(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]