I hope all of you are doing well, especially as COVID-19 cases are rising dramatically across the country. Please stay safe and take care of yourselves as we move into the winter months. If you need it, we hope our COVID-19 resources and blog post about preparedness can be of help. Against this challenging backdrop and with the approaching holiday season, I would like to create a space to give thanks. To all the farmers and ranchers producing food for your families, customers and communities, thank you. Thank you for the care you take with your land and your livestock. Thank you for your wisdom, patience and perseverance. Thank you for your attention to detail, the in-depth knowledge and expertise you bring to challenging and relentless hard work. Thank you for all you do to protect rural spaces and rural communities. Thank you for being the strong backbone of our communities and food systems. From all on the AGW team, we sincerely thank you and carry this gratitude with us daily.

For updates from the AGW program, please read on.

A Regenerative Certification for Real Change: Regenerative Pilot Update
Several weeks ago we shared the launch of AGW’s newest certification, Certified Regenerative by AGW. Our team is reviewing an amazing batch of applications, working with farms and ranches across many different regions. We look forward to announcing our Certified Regenerative pilot program cohort by mid-December. 

For Your Customers: What is Regenerative Farming?
We hosted a webinar earlier in the week about regenerative farming. What is it? Why does it matter? The webinar recording, found on AGW’s YouTube page, is a great tool to share with your customers—and anyone wanting to learn the benefits of regenerative agriculture.

For AGW-Certified Producers: Holiday Product Promotion Webinar Coming Early December!
In early December, the AGW Marketing team will be hosting a webinar to let people know how and where to buy AGW-certified products in advance of the holidays. Please check your inbox for more details from our Farmer and Market Outreach Coordinators to make sure we have the info we need to include you. For instance, do you use promo codes or offer coupons for orders placed online? Are you offering gift baskets, bundles or special orders? Let us know by November 30th so we can spread the word through our upcoming webinar!

Featured Blog Post: Eat Play Shove
The very traits that help birds thrive on pasture can trigger calamity during the winter months. Understanding what is behind these behaviors can help you adapt for winter wellness and bolster health and well-being during the milder months. Learn more from this blog post by Jennifer L. Burton DVM, originally published in Sustainable Farming Magazine.

Updates From Your Peers
We love sharing these press mentions so that we can see what other AGW-certified producers are up to across North America—and around the globe. This week,

• Chatham Journal, based in Pittsboro, NC featured South Chestnut Farm’s 10 years of AGW certification.

• Ohio’s Country Journal and Ohio Ag Net featured AGW-certified Lost Peacock Creamery in their article about veterans now serving through agriculture.

• The first AGW-certified egg farm in South Africa, Eddie’s Eggs in Eastern Cape, SA was featured in Food Focus.  If you have news to share, please let us know so we can help spread the word.