Happy first day of spring (or fall, depending on where you are in the world)! Changing seasons are an important marker of transitions, and the last month has certainly been a time of transition here at AGW. We remain committed to doing our very best work for farms and businesses considering certification and for those already certified. This newsletter will continue to be a place for sharing updates from the AGW program, along with farming-related news and resources. If there are topics you want to see covered or questions you’d like to have answered, please be in touch.

AGW’s Technical Support At Your Fingertips
Pasture-based farming can be challenging. There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution, and best practices for one part of the country may not work as well in another. If you have questions about something you are encountering on your farm, don’t forget these resources offered by the AGW program. They include Technical Advice Fact Sheets on a range of issues, Farm Health Online, Sustainable FarmingMagazine and one-on-one support from our technical team.

How To Grow Customer Loyalty
If you want to learn how to gain new customers and keep them, Barn2Door recently shared a podcast, called “How Certifications Grow Customer Loyalty,” featuring AGW. Listen here.

Managing Bison Herds
Bison herds can be managed in accordance with natural family order, a truly unique approach that can be applied to all herding animals, says Bob Jackson. Read more in this blog post,originally published in Sustainable Farming Magazine.

Meet the Farmer: South Africa
AGW-certified farmer, Peter Prinsloo, raises Certified Grassfed by AGW beef cattle at Langside Meats in Queenstown, South Africa. In this blog post, originally published in Sustainable Farming Magazine, Prinsloo warns of huge challenges faced by farmers. Read Peter’s reflections here.

Updates From Your Peers
Please catch the latest press mentions about AGW-certified producers and the program below. This week,

• Eat This, Not That featured AGW Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW as “the ultimate seal to look for” in an article deciphering common food label claims.

• In their article called “Now’s the time to sign up for a Hudson Valley meat CSA,” the Times Union featured AGW-certified Kinderhook Farm, offering a 10 month long CSA from April 2021-February 2022.

• Rappahannock News highlighted the challenges faced by farmers, ranchers and meat processors throughout the pandemic and featured AGW-certified Bean Hollow Grassfed in VA.

• Yahoo Finance  along with WSAW-TV out of Wisconsin feature AGW-certified Truly Grassfed, a cooperative of dairy farmers in Ireland supplying Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW butter and cheeses to retail outlets across North America.

• The Daily Astorian spotlights AGW-certified Nehalem River Ranch located in Nehalem, OR in “Food hub takes root at former Sears in Astoria.”

• WilmingtonBiz reports that Mariposa Tapas Bar is coming to Wilmington, NC and will feature AGW-certified pork from Lady Edison and produced by farmers in the North Carolina Natural Hog Growers Association.