June 2026 Newsletter
Momentum is building. I'm happy to say that the first sold auction completed with a happy buyer of a good grass bull. This is a big milestone for us, and I'm excited to continue helping others. I've also begun a podcast tour to spread the word. I was recently on 'Everybody Wants to Be a Farmer' with Joshua Davis and 'Working Cows' with Clay Conry. These episodes should be live soon, and I expect more to come. As we head into the summer, I wish you all an abundant season filled with the perfect amount of rain and sunshine to build your pastures.
- Cory
News
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Screwworm Is Back Screwworm is making headlines again, and cattle producers across the country are asking the same question: what can we do now? For regenerative ranchers, the answer starts where it always has, with the health of the animals. I believe that overall health is the best defense against any disease, and that the practices of regenerative livestock management are a very effective way to achieve that. |
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USDA Releases Small Processors Action Plan On June 3, USDA rolled out its new Small Processors Action Plan, a package of policy tweaks, service upgrades, and funding aimed at helping small and very small meat and poultry plants. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is focusing on improving customer service and clarifying regulatory requirements for small plants. Alongside that, USDA is putting another roughly $60 million into the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, plus about $20 million in overtime and holiday inspection-fee relief for small and very small facilities. While anything that helps small processors is sorely needed, this action plan does not appear to truly reduce any of the critical regulatory burdens they face. I'm interested to hear from our readers on their opinion of this plan, but it feels more like fluff than true progress. |
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Big Ag pushes the Save Our Bacon Act through the House The Save Our Bacon Act was added to the Farm Bill and passed through the House. It would prevent states from dictating the production and raising methods of livestock sold within their borders. This primarily aims to overturn California's Proposition 12, which banned the sale of extremely confined livestock, especially sows trapped in gestation crates. According to big ag in America, any opposition to the cruel and toxic confinement of pigs is a radical bacon ban and "arbitrary animal housing requirements". Source: Save Our Bacon Act (H.R. 4673) |
Announcements
- We will have a table at the Homesteaders of America Conference in Virginia this October. If you are going, please reach out as we would love to meet in person.
- We are running a referral program to help bring everyone's network together. You can earn passive income on the transactions made by anyone you bring to Astoria. Learn more about referrals, and find your referral code in the settings when you're logged in.
- Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated.
Platform Updates
The Astoria platform is entirely custom built specifically to support the needs of the Regenerative community. We are always working on improvements, so please let us know if you find any issues or there's anything you'd like to see.
Here is a small slice of the updates that went live this month, representing what I believe are the most interesting.
- Sellers now have climate data like average temperature, annual precipitation, humidity, and elevation added to their profile, which appears on their auctions and seller page.
- Auctions with the purpose set to 'dairy' are now required to include the beta casein type (ex: A2/A2).
- Auctions now show other active auctions from the same seller.
- Users can filter by 'active', 'coming soon', and 'sold' auctions.