GREENWICH, N.Y. — Today is Veterans Day, a day in which the nation pauses to honor those who have served in our country’s military. The GI Bill is considered by some historians to be one of the most impactful pieces of legislation in United States history. Though sometimes overlooked, the bill impacted American agriculture helping returning World War II veterans purchase farms and receive further agriculture education.

The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, also called the GI Bill of Rights and known commonly as the “GI Bill,” was passed in 1944 as a measure to help World War II veterans adjust back to civilian life after the war ended. President Franklin Roosevelt and other leaders feared of a post-war economic depression caused by veteran unemployment.¹ They also wanted to better help WWII veterans after the mishandling of benefits for WWI veterans.

The GI Bill supported veterans in several ways, primarily through education, housing loans, and unemployment benefits. For veterans who wanted to further their education the government would pay for a veteran’s school costs for up to a year and additional time equal to their length of service. The Bill provided loans to buy houses, farms, or to begin a business. If a veteran was having difficulty finding work, he could receive an unemployment allowance of $20 a week for up to 52 weeks while they searched for work, in what was referred to as the “52-20 Club.” Interestingly, throughout the initial GI Bill’s lifespan only 20% of these unemployment funds were distributed showing that most returning veterans were able to find work or pursued the Bill’s educational opportunities.²

For veterans who pursued a higher education the GI Bill gave a veteran $500 dollars a year to cover the costs of tuition, books, and school related costs, and an additional $50 a month for living expenses or $75 a month if a veteran had dependents. Veterans could attend any school they wanted including four-year colleges & universities, technical schools, and on-the-job or vocational training programs. For veterans that wanted to pursue agricultural training the Institutional On-Farm Training Program was formed as many had been in vocational ag programs or the FFA before the war and wanted to continue in the field.³

At first local ag teachers taught veterans at night, but eventually the program developed to be a part of the agriculture department of local high schools. “Assistant teachers of vocational agriculture” under the command of a high school’s agriculture teacher, would be hired to teach classes of veterans in the school. The program was quite popular and finding enough qualified teachers was an issue in many places.

The program was a combination of classroom instruction and hands-on learning. The program required 200 hours of classroom/shop instruction and 100 hours of on-the-farm instruction a year. Classes were typically conducted a few nights a week and veterans would learn a host of different topics from the science behind agriculture to the practical “how-to” of farm equipment and more. There would also be check-ins twice a month on veterans’ home farms or their places of work to see progress. Through the Institutional On-Farm Training Program around 690,000 veterans were able to improve their knowledge of agriculture and implement it on their own farms.⁴

The loans also proved to be a popular option of which farmer veterans took advantage. Through the GI Bill the government offered guaranteed loans that the government would pay back half of or $2,000 if the recipient failed to pay off the loan. These loans could be used to purchase homes, farms, or businesses. While the vast majority of these loans were used build or buy homes, other veterans used them to buy their own farms. The loans could be used to purchase land, farm machinery & equipment, livestock, and other farm supplies.⁵

The loans also helped veterans who already owned or lived on farms to make improvements. Many veterans were able to install modern conveniences like electricity, running water, and indoor bathrooms for the first time in their farmhouses thanks to loans from the GI Bill. ⁶ From 1944-1952 2.3 million loans were given to veterans. In the program’s peak year of 1947 over 640,000 loans were given with 24,690 of those loans being signified as farm loans.

The first GI Bill expired in 1956, however it was extended to include Korean War and Vietnam War veterans and eventually a version was implemented permanently to serve today’s veterans. The first GI Bill had a major impact on the U.S. Around 7.8 million veterans were able to attain further education because of the Bill. The home loans increased home ownership and led to the growth of home building and the creation of suburbs to support the Baby Boom. It also helped create a distinct middle class in America.

For farming veterans, the GI Bill provided funds to purchase their own farms or improve the ones they already owned. The educational opportunities also enabled them to improve their farming knowledge and practices. The GI Bill also changed the outlook and attitude of many farming veterans. Having lived through the Great Depression many farming veterans grew up poor. The GI Bill helped create new expectations for farming veterans. They could envision and fulfill a life in which they could make a living being an independent farmer, and work to pass that on to the next generation of Americans.⁷