Photo credit: Jóia Food Farm in Charles City, IA

Summer is officially here, and we hope it is bringing reasonable temperatures and weather conditions. This week we’re sharing a grant opportunity, a new publication you may be interested in reading along with other resources from the AGW program. You may have seen in the news that the USDA is considering higher standards for the use of animal welfare claims on meat labels, something we have long advocated for. We’re glad to see the USDA plans to strongly encourage third-party certifications as the best way to ensure integrity of label claims. As always though, the devil is in the details, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on how the new guidance evolves—and what it means for label transparency and sustainable, high-welfare farming systems.

Grant Opportunity: The Livestock Conservancy Microgrant Program

The Livestock Conservancy is currently taking applications for their 2023 Microgrant Program. Grant categories include national microgrants, youth microgrants, breed association microgrants and emergency response fund/emergency response feed grants. The call for applications closes in August, and paper applications must be postmarked by August, 19.

New Publication for Small- to Mid-scale Farmers: RAFI’s Living Roots Magazine

The Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI-USA) recently launched a new magazine called Living Roots, published three times a year and focused on information and stories suited to small- to mid-scale farmers. The magazine is released in both print and digital formats, and you can read it online and sign up for a free subscription here. Don’t miss the article “Cultivating Climate-Smart Farming” to learn more about AGW’s partnership with RAFI-USA and Soil Health Institute on our upcoming Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities grant project.

Thinking of certifying? We’ve got you covered.

Increasingly, people want to know where their food comes from, how it was produced and be able to trust the claims they see on packaging. If you’re looking for a way to verify your own production claims and put them in front of your customers, AGW certification provides the most trusted and transparent third-party verified seals for your products. Contact AGW’s Outreach Specialist to learn more about the certification process and the marketing, labeling and technical services that come at no extra cost to certified producers.

Featured Resource: AGW’s Technical Team and Technical Resources

Did you know AGW has an incredibly talented team of folks with decades of experience in agriculture, animal welfare and processing, available to help answer your production questions? We call them our technical team, and their expertise is available to both prospective and certified producers who have questions about production, compliance with AGW standards, and so much more. Please reach out and we can connect with a highly skilled member of our team to talk you through questions before you apply or before your next audit. If you haven’t taken a look recently, be sure to refresh yourself on AGW’s library of technical resources as well.

In the Media

• Seattle Times featured Harmony Fields in Bow, WA in “At Harmony Fields, a couple raises sheep, kids and awareness of small farming.”

• Kiss the Ground featured Jóia Food Farm in Charles City, IA in “5 With A Farmer.”

• Times Leader and The Daily Item feature The Lands at Hillside Farm in Shavertown, PA in an article about PA’s ice cream trail.

• Goodnet and SigBusiness featured the Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW label as one to look for on egg labels.

• Palo Alto Online features Fifth Crow Farm in Pescadero, CA in an article about the upcoming CSA season.

You can help us reach more farmers by sharing our weekly farmer updates. Just pass this linkalong and thanks for helping us get the word out about farmer resources and AGW-certified businesses.