Comfort Farms’ Jon Jackson receives national conservation honor

Published 7:15 am Thursday, February 22, 2024

When Jon Jackson accepted a national conservation award last week out in California, he had Milledgeville on his mind. 

“Especially within conservation, being recognized by the work that we do at the farm, for me, it brings it back to Baldwin County,” said Jackson, founder of Milledgeville’s Comfort Farms. 

Jackson was named the 2023 Friend of Conservation by the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) for his outstanding contributions to natural resource conservation and was honored at the NACD annual meeting held in San Diego on Feb. 13.

“We’re a small town, but we’re doing some big things, and a lot of the community, they realize that we’re doing big things in Baldwin County, but I don’t think many people understand how far our reach has gone outside that, so it makes me so happy to bring recognition back to where I live and our community and all of the work that the veterans do and the people that support us do,” Jackson said. “I never look for any accolades for doing this. My main purpose is just our mission and doing what we do, so to get recognized like this on the national scale really kind of validates that we’re on the right track, and it makes me feel extremely proud to bring this recognition back to where we are.”

A former U.S. Army Ranger and veteran of several combat tours, Jackson created the nonprofit in 2016, launching its pilot program featuring Comfort Farms Acute Care Facility and Veterans Training Campus in Baldwin County. The working farm is named after a dear friend, Capt. Kyle A. Comfort, who lost his life in battle in 2010.

Comfort Farms is a 38-acre, 100% regenerative, working farm that helps veterans in crisis. The farm focuses on growing a variety of vegetables and livestock and sells goods onsite. In addition, Jackson and Comfort Farms provide educational opportunities that give veterans in need a place to use their skills and energy to fulfill a purpose. Comfort Farms has provided services to several hundred veterans and their families resulting in thousands of visitors. 

Jackson said Comfort Farms is set apart by its mission to be true stewards of the land. 

“I don’t have an academic background,” he said. “I didn’t go to any of the major universities to study ag, and my biggest teacher was Mother Nature and just being able to kind of live in humility and just follow everything that nature has provided for us and look at those as clues to how we need to pay respect to our land, and so I am guided by those principles…”

Through funding from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), Comfort Farms utilizes several practices around the farm that give the workers and community a better understanding of conservation. The farm uses a combination of underground drip irrigation and wobble-head irrigation to improve water efficiency. A well was installed on the farm that provides 100 percent of its irrigation and water needs. Cover crops are used between crop rows to improve soil health and provide habitat for local pollinators. The use of a hoop house gives a more controlled growing environment and extends the vegetable growing season. Terraces are utilized in the orchard and include wood chips between berms to help with moisture absorption and control water flow. The farm utilizes heavy use fencing to control livestock movement, to help the land recover and for farm attendants to safely move livestock from one area to another. 

From the vegetable and livestock production on the farm, Jackson sells several varieties of produce and meats to restaurants, markets and community members. He also provides educational opportunities and tours on the farm to help participants learn more about soil health, composting, water conservation and raising livestock.

Jackson does all of this with a mission-based mindset, focusing on producing and inspiring new farmers while simultaneously helping veterans find strength in themselves to do something great again through a structured, friendly, creative work environment that respects diverse ideas and hard work ethic. 

“We help veterans start farms where they can be successful, give them the tools and the knowledge because that’s really the therapy — getting them back out serving again,” he said. 

Jackson has been in their shoes and while he never imagined Comfort Farms would grow to what it has, he’s thankful that his own story helped initiate that growth.

“I literally needed to run away from civilian life or whatever life that was after the Army and kind of get away, and I just wanted to be on a farm,” he said. “I had no aspirations of doing anything like we’re doing right now, but what I understood was that in order for us to grow, I needed to tell my story, and I really was very apprehensive about doing that, and as I told my story, it connected with a lot more veterans in the country that needed to hear that, and so it pushes me out of my comfort zone so that way I can go ahead and reach more veterans. So, it’s not something that I wanted to do willfully, but I’m glad I did, actually.”

Jackson was also named the 2023 Conservationist of the Year by the Georgia Association of Conservation Districts. He will be honored at their annual meeting in August. 

“The GACD board would like to extend congratulations to Jon Jackson for this recognition and we applaud his dedication to conservation and serving veterans in his community,” said GACD President Jake Ford.

Jackson believes that small, diversified farms are the backbone of this country, and he said Milledgeville can be proud to have a group of veteran farmers and small family farms that are there for them and who are recognized on both a national and international level. 

“I’m very happy to be in this community because we get so much support from them, so I just want to thank our community for supporting us in a way that we can continue to support them.”