Veteran Restarts Family Farm While Earning Degree Online

Farming has been in Randall Moores’ family for generations. Since he was young, Moores wanted to pursue a career in agriculture and take over the family farm. But after graduating college, the Ohio native’s first priority was serving his country. Moores enlisted in the U.S. Army as a logistics officer, deploying twice to Iraq. After serving for seven years, Moores and his wife Connie decided to move back home to northeast Ohio to raise their children and restart the family farm using sustainable farming methods.

Even though farming is in his DNA, Moores wanted to learn more about agriculture to better equip himself to take up the family business. Because of his military service, Moores was eligible to apply the GI Bill® to his studies, which provides financial support for education for veterans at public universities.

With his family, farm and career all in Ashtabula County it wasn't feasible for him to attend school in person, so Moores enrolled in the online Master in Plant Health Management program at The Ohio State University.

For Moores, the ultimate goal of earning a degree was to make his family farm a success. But the pride he feels in his Ohio State degree makes the achievement even more meaningful.

“I always wanted to go to Ohio State,” Moores said. “To say that I now have a degree from Ohio State means a lot to me.”