The word beacon has its origin in Old English when its meaning referred to a signal or lighthouse. Beacons were used not only by ships and later by airfields as a warning or guidance system but as a means for carrying news. A fire or light set up in a high or prominent position could also provide a sign of celebration. Since the 1600s, the word beacon has figuratively referred to a person or thing that illuminates or inspires.

Drawing from these historical meanings, once a month, the Journal will run a story in a Feature Forum called Blaine County Beacon, which will illuminate the achievements of Blaine County residents. This beacon will shine not only in celebration but as a means for bringing the celebrated person "back home." Anyone wishing to recommend a person for consideration for this feature should contact Donna L. Miller or the Journal.

This past July, Ryan Lankford, an enrolled member of the Gros Ventre tribe and a second-generation dryland farmer on the Hi-Line, joined more than 30 veterans in Washington, D.C. at the Farm Credit Farmer Veteran Fly-In. Farm Credit invited these veterans to Capitol Hill to share their stories in order to help policymakers understand the importance of programs that enable returning service members to forge meaningful careers in agriculture. They also unveiled the Homegrown By Heroes updated emblem.

Lankford was nominated by Northwest Farm Credit Services and then selected in large part because of his military-to-farm journey, his unique life experiences, and his speaking ability.

In a Homegrown by Heroes 2018 Panel Discussion, policymakers had the opportunity to hear from military men and women, who put a spotlight on the critical role agriculture can play for veterans returning home from military service.

Gary Matteson, Vice President of Outreach and Board Chair of the Farmer Veteran Coalition who served as the panel's moderator, provided an introduction of the panel, saying: "We brought these veterans to Washington because we need you [policymakers] to hear their stories so that you can share their stories. We need more people to better understand what it is that these farmer veterans might need."

Lankford joined three other farmer veterans who shared their military-to-farm journeys with the Senate Agriculture Committee. He spoke about his eagerness as a young man to escape the farming life. Watching his father struggle financially and eventually file bankruptcy, he said, "I never planned on being a farmer. I wanted to go to college, become an engineer, and get away from my small hometown in Fort Belknap, Montana. The problem was how to pay for the way out."

Because Lankford knew there wasn't money to fund his education and he didn't want to burden his family with debt, he joined the Army Reserves in high school. He planned to use the G.I. Bill to fund a civil engineering degree from Montana State University.

"While I was a sophomore in college, I got the 'we need you' call from the military, so I answered the call to serve my country," Lankford said.

After finishing his term of service, Lankford completed his degree in civil engineering in 2008 and went to work for the Department of Transportation, but he couldn't shake the stubborn call to return to the farm. "The call to serve in the military and to work on the farm are the same; it's a call to service, something you can't deny," said Lankford. "We're not [farming] to be rich and we're not doing it for the fanfare. We're doing it because it's just our calling."

When Matteson asked the panel members what knowledge or experience they might offer to others, Lankford answered: "Find people who specialize in the area in which you need help. I call this group of people SMEES, for subject matter experts. These SMEES have become my community of mentors. I learned that you can't be proud about asking for help because most of our learning lessons are painful; we have to get out the checkbook," he said.

"As I was looking for these mentors, I looked for the biggest operations, the most successful people, and just cold-called them. After all, most farmers are just neighbors helping neighbors," Lankford added. "The hard part is asking the question right."

Lankford also shared a unique approach to defining success: "How successful you are is not dependent on how many acres you own or how many cows you have; it's how you are you doing right now and what control did you have. That's where good mentors come in. . . . My wife Lindsey likes to remind me, 'You can't compare your chapter to someone else's book of experience.' Success is a process; it's not immediate."

Representative James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, also addressed the Senate Agriculture Committee and others in the audience by saying: "The two biggest heroes that I can think of are our veterans and our farmers; our veterans keep us safe and our farmers keep us fed."

After Comer's remarks, the veterans were asked what advice they might share with those transitioning from the military to farming. The panel talked about the transition from being a hero on the military side to being a hero in everyday life, describing how they have gone from supporting their country to supporting their communities. "Still, as farmers, we're giving back," Lankford said.

The panel also described challenges, how most farmers work two or three or four jobs while they are farming to build up their farms and to ensure a steady flow of income. They discussed the time investment of putting steel in the ground and getting their fingernails dirty, "These successful farms are overnight successes after twenty years," panelist Jed Keller from Michigan said, "so it's easy to get discouraged."

"We all hit our bad times as we make the sacrifice of long hours, unpredictability-especially with weather, and financial instability, but we have to think of our families," Lankford said; "giving up is never a plan; you have to choose to keep going." Lankford and his wife have four children: Caitlyn, 9; Kendle, 8; Clyde, 5; and Kennedy, who was born this past November 2.

As veterans and new farmers, the panelists fit the at-risk profile, so they thanked Farm Credit for taking a chance on them and then sticking with them even when they were "upside down."

Known for their relationship banking rather than their business banking, Farm Credit is a nationwide network of 73 customer-owned lending institutions that all share a mission assigned to them by Congress-"supporting rural communities and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services, today and tomorrow."

According to their website, the Farm Credit network is comprised of independent, privately owned institutions are cooperatively owned by their customers: farmers, ranchers, farmer-owned cooperatives and other agribusinesses, rural utilities and others in rural America. Farm Credit supports infrastructure providers and farmers by helping to keep American agriculture competitive in global markets and our rural communities viable and thriving

The Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC), supported by Farm Credit, also unveiled the updated Homegrown by Heroes (HBH) logo during a special ceremony on the floor of the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing room. The new HBH logo, which was updated for the first time in the program's history, features refreshed colors in red, white, and blue, and, most notably, the inclusion of a female service member.

"We absolutely wanted to update the HBH logo to recognize the contributions female farmer veterans have made both to this country and to agriculture," said FVC Executive Director Michael O'Gorman. "We've received a lot of positive feedback about the new logo and we are excited for the future of the label."

Marketing materials featuring the new logo were made available in late August. Like the Made in Montana label, which identifies authentic Montana quality and is used as a badge of honor for artisans, growers, craftspeople and manufacturers working for something bigger than the bottom line, the Homegrown By Heroes label is the official farmer veteran branding program that informs consumers that agricultural products displaying the logo were produced by U.S. military veterans.

"It was cool to see this ceremony," Lankford said. "While the label is not something that those of us in commercial, production agriculture will likely use, it impacts those who sell at Farmer's Markets or roadside stands. It helps veterans who can use it as a marketing tool and to identify their military affiliation," he added.

With ten years' experience as a farmer, Lankford runs all the major operations of Lankford Farms with his wife, Lindsey, and his parents, Jerry and Bonnie, whom he calls "the most influential people in my life." Since his return to the farm in 2009, the farm's acreage has nearly doubled. "We have a seven to eight crop rotation, producing crops like wheat, chick peas, lentils, and canola-both traditional and organic," Lankford explained.

"I was happy to have been able to attend the Farm Credit Farmer Veteran Fly-In at a time when the Farm Bill was still being drafted. The policymakers were listening and taking notes as we shared our ideas for giving help to veterans, help that would make it easier for them to apply for loans and to borrow money, as well as increases in loan limits."