While these systems aim to protect farmland, water, and rural economies, they are often inconsistent, fragmented, and difficult for farmers and regulators to navigate. The National Farm Risk Management System (NFRMS) represents a proposed solution to this fragmentation: a unified, standardized, and scalable framework

In the eyes of many local zoning boards and state agricultural policies, a farm is a farm. Whether it is a multi-generational family operation grazing a few dozen head of cattle or a massive, multi-national industrial facility managing tens of thousands of animals, the legal classification is often the same: "Agricultural Use." This broad-brush approach creates a dangerous regulatory fiction. By treating all operations as if they were identical, we have created a massive "Cl