As COVID-19 continues to develop, here at PastureMap we wanted to check in with a message of care for our community. Rest assured that all our operations will continue - we are fortunate to be a remote team that is already working from home in California and Texas. CK will be continue to be available for all PastureMap operations and support. 

We've covered Lydia Carpenter and Wian Prinsloo's decade-long journey from inception to farm ownership. For lessons from the first 5 years, see: Making Farm Ownership Viable for Young People: Lessons from Luna Field Farm Part I

It's been an eventful month in the cattle and regenerative meat industry. What we're reading and watching this month:

Electronic ID / RFID tags for cattle identification are becoming increasingly popular as producers use them to track individual animal performance. EID tags, wand readers, and portable scales are making smart cattle tracking easier by the day.

So - how can this technology help us make more profits? By tracking individual cattle AND individual pasture performance to more effectively convert grass to beef to dollars. 

Just released! Healthy Soils to Cool the Planet, a philanthropic and investment guide to scale up soil carbon sequestration. This excellent guide by Breakthrough Strategies includes basic information on the benefits of healthy soils, a list of regenerative agricultural practices and an extensive portfolio of recommended grantees.

Here at PastureMap, we are delighted and grateful to be featured as one of the 6 recommended investment opportunities in Soil Health for impact investors. 

We have an absolutely packed agenda of national and global speakers. We're also centering the voices of next generation leaders, including Doniga Markegard, Ariel Greenwood, Brian Alexander, Byron Palmer, Nikki Silvestri, Dede Boies, Loren Poncia, Anthony Myint, and more. 

Oh hey. Two cold, cold months into 2019 and we're badly in need of some fun during these winter doldrums. Let's go somewhere else. Imagine sunny days, green grass, and rocking this swag on your ATV. The neighbors will either be confused, still clueless, or jealous of your sweet threads.  

Vote for your favorite T-Shirt slogan, or submit your own. We'll tally up the winning votes and favorite audience submission (crediting you, of course!) and print these in time for spring. 

We'll also have the winning T-shirts available at The Grassfed Exchange: Regeneration Rising in Santa Rosa, April 3-5, 2019. Register now to hang with a community of 300+ grazing nerds like you in the rolling foothills and wine country of Sonoma. You deserve it.

[UPDATE]: Yes, these shirts will be sourced locally. We'll want to direct this community's dollars to regenerative fiber as our fiber producers need love too. If you have a recommendation for apparel makers, ping us.

I sat down to nerd out with Clay at Working Cows Podcast last week. We talked about what we're seeing at PastureMap from the ranch businesses we serve. I shared a few of the best ranch management practices that we're seeing from the ranches that we serve. 

Now it's an unseasonably cold winter (albeit nothing compared to the Midwest) and I was a little sniffly to start. But be forewarned - when I get warmed up, I talk fast! :)

Click here to listen to PastureMap on the Working Cows Podcast.

"Good Monday morning to all you critter and land loving folks..." is how the Working Cows blog starts off every week. At last, something to get you through every winter Monday this time of year.