# 21.126 Farm cooperative course.
(a) *Definition.* An approvable farm cooperative course is a full-time course designated to restore employability by training a veteran to:
(1) Operate a farm which he or she owns or leases; or
(2) Manage a farm as the employee of another.
(b) *Reaching the goal of a farm cooperative course.* The farm cooperative course must enable a veteran to become proficient in the type of farming for which he or she is being provided rehabilitation services. The areas in which proficiency is to be established include:
(1) Planning;
(2) Producing;
(3) Marketing;
(4) Maintaining farm equipment;
(5) Conserving farm resources;
(6) Financing the farm;
(7) Managing the farm; and
(8) Keeping farm and home accounts.
(c) *Instruction, including organized group instruction.* Instruction in a farm cooperative course may be by a mixture of organized group (classroom) instruction and individual instruction or by individual instruction alone. A course which includes organized group instruction must meet the following criteria to be considered as full-time:
(1) The number of clock hours of instruction which should be provided yearly shall meet the requirements of § 21.310(a)(4) and § 21.4264 pertaining to full-time pursuit of a farm cooperative course:
(2) The individual instructor portion of a farm cooperative course shall include at least 100 hours of individual instruction per year.
(d) *Instruction given solely by an individual instructor.* (1) Instruction in a farm cooperative course may be given solely by an individual instructor if organized group instruction is:
(i) Not available within reasonable commuting distance of the veteran's farm; or
(ii) The major portion of the organized group instruction that is available does not have a direct relation to the veteran's farming operation and pertinent VA records are fully and clearly documented accordingly.
(2) To be considered full-time pursuit the individual instruction provided in these course must:
(i) Consist of at least 200 hours of instruction per year;
(ii) Be given by a fully qualified individual instructor by contract between VA and the instructor or an educational agency which employs the instructor.
(e) *Plan requirements for farm operator or farm manager.* (1) The plan for training developed by the case manager and the veteran in collaboration with the instructor must include:
(i) A complete written survey including but not limited to the areas identified in § 21.298 (a) and (b);
(ii) An overall, long-term plan based upon the survey of the operation of the farm;
(iii) An annual plan identifying the part of the overall plan to be implemented which will be prepared before the beginning of each crop year; and
(iv) A detailed individual training program showing the kind and amount of instruction, classroom and individual, or individual; and
(2) The farm must meet the requirements for selecting a farm found in § 21.298.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3104(a)(7))
[49 FR 40814, Oct. 18, 1984; 50 FR 9622, Mar. 11, 1985]