(PRINCESS ANNE, Md) – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is lending a hand to a special group of farmers.

The school’s horticulture and extension specialist hosted a workshop, teaching a group of veterans now starting new careers in agriculture.

The 20 of them got to show off all they’ve learned so far.

“This is a very competitive type of conference. So we invited applications from the Delmarva, from the three states, and we have veteran farmers selected for this and that’s why we have this,” says UMES Associate Professor of Horticulture, Dr. Naveem Dixit.

Veterans in the program also got to see the many resources available to them, which may help them get their businesses off the ground.

Sabina Shaub tells us, “Well, I’m I’m a veteran and Air Force veteran, and sometimes it’s nice to have other veterans to do these kinds of things with. We can relate to our past experiences and some of the challenges that we’ve had. And so having a veterans specific conference is very welcoming…”

UMES said it increased the number of veterans allowed to take part in this workshop from 15 to 20.