Farms and food companies have a hiring problem. The people who run the equipment are getting older. The pipeline of new workers is thin. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the average age of the hired farm workforce keeps climbing. At the same time, the machines are getting more complex. Tractors run software now. Irrigation systems are networked. Grain handling is automated.

You need people who can run gear, fix gear, and lead a crew on a tight clock. That is a hard mix to find. But there is a talent pool built for exactly this work. Veterans.

Military service trains people to operate heavy equipment, manage supply chains, run land and resource operations, and lead small teams under pressure. Those are the same skills an ag operation runs on. This guide shows you why military experience fits agriculture, where to find these candidates, how to read their resumes, and how to keep them once they start.

This is written for midsize farms, co-ops, food processors, and equipment dealers. You may not have a recruiting team. You probably do not have a veteran hiring program. You do not need one to get this right.

Why Do Military Skills Fit Agriculture and Agribusiness?

Agriculture runs on equipment, logistics, land management, and crew leadership. The military trains all four. A veteran does not need to know farming to step into many of these roles. They need to know how to run the machine, move the inputs, and keep the team on task. Most already do.

Think about a typical day on a large operation. Diesel engines start before dawn. Hydraulics lift and load. Parts and fuel have to be staged. A small crew has to hit a window before weather turns. That rhythm matches military field work almost exactly.

Here is how common military jobs map to ag roles.

The skills transfer. The work ethic comes with it. People who served are used to early starts, long days, and outdoor conditions. They are used to a job that does not stop because the weather is bad. That alone separates them from a lot of the labor pool.

Which Ag Roles Can Veterans Fill Right Now?

Not every farm job needs the same background. Some need a machine operator. Some need a fixer. Some need a planner. Veterans cover the spread. Here are the roles where they slot in fastest.

Equipment operators: Tractor, combine, sprayer, and loader work. A veteran who ran heavy gear in the Army or with the Seabees can learn your specific machine in days, not months. The base skill is already there.

Equipment technicians and diesel mechanics: This is the cleanest match. Military mechanics service complex engines and hydraulics every day. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that farm and heavy equipment service techs earn a median of $62,740 a year, with about 21,700 openings projected per year through 2034. That is a real shortage, and veterans help close it.

Logistics and operations coordinators: Inputs, seed, fertilizer, fuel, parts. Someone has to order it, stage it, and track it. Military supply specialists do this in their sleep.

Drivers and haul crews: Grain, feed, and product all move by truck. Veterans with motor transport backgrounds often hold a CDL or can earn one quickly.

Facility and plant roles: Processing plants, grain elevators, and packing houses need operators and maintenance crews. Military maintenance and utilities backgrounds fit here too.

Shift and crew leaders: Harvest and planting run on tight windows. You need someone who can run a crew, set the pace, and keep people safe. That is what a sergeant did.

If you run a logistics-heavy operation, the supply and transport side is worth a close look. We cover that pool in depth in our guide on how to hire veterans for logistics and supply chain roles and our guide to hiring veterans as CDL truck drivers.

How Does Military Equipment Experience Translate to the Farm?

This is where a lot of employers stop short. A resume says "heavy equipment operator" or "wheeled vehicle mechanic." You are not sure what that buys you. Let me break it down.

A military heavy equipment operator runs bulldozers, graders, scrapers, and loaders. They move earth, build roads, and clear land. Put them on a tractor or a field loader and they adapt fast. The controls differ. The judgment is the same.

A military diesel mechanic tears down and rebuilds engines, transmissions, and hydraulic systems in the field. No clean shop. No easy parts run. They fix what they have with what they have. That is exactly what breaks down during harvest at 9 p.m.

Precision ag is the newer angle. Modern equipment uses GPS guidance, sensors, and software. Veterans from technical fields already work with networked systems and electronics. The learning curve on a precision-ag platform is shorter for them than for most hires.

When you read a military resume, look past the job title and codes. Look at the machines they ran, the systems they fixed, and the size of the crew they led. Our guide on how to evaluate a veteran's resume walks through this line by line. For the equipment and supply background, the deep career pages for the Army 92A automated logistical specialist and the Navy logistics specialist show exactly what those roles handled.

Where Do You Find Veteran Candidates for Ag Roles?

The hard part is not whether veterans can do the work. It is finding them. Most farms and food companies do not have a sourcing channel for military talent. They post on a generic job board and hope. That is slow and it misses people.

Here is where to look.

The fastest path is a pool you can search. Instead of posting and waiting, you look for the exact skill you need. A diesel mechanic. A heavy equipment operator. A supply lead. You reach out to people who fit.

That is what BMR is built for. We add over 1,000 new veteran profiles every month, and we have helped build more than 60,000 resumes. When you need equipment and logistics talent, you can search a fresh, growing pool instead of starting from zero.

SkillBridge is worth a hard look for ag too. It lets a service member spend their last months of service training with your operation at no cost to you. They learn your equipment and your process before they ever hit your payroll. You can read the rules at the official DoD SkillBridge site.

How Do You Interview a Veteran for an Ag Job?

A veteran interview can feel different. They may use terms you do not know. They may undersell what they did. They were trained to credit the team, not themselves. Your job is to dig for the work, not just the words.

Ask plain, practical questions about the work.

• Equipment: What machines did you run or service? How big? How often did they break, and what did you do?
• Conditions: Tell me about a job you finished in bad weather or with broken gear.
• Crew: How many people did you lead? How did you keep them safe and on schedule?
• Pace: Describe a time you had a hard deadline and a setback. What did you do?

Those questions pull out exactly what an ag operation needs to know. Can they run the gear, fix the gear, lead the crew, and finish under pressure. You will get straight answers because that is how they were trained to report.

For a full interview framework built for military candidates, see our guide on how to interview a veteran candidate the right way.

What About Safety and Compliance on the Farm?

Agriculture is a high-hazard industry. Equipment, chemicals, confined spaces, and heat all carry real risk. A worker who ignores a safety rule can get hurt or killed. This is one more place veterans bring an edge.

Safety is built into military training from day one. Pre-operation checks. Tool and equipment accountability. Hazard briefs before a job. A veteran does not see a safety checklist as red tape. They see it as how you keep people alive. That mindset lowers your incident rate.

They also handle compliance well. Pesticide records, equipment logs, and inspection prep all need someone who documents the work and follows the rule. Military jobs run on exactly that kind of paperwork discipline.

How Do You Keep a Veteran Hire on an Ag Operation?

Hiring is half the job. Keeping them is the other half. Ag work can have high turnover. A good veteran hire is worth keeping, so set them up to stay.

Start with a clear plan for the first 90 days. Veterans came from a world of clear orders and clear standards. Vague expectations frustrate them. Tell them what good looks like. Tell them how they get promoted.

Give them room to lead. A former NCO does not want to just turn a wrench forever. Show them a path to crew lead, shift boss, or maintenance chief. Many of your best future managers are sitting in entry roles right now.

Pay fairly for the skill. A trained diesel mechanic or a CDL hauler has real market value. The BLS puts the median for farmers, ranchers, and ag managers at $87,980 a year, with about 85,500 openings each year as the current workforce retires. There is room to grow these hires into those seats.

For more on the leadership and field-ops angle, our guides on recruiting veterans for skilled trades and field operations and the ROI of hiring veterans show what these hires return over time. If you also run construction or build-out crews, the construction roles guide and the energy and utilities guide cover related field talent.

The Bottom Line for Ag Employers

The farm workforce is aging and the machines are getting harder to run. You need people who can operate equipment, fix it, move inputs, and lead a crew through a tight window. Veterans do all four. They bring the work ethic and the safety habits on top of it.

The barrier was never skill. It was finding them. A searchable veteran talent pool fixes that. You stop posting and waiting, and you start reaching out to the exact background you need.

BMR adds over 1,000 new veteran profiles every month, on top of more than 60,000 resumes built. When you are ready to staff your equipment, logistics, and operations roles, you can reach into a fresh pool of people who already know how to run gear and lead a team. Reach out to access BMR's veteran talent pool and start sourcing for your operation.