By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

LAKEVILLE, Ind. — Members of the Texas National Guard Agribusiness Development Team (ADT) took lessons learned in Indiana with them when they deployed to the Ghazni province of Afghanistan yesterday – lessons in, of all things, goat farming.

At first glance, it appeared to make about as much sense to send Americans to teach goat farming in a country where goat raising is a centuries-old tradition, as it would be to send Afghani women to Indiana to teach apple pie-making. But, rather than a “preaching to the choir” experience, it is one taken seriously by members of the National Guard in at least 12 states.

The ADT teams, considered the most well-received change in American policy in Afghanistan, aim to bridge a generation gap revealed in the CIA World Factbook: Afghanistan’s median age is 18, with only 2.4 percent of the population in the 65-and-over age group.

That means two generations have been eliminated by war, the ongoing struggle with the Taliban and the disappearance of many young people into neighboring Pakistan. Farming skills traditionally passed from father to son and mother to daughter have been lost.
Summarizing the work ADT teams are doing in Afghanistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said in a recent U.S. Department of State briefing, “The Afghans are great, great farmers, but they need help, and we’re going to do an overall effort.”

Before the 1978 Soviet invasion of the country, it exported pomegranates, nearly half the world’s raisins, wine and pistachios. “All that died,” Holbrooke said. “Now we’re trying to restore that.”
Though members of the Texas National Guard’s ADT team come from agricultural backgrounds, they underwent a crash course in farming while training at Camp Atterbury, visiting Purdue University and a sheep farm before arriving at Newton Farms near Lakeville. There they learned to inoculate goats against parasites or worms and to trim hooves.

“We want to show them everything about caring for goats from birth to death,” said Jerry Gorka, Newton’s farm manager, who regularly oversees the care, feeding and breeding of a herd of 400 Boer goats.

Commanded by Lt. Col. Brian P. Stevens, the team is the fourth to take part in a five-year mission to help Afghanistan rebuild its agricultural economy. This will be Stevens’ third deployment. He previously worked with civilian affairs in Iraq and served as an advisor for Afghanistan’s army.

He views this assignment as “the coolest mission I’ll do … We have a good team,” he said. “We’ll take care of each other.”

In addition to aiding Afghani goat farmers, the team’s goal is to create an extension service and a stable and sustainable government.