All right, good evening everyone. My name is Isaac Bronco. This is part two of our webinar series this spring. Tonight's topic will be building a contractual relationship with your producer. And we have three panelists tonight. We have Ron and Beth Wolfe from Wolfe Suffix, Trisha and Donna Fearing from Fearing Cattle Company and Spencer worked from six and one meets. So we got a diverse group of people tonight. We originally had another processor scheduled but that fell through. He's traveling internationally. So thanks to Spencer for filling in for us. Glad to have you here. With any business relationship, it's important to build a good interaction with your processor, especially when it comes to developing a local meets program. As you're relying on them to get that meet out and ready and processed for your customers. And so without further ado, we'll start with our first panelists tonight.  And then we'll continue on with Trisha and Donnie Fearing and then we'll finish off with Spencer work before opening it up to questions from the panelists or from the audience tonight. If you wanna go ahead and start Ron and Beth, that'd be great. Well, thanks Isaac for inviting us to be part of this first and foremost. It's an honor always to be asked and share what we think we know. But Wolfe Suffix has been something that has been around for 40 some years which started out as a 4-H and F of A project. And it's a hobby that has gone kind of wild on us. We currently are running about 85 head of registered Suffix use and that has gotten a little bigger than we wanted but an opportunity come upon us this winter and we bought out a dispersion. And so we're in the seed stack business first and we just completed two weeks ago our 19th annual production sale. And so we're trying to sell rams and use it around the country. And we were fortunate enough like we just talked a little bit ahead of this that we had the national champion Suffix U this past November. And so it's kind of changed a little bit about our audience, but not all the sheep that we have in our place are show sheep or breeding stock. And thanks to my wife here and I don't remember six years ago she decided that we needed to try something different because we are fairly close to a livestock barn and everything 60 miles away. But when you only go with 10 head or less of fat land or sometimes at the mercy of how many they need and we weren't always, you know what we thought we were getting the best price we could available. And so she started exploring a few options for us and farmers market was something that we looked into and she pursued. And so we went with that and the preface is a little bit or I will say in the back end we've had five years in a row now that we have not marketed a lamb at the sale barn. So we have gotten to price every sheep that has left this place. And so be it in cuts or holes and halves of breeding stock. And so we kind of are able to control our market. Now this year with the extra lambs I hope that's still the case but that has been working well for us and we have some relationships with a couple of restaurants in Fargo. And that is where we do our farmers market we only do one just because of a time constraint mainly it's work being and we'll probably talk about that next week but doing that is a lot of work just in a timeframe and getting everything ready. And so in a nutshell, I guess, that is where we wanna be. One thing about being doing this home we have a commitment that we're gonna have to fatten our lambs be it whatever the feed price is. And so yeah, $7 corn is not a favorite to buy but we have customers and expectations are looking for us. And so we can't bail on our lamb crop because our feeling is and Beth will I let her take over here shortly our feeling is if we tend to back away somebody else will step in and take it over. And Beth's got some insight because she's more of the brains of the farmer's market and I just try to get them there. Well, I think that Isaac just wanted an introduction so I think that was a big one. I think Ron did a good job with that. Basically I help out as much as I can I help Ron with chores if I can and our girls are part of our program and it all boils down to what we're gonna learn tonight and that's really having a good relationship with your processing plant. And we're lucky that we do have a processing plant just nine miles away from us a lot of producers are not that lucky. So we try and we try and keep Dalton happy he tries to keep us happy. I don't, I think that's probably. And I don't know, go ahead Isaac and direct us what you want us to go on. One thing about it with our really probably and then I don't know Spencer's probably got a better thumb on it but it's hard to find processing plants out of butcher lambs. And we are seeing that and now we've got some friends in Western North Dakota that are bringing their lambs down there. I know some people up by Grant Forks that a lot of processing plants don't want to deal with this. And we've been fortunate because the local one here is federally inspected which is important to us, you know and having a meat license we either need to be state or federal when we started it was state and this plant has gone through the third ownership since we've done this. And so we've had to make relationships with the new owners. And sometimes they're, you know flexibility is, you know give and take on both people parts of it. And I think the thing that we're fortunate enough is we have a product that doesn't need to hang in the locker a long time. And so when we're conscientious about it cause we know locker space is a big thing for a lot of these is when our product is ready to go we try to get it picked up and get it out of there. And I know that plays well with them because we're freeing up space for them. Yeah, no, I guess a question I would have is do you guys mind explaining how you got started building that one-on-one relationship with your processor? You wanna take this? Well, Ron probably sees them more than I do. Typically to be honest when they hear from me it's usually a phone call that they're not real excited to get because I'm very picky. I'm very picky about how our product look, how our label looks, how the packaging and the whole, you know, how things are cut. And so Dalton knows that if I'm calling after we've picked up the meat, then he needs to like, we need to have a conversation about what I liked, what I didn't like. And he's young and he's willing to learn and he understands, you know, if I feel that, like our girls had a roast the other night that they had a lamb and they sent us a picture. And I'm like, you make sure you send me that picture because I wanna talk to Dalton about the way that roast was cut because I was not happy with it. And he'll be like, okay, you know, I'm sorry that that happened. And now that I know what you want, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it better. He's done an excellent job with our packaging, with our logo, I'm really tickled about that. He does a great job with trimming the meat so he does not leave a lot of fat on there. I mean, our lambs are very lean the way it is, but still sometimes it's like, okay, that might have been a little too much fat. The first owner, we had known him for years. He had been there, well, since we've been raising lambs, I kind of feel like he's always, you know, so then when we decided to get our license, he was probably the most helpful, getting us going, telling us what we needed to do. And, you know, we had a great relationship with him. The second owners happened to be daycare parents of mine. So we had already had a relationship established. And so working with them went very well as well. And then with the current owner, like I said, he does a great job. And Ron honestly has the most face-to-face, you know, I'll call and I'll tell him how I want, how I want the lambs done. And like this year, I've decided, I'm gonna pretty much just have a standard. I'm gonna go in and have a face-to-face with him because sometimes we're a little something between the person that takes the phone call and the person that cuts the meat. Once in a while, there's some kind of a hiccup. And so I wanna make sure that we work through that. And this is what, his only second day? Yeah, he was the meat cutter over the last, but from the last owners. I'd like to, you know, the thing is the expectations for us is we went in and scheduled our, I did my butcher dates back in December. I think it was December or even the end of November, just to guarantee that I had a spot there, a monthly spot. And they appreciated that. And I mean, we took the time and we went through and we tried to get it, you know, a month apart and talk about, you know, the amount of lamb we have.  And they're flexible enough. If I wanted to try to slide one in an extra one, or I'll call them and say, you know, I don't have that extra one. I'm going to be one short. And they like that. Cause then, you know, it gives them an opportunity to maybe let somebody else come in on, you know, cause they have so many they can do a date when they do it. But, you know, like Beth said that the fortunate thing for us is they are right in town. And the next closest one that I would know, I might have put 40, 50 miles on to get a lamb butcher and, you know, under an inspection. And so the convenience is important. And the fact that it is convenient to us makes it probably a little more the give and take on our end of it, just because we appreciate the convenience too. Yes. Awesome. Thank you for that insight. That's really good. Yeah, no, it sounds like you guys have had developed a pretty good relationship and the federal inspection is a great pool to have in your... And it's nice for us going into those two restaurants or whatever to have that stamp on there. Plus we do some in the South Dakota and it just, you know, gives us a little more freedom, you know, that we don't even think about until you look at the package and there that stamp is and that opens up the border or whatever, you know, or you go to the restaurant and you have it and they can trust that product then, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, no, that's awesome. That's a good thing, yeah. Well, I guess we'll move on to Tricia and Donnie if they're ready, just if you guys wanna introduce yourselves, give a little background and then talk about your experiences with your processor. Well, thank you. Yeah, thanks for having us on here. I guess I got stuck doing the introduction. We are a family operation. We got started together in 1998 when we got married. I grew up registered in commercial Angus operation. So we were always kind of marketing some bulls and some females along the way. Tricia grew up on a Hurford ranch. Her dad also marketed some Hurford horned Hurford bulls and females along the way too. And so when we got started, we worked off the farm for a while. We had lived in town in North Dakota for seven years. We built our herd and then we were able to move and start leasing a place, I guess, in 2007. And that got us started more with our cow calf operation. Meanwhile, we were selling bulls, private treaty and also through sales. We really got our things going, I guess, in 2012. The place that we're on, we bought it and kind of got things more revved up, but we were not a huge operation. Run anywhere from 100 to 125 cows. And we're down a little bit now because of the drought but we're trying to build back. As we were marketing along, kind of the same as wolves, as having, as not as many steers and not as many females were taking them to the sales barn, we were tired of kind of maybe not getting the true value for our genetics. And that's kind of why we got started in the meat business, especially on call cows. They always felt like we were a nickel or dime less. Then what the market maybe was doing and we felt like we could add value to them. And that's how we got started kind of in the meat business. And I'll let Tricia talk about that. So it was in 2015 that we started direct marketing. We started off with like five head for that year. We started with a processor in Myl City, Montana, was also a federal processor. We had a really good working relationship with them and things were going along really well. We had been there for about five years. We're developing some value added products. And anyway, we went out there in April and they told us that they were selling the plant and they hadn't really told their employees this even but within about a month to two months time period we went from having scheduled slots every month to having to call in every Monday morning and see if we could get slots, which they were bringing their own cattle from Billings to Myl City to have processed. So we kind of saw the writing on the wall that they were trying to, and there was numerous other producers that were bringing in forehead a month on a consistent basis. And we had been visiting with them and we all kind of figured out what was going on. It was kind of the, we'll slowly push you out and do our own thing. So we kind of went into panic mode. We were able to get a few processing spots in Hazen.  We also were able to get a few in to Williston, both are federal plants. And so we kind of went through a transition period and about, I'm gonna say it was July of 2020, we were in Dickinson, most of our direct marketing we do is over social media. We do a farmer's market here in beach during the summer. But anyway, we were delivering meat to Dickinson one night and another producer pulled into the parking lot that was also delivering meat. And it just so happened to be some friends of ours from the Kildere area. So we started visiting with them and he asked us, he said, well, would you guys ever be interested in purchasing or buying in on a processing facility if you had the opportunity? And we kind of like, well, yeah, we definitely would consider it. And so about, I don't know, maybe a week or two had gone by and they called us and we're asking if we were interested. And so needless to say, we ended up purchasing part of six and one meats at New Salem and that was in October of 2020. We've been there obviously since then. Spencer, I was joking around earlier now that you're on tonight, I can't talk about you. No, Donny and I, we are very fortunate after going through kind of that inconsistency there for a little while of not knowing how many, it's hard to have a business plan when you don't know when you can get animals in. So right now we take basically four head a month into six and one meats at New Salem, which for us, we're north of beach, 12 miles. So it's 140 miles, about 140 miles that we travel to the processor. We make one trip down with cattle and then we make another trip down to go pick up our beef and it's a really good, we're in a good situation now. But we also appreciate that good situation after having gone through the inconsistency of being able to find that processor. And I think a lot of people struggle with that. Being able to own part ownership in the business has been a huge advantage to us. You kind of have that comfort of knowing from month to month where you're at, what dates you have Spencer lays them all out in front of us for basically the whole entire year, which we know our date, we know what day we have to be there. Anything else you wanna add? No, and just that relationship, I think as we've went along, it's so crucial to build those relationships not only with your consumer, but also with like Spencer, that was the daughter of the owner out at Miles City. She did all the cutting instructions and she actually, she did a lot for that plant out there and she didn't even know that her parents were selling the plant, I think until like a week before they had actually changed it over in a hand. So it came by her a kind of off guard. But I think and after dealing with Hayes and Wollison, you just, you get used to the way things are cut. And like you said, I think Wolf said too, is how things are presented and labeled. And it's so crucial. The consumer wants a high quality product. They want it to be consistent. They want it to look the same, taste the same. And I think as you can build those relationships all the way through, it's a win-win situation. And we learn something new, I think too, just about every time too, we're still learning. It's trying to get cattle through the right weights or carcass weights or this or that or genetics. It's all intertwined. And when you have Mother Nature kick in the butt like it did in 20 to 21 for us for the drought, it really changes your whole perspective. But I think on the processing side, it's all about relationships and keeping that door and communications open. Awesome. Thank you that that was very informative. And it's good to see we have a Spencer with us tonight too because he gets to share a little bit about his experiences too with working with producers. And I guess we'll go ahead and go to Spencer and then we'll get ready to open up for questions from the audience. Thanks, Isaac. As Isaac said, my name is Spencer Wert. I am the manager at 6-on-1 Meets. Before I came onto 6-on-1 Meets, which would have been in January 2020, I was at NDSU, I spent five years at NDSU managing the meat lab either assistant manager or manager of the NDSU meat lab. Before that I managed a shop in Bowdoin, North Dakota for a couple of years, right out of college. I think Trish, Donnie, Ron, Beth, you all kind of hit it right on the head of how things need to go in your guys' shoes. So I mean, I've managed a cooperatively owned butcher shop. I've now 6-on-1 Meets is owned by six different people. So on the terms of, I think you titled this webinar, one of the bullet points says a contractile relationship with your processor and Trish and Donnie are in a unique position because they're owners. Ron and Beth, it sounds like you guys just are awesome people and we're able to get awesome relationships built with your processors, but it is difficult because well, both of you, for instance, one's beef, one's specifically lamb. And I think what people who get into this meat direct selling, right, is don't quite realize that there is a hundred different ways to process an animal. There's a hundred different ways to present a steak or a chop or a roast or, you know, and that's where that trial and error, honestly, it has to come through you as a producer with your processor because explaining it, right? Or sending it through an email or even trying to explain what you want over the phone is very difficult. I'm trained in a certain way. The next butcher is gonna be trained in a different way. We both have in our head, what we want to present, what we want to package, but you at the end of the day have the final say of what you wanna sell to your customers. So getting on the same page is easier said than done and it takes time, it takes a lot of communication, it takes sending pictures, Beth that you described earlier and Trisha and Donnie, we send pictures back and forth all the time. Technology has, I think, really helped everything, right? You guys know that between selling on social media but then also resolving issues that occur because no matter what, there's not a processor out there that is not going to make a mistake because meat processing is not an exact science per se. So yeah, getting your foot in the door with the processor, for instance, when I came in to six and one meats, the previous owners had a lot of large customers that put through, you know, that around 50 head a year. The day I came on board, those producers stopped by the shop to introduce themselves because if they didn't have this facility to continue their business, they were, well, kind of in the same shoes that Trisha and Donnie were before they bought into six and one. So that is an important aspect to really focus on because change of ownership can change everything. Mindset of that next owner on what are they focusing their business on, six and one meats is, I don't wanna say solely because we do processes, lambs, goats, pigs, things like that, but our main focus is beef, we're in cattle country and there's a huge demand for beef. Now that being said, there are a lot of processors popping up across the state of North Dakota and actually a lot of them are getting their federal inspection or their state inspection. So I think there is more opportunity now as a producer to get into an inspected facility than there has been in the past even two years, three years. So the opportunity is growing, but of course that the biggest meat consumption in the state and what's raised the biggest is beef and I think that's what most facilities focus on. We do other red meat species, so lambs, goats and hogs once a month, we try to squeeze people in, that's one of those species that's very difficult to get a long-term schedule built because between slaughtering, fabrication, packaging, then we have our value added line that for us, for instance, that's always one week you have 200 pounds and next you have a thousand. So that scheduling on a processor side becomes very difficult. And Ron, you mentioned that lambs don't take up much space, which they don't. That's the huge benefit of processing lambs, but it's on a business standpoint, what's hanging on that rail is also on a processor side, what we get paid on. So you got to do 15 lambs for two beef per se, it's probably a little less than that, but I think that's honestly one of the biggest reasons why a lot of processors don't do lambs, but there is opportunity and I think with this expansion in the state of all these plants opening up, I think there's going to be availability for all red meat species to be processed in all these plants, hopefully that's just the theory of money, but. Awesome, thank you for that, also insightful and it's great to have a processor join us tonight and I guess we'll, we got some questions on the chat board already and I'll go ahead and read them out loud so we can get them for the recording that will go on to the YouTube page. So the first question we have is how much discount are you willing, are you giving your restaurants and food service customers? I see you gave a response kind of in the chat if you want to build off that and kind of give your answers for that. Well, we don't, we sell and then both of our relationships are the restaurants where people we met at Farmer's Market and so the first product that they associated with us was what they bought at our Farmer's Market and I really think we don't give a discount because of the fact that we have our product I think price very fairly and so if we don't sell it there we'd probably sell it to our customers. It's more of a convenience thing for us that they're, we don't have to travel very far to get the deliver it if we had to go somewhere to do it and have the extra time and miles, we could easily justify it but we just feel like our product is fairly priced the way it was if we look at where it is retail wise be it at Walmart or stuff or of those for American lamb we're probably even cheaper. I mean, locally the Walmart we have in Aberdeen where our current prices are less than that and so we just figured that we are offering a premium product and lamb isn't available for everybody and not that we think we have a corner on the market but we charge them accordingly and then looking at the menu I think they still get their extra value out of it and that's, we've tried to and I'll just say with the two restaurants we try to support them back and eat there and it's fun to eat your own product or somebody else makes it and it's on the menu and but I truly think that for us we just sell it for what we normally do and we haven't had an issue with it they haven't asked us for me like Beth says every now and then we'll throw in a meat stick or something like that or even throw in a coffee cup or something like that and let them know that we appreciate it but they've never asked for it and at this point in time we see no reason that we have to offer it. When we decided to set our prices it was important to me to put American lamb on the North Dakota consumers table but most of the people that I talked to when I said why don't you eat lamb? Everything I always heard was well I can't afford it and it's too fancy of a meat I just want to do beef and pork because I understand that. So I sat for a long time and looked at a lot of USDA pricing and suggested prices and things like that and I just really felt that it was important we need to make a profit above what we would get at the sale bar. I personally believe and I kind of drug run along to that belief of we don't need to gouge our consumers and I'm not saying that anybody that chooses to set their prices different I'm not saying that that's what they're doing I'm just saying I just want to make I just want to take that middleman out I want to make a little bit more than we'd make at the sale bar and that's what I'm happy with. Yeah I just if we made I mean we're just a small hobby farm we made any more than that than the US government would come after us even more so it's like make enough to cut out the middleman and get a little bit of money in our pocket. All right, yeah, no that's a great answer. I saw Trisha and Donnie answered two from the beef perspective if you guys want to build off Ron and Beth that'd be great. I need to clarify I guess in my answer a little bit we sell a lot of quarters halves and holes that's probably 60% of our business. The other 40% we have a very small percentage that is retail cuts. A lot of our other stuff is ground beef we have Spencer make beef sticks we've been doing summer sausage more recently we've done some beef rinks so it's ground beef and some processed meats that we are selling package by package. I don't want to sit and sort packages of beef when I get for beef back home my time is worth something to me and I would if I have three or four products maybe six products that I can do that with that's fine but I don't want to sort 30 cuts of beef and find a compartment for every single cut of that beef and half go through and do that inventory process all the time. So like our ground beef we do not give discount on the discount that I was referring to and my answer would have been our summer sausage the beef sticks, the beef rinks. We recently just started working with our local grocery store and in the past have done some stuff at the convenience store we're trying to get back into a convenience store right now so and I do feel that's it's a I don't know it's a great opportunity I think people when they go into gas stations they like to see that there's a local product in there. I know like when we go to New Salem to deliver we always stop at Roods Oil and there's lamb from freezes in there lamb sticks and some other local products so it's nice to see that and even as we travel across the state we enjoy being able to support other people that are doing that as well. Good, I guess we'll move on to, oh Travis posted a question that says Spencer you stated that there are some North Dakota hacking plants that are transitioning from custom exempt to either state or USDA inspected are these plants seeing value and flexibility of marketing products? Yeah, I think as a processor getting your inspection opens up way more many more avenues for you as a business to create revenue off of you know we'll use value added as an example as a custom exempt plant you're gonna have your venison that comes in once a year which is huge for a lot of these custom exempt plants you're gonna have a few random batches here and there for people who want your product and are willing to order the you know 50 pound batch of it's once you cross that threshold and become inspected I see it as a means to create to continue to create more value continuing down the line so we can take your product your ground beef that's worth whatever it is to you create it into something that's worth twice if not more value to you which is you know trickles down the line and that's kind of what why I think value added specifically is important and you do see other plants in the state that are actually just inspected on the value added sign not necessarily the slaughter and processing and there's just so many different ways to do it but yeah to answer Travis's question directly I think that's the biggest reason why a plant would want to transition is because there is a market where we're sitting here with you know two of them for sure that they need plants that are federally inspected and there's a market there's a lot of people out there who are turning this direct sales into a legitimate business. Yeah no that's a great point I know that's one struggle my family's had back home is we're having issues finding a federal plant because Kansas City is not far away and it'd be great to get our product to that urban market for sure. We have another question for Trisha and Donnie what are you selling whole halves and quarters for and how much per pound of ground beef? I don't know if we mentioned but we are 100% grass fed, grass finished. We do not feed any grain we do feed hay in the winter obviously alfalfa grass hay and then like hay barley. So right now on our quarters halves and holes we're at 475 a pound and that's on hanging weight and that includes cutting and wrapping and delivery within a two hour distance from us and we'll work with people outside of that. We have had people buy from outside that area and then just go directly to New Salem and pick up there at the plant. Ground beef right now and we've been at this price for over a year it might be a year and a half we've been at $6 a pound on our ground beef. So there again I feel the same way that Beth does I mean we have to make a profit we have to figure out our fuel to haul these animals to the processor to haul the meat back to deliver the meat to Dickinson or Watford City or Williston or wherever it is so you have to value your time at something plus you have to get at least what they're getting at the sales barn otherwise what we're doing is not worth doing it other than the fact that I want to provide local people with a local source of meat and protein and so I guess that's kind of where we're at right now. No, that's a good answer and thank you for that. Do we have any other questions? You can submit them through the chat you can join through camera or audio it's up to you we're pretty flexible here if there's any questions for our three panelists we got another one that just came in. In Texas, you don't need to be USDA inspected to sell inside the state. It is my understanding that you only need to be USDA inspected if you want to originate the state outside of the state that the animals harvested in. Yeah, no, that's correct. Selling within the state you only have to have state inspection. However, a lot of our producers and both of our panelists here have the opportunity to sell to the surrounding states it sounds like and doing that it does become a little tricky getting it to those producers or to those consumers outside of North Dakota in this instance. You guys are welcome to add to that. Well, one thing I would add to that for us our house is a mile from Montana. So for us, if we weren't federally inspected we would basically have one direction to go and this opens up the opportunity for us to go to Baker, Glendive, Sydney. Those are probably the main three towns I've had some people ask for Mile City but we like to kind of keep that two hour distance around us. So the federal inspection is huge for us. Can I clarify that question a little more? So as I understand it, that from Texas I can have a Texas inspected product and I can ship to any state as long as the originating point of sale is from Texas. But if I move that product outside of the state and then try to initiate the sale then that's when the USDA gets a pennies and a one. That's how I understand it. So the reason I'm bringing this up is a lot of people feel like that they need to have a USDA inspected facility but after you research it further your state inspected in a lot of cases can be adequate. And then if you're not doing any retail sale you can go with an uninspected meat is still, and that's what I do. Most of my stuff with my lamb and beef is I'll have the product, the animal sold before I take it to the plant. So I deliver it to the plant. I give them the cut sheet from my customers got my customer's name on it as well as mine and then I pick it up into doorstep delivery. So it can be uninspected meat have a not for sale sticker on it. And that really saves a lot of headaches for me because I have more flexibility on the facilities that I can use to do my harvesting. So other states may be different. So that's what we have in Texas. Yeah, no, I'm not sure. Like you said in Texas it might be different but my understanding here is that it has to be, I mean, you can't ship it across state lines. Now, if someone from Minnesota came over to North Dakota like to the Red River Farmers Market where Ron and Beth sell at and bought it. It's personally, they bought it and they can transport across state lines. I could be incorrect about that. If somebody wants to chime in but I believe that's my understanding of it. Dean, as you describe, you're selling an animal and when you sell the animal then the person that picks up that animal can take it to whatever state in America that they aspire because you sold it as an animal and then had it processed there. When an animal is harvested at a state inspected slaughter plant then that product is not legally allowed to be sold in another state. Okay. All right, we had some more questions in the chat function. Patricia and Donnie, what does it cost to process an animal where you are at? I'm gonna defer this question to Spencer to make sure that I get the correct numbers. Our rates right now are, oh gosh, am I gonna remember them off the top of my head? I might have to pull up QuickBooks quick. $90 to slaughter beef. We have a disposal charge of $35 and then it's a dollar a pound processing on the rail that includes grinding, stuffing and wrapping. We do have additional fees associated with vacuum packaging and anything small, further processing like tenderizing patties, things like that are all additional fees, but that's the base price for beef. In interesting, and Ron and Beth, maybe you'd be able to chime in on this. Lamb is one of those unique things if we're bringing finance into the equation because might as well, right, it's kind of fun. Lamb's you see done so many different ways at different plants and I've seen it done in multiple ways. We still charge processing lamb based on per pound, but you see a lot of plants moving towards just a blank fee and that fee includes the slaughter, processing, disposal, everything into one and as a processor that helps us budget a little better or would per se budget a little better when we're doing lamb's because I don't know what your average lamb's are dressing out at, but ours that we do are anywhere from 80 pounds to 120 on the rail. So they're kind of all over the place. So yeah, there's lamb goats and even pigs. They're just that other red meat species is just kind of a different ball game on a price per pound basis compared to beef. All right, got another question for Trish and Donnie, Ron and Beth, with your beef and lamb, how did you work to make creating label? Did the plant help you with this and putting it on your packages for sale? I guess I'll start a little bit. We have our own logo and then I'll defer to Beth, but so getting to the familiarity and consistency, I mean, we have apparel, we have signs and I think our logo is kind of unique with a wolf head with a suffix sheep in it. And so that is what we try to incorporate in everything so people can equate that and it stands out a little differently. And we just updated it, but so yeah, we have given them the label or logo and we had to just with this last one, we had to pay a new fee to him and eCharges, which is fair enough because they print it and stuff and puts our phone number or all of our contact information and Beth dealt with it a little more and I'll let her fine tune that answer. And to start with going all the way back six years when I first talked to Ron Mahoney who was our butcher at that time, he talked me through what needed to be on the label as far as safe handling and the stamp that needed to be on there, he talked us through everything we needed to have on our label. And then from there, the first couple of years we did not have our logo on it and it wasn't until about two years ago because this would be the third year that our logo has been on our packaging. And then that was the second owners that said, hey, we can put your logo on there if you want. One thing that's first our ground, they would put just in that regular, the pork sausage, the red and white and it said pork on there, not for sale. And then they'd slap our label on top of it and I'm like, can we do something different, please? Because this is lamb, this is kind of confusing.  If you're gonna, to sell your product there are guidelines that you have to follow as far as what is on your label. And that's important that you have all of those things on there and you talk with your processor to make sure that you've dotted your eyes and crossed your T's as far as your label. All right, Trisha and Donnie, you wanna build off of that a little bit? Yeah, we kind of have a similar situation. Like our packaging before just said fairings grass fed beef there was no logo, nothing else on there. And that wasn't until after we were here in North Dakota processing that that was done. But when we bought into six and one meats we worked with Spencer. We had a logo developed similar to you guys. And then that is on a label that goes on. We have pound and a half and one pound packages of ground beef. So our one and a half pounders, excuse me, are in the white tubes with a label that have our logo on them. And then Spencer was able to order custom bags for the one pounders. So that actually has our logo stamped right on the chub which is kind of nice. They've been really nice to have. And then steaks and roast, of course, get the same label that the one and a half pounders do. But he pretty much did all of that work for us as far as the paperwork, the processing. And we're very thankful for that because he has an amazing amount of knowledge at department. So I defer to him a lot. Nope, that answers that question. We had another one and all three you should be able to give some insight into this. What experience do you guys have with making sausage or getting your processor to make sausage? We actually, the only product that we have that's outweighs we have lamb sticks made. And very popular because it's 100% lamb and they welcome that. I mean, they have a lot of different variations to that. And the first year that we tried that, we did both brats and lamb sticks. And we tried jalapeno and cheddar and then all of a sudden it was, well, we raised lamb. And they offered it to us at Costco a little extra but it was like, I don't raise jalapenos, I don't raise cheddar cheese, we're gonna go with this. And they're very easy to work with because like Spencer said, it's all value added. They make more money at it. And so, their process is available.  And like with lamb, like I said, it's a product that we 100% lamb sticks and that's what we're gonna stand by. And we probably will add some brats again this year when we had them a few years ago they were one of our top sellers. But they're more expensive to make and I am married to a man who's tight with his cash. And so they're more expensive, he's not really good at what to do them. And that's, I mean, I can respect that but we have some extra lambs this year so it will be a great way to make sure that we get those lambs processed and we'll make some customers very happy because they keep bugging us for brats again. The biggest thing is in getting back to making money on it and you throw the processing, all of a sudden four brats at $12 a package, you all of a sudden, my conservative side says, geez, that's a lot of dollars for a wiener dog, three bucks, but people buy them. And with lamb or whatever, farmers market it's seasonal. So if you're gonna have them done, grilling season is when they move easier. And then that's kind of how we have to go with the whole packaging and whatever and kind of go with the seasons and that kind of thing. But that's for a different deal. Go ahead, Trisha and Donnie, if you guys got some experience with it. We've done some country style sausage. We started out trying to do that 100% beef and our meat being grass fed is also lean. And I don't mind it being that lean, but I do feel that it's probably a little bit on the dry side. So what we started doing was adding, I think, is it 30% pork that you've been putting in it, Spencer? I think it's 30, 25? Yeah, 30. Okay, that's what I was thinking. But so we did some country style sausage and then we've had Spencer do an all beef summer sausage, which I love and we do not put any, we don't want any MSG, I don't want any added nitrates or nitrates in anything. So try to keep the product as pure as possible. The summer sausage has been amazing. People really enjoy that. Now we've started packaging it in sliced packages so that we can go to the convenience store with it. And we've done beef sticks, which just we've done an original one. And then we've done a hullop, no one. I know we have some other options, but we haven't really veered outside of those two for the time being. They're good sellers, they're handy for people, lunchboxes during the summer. And we have a lot of people that even pick them up during the winter too. Do you have anything to add? No, just that Spencer's summer sausage, if everybody was like my daughter, Taylor, we would take Cloverdale out of business. Yeah. Cause she loves it. Well, yeah, you want to talk about processing sausage as a processor, I'm Spencer. You don't mind giving them a little input? Yeah, I think it's unique and it's one more opportunity for you as a meat seller to brand your product. So I'm gonna use fairings as the example because like Trish touched based on their brand is uncured, right? Which is, we won't get into the science part of it, but it's a way to market and you see uncured all over the labels in the grocery store now and it's becoming, the large plants are really pushing it as well because they see the demand from their customers. And I think it's just such a great way for you to add more value onto your products. Ron and Beth, you said it costs more and it does because it's a lot of more work for us to do as processors. And I think, and I have this conversation, I've helped probably two, three producers start in the past year, they're only just help them out get their labels set up, get all their eyes dotted and teased crossed and get everything figured out tonight. That conversation comes up a lot because when they start punching numbers with their ground beef is worth $5 and they're paying me $250 or $3 a pound to process that $5 pound ground beef into ring sausage or summer sausage. And then you're looking at $8, $9 at your cost to get it processed. And that conversation comes up a lot but to be able to be sufficient, all parties are efficient and financially successful. All parties have to make their margins and you as the end retailer can't be hesitant to sell for what you need to sell it for. Because if we don't make our margins on the product we ain't gonna be able to make it for you anymore because we're losing money on it. So there's a lot of different ways to look at it but you'll start figuring out different methods and packaging and pricing to where it looks better on the eyes so it doesn't shout out $20 a package for upon a half product. But yeah, the value is there and if you find a recipe that you enjoy and you are passionate about and you wanna market it with your name on it I think that's key. We use a lot of house recipes which we're lucky that we do because we're able to make sure we keep out those select ingredients that some of our customers don't wanna see on that label like the MSGs, I got some other customers who absolutely don't want any sugar, dextrose any form of sugar in their product. So it gives us the flexibility as a processor to kinda twist that recipe around to fit the producer's needs. We also use a lot of prepacks from seasoning companies which as a processor helps us be a little more efficient to get the product done, completed and out the door in a timely manner which becomes very difficult of course as a processor and that's kind of the key in my world is I joke with everybody that we're behind every Monday and we're caught up by Friday and if we're not caught up by Friday we got major issues going on. But yeah, it might just be because of my past that sausage is kind of what I'm passionate about. I know a lot about it. I know a lot about it, the science behind it but yeah, I think it's just a great opportunity for all parties involved to again add value. Awesome and then continuing on with you Spencer we had a question that was for you with packaging and labeling is there any problems with vacuum seals or labels and how can we ensure quality control of these products? Oh yes, vacuum packaging is packaging as a whole even as a processor and you, those of you who have had animals processed I'm sure you've had some wonderful conversations with this guy right here about issues because vac bags, depending on the product is the type of vac bag you need to use and just one little tweak with the vacuum bag will cause issues, the thickness of the bags. There's just so many things that go into it more than just throwing it into a bag and putting it on a backpack machine to make sure and ensure that that seal stays. The biggest thing that we battle is bone-in product bone-in product with our packaging setup which is a double chamber vacuum machine is very difficult. When we package it, it is fully sealed. Everything's fine and dandy you'll put it in a freezer for two days or a week or however long it takes for the customer to come pick it up. It's still good, but sometimes during transport things can happen and that's honestly the biggest issue with vacuum sealing.  But yeah, it's difficult and you gotta learn little tricks not only for us as a processor but you transporters is just as important as well. Label wise, I don't see many issues with the type of labels we use and what comes into play there is at one point of the process the processor is applying that label. Our protocols is the label actually goes onto the back bag before the product is sealed so that it has a dry smooth surface to stick on and when that product is pulled that label shrinks with the package. The only downfall to that is if that label isn't perfectly put on the package which in human error it can become wrinkled or some along those lines. Labeling itself using the different processors and the options that they have. We have a labeler that I can upload any image into. I know a lot of processors that use pre-printed colored logos or labels. That would be an instance where as a processor we would charge you to get that label made because it can only be used for you. Now I don't charge people if we're creating a black and white label that my label machine can print on demand because it's just the quick change the file format uploaded into the machine get it squared away and it goes away. It doesn't, we don't have any additional costs or stocking that we have to do in order to make our system work but again, every processor is different. Awesome. Yeah, no, we're getting there to the eight o'clock hour. We had great discussion. Can we get a closing statement from each of our panelists before we wrap it up tonight? And we'll start with Spencer since he's still on the screen. First off, thanks Isaac for inviting me. Sorry I didn't email you back however many months ago. I get busy and I forgot. Yeah, there's, I just really wanna emphasis that there's so many different ways and options and availability and there's just so many different things that you as a direct meat sales producer can do dialing in, focusing on what exactly you want, what you want your product to look like and Ron and Beth stress that right away. I think that's kind of key as a person who's selling product. Figuring out that relationship with your processor to make everybody's life easier and more fluid and efficient is the name of the game. Awesome.  We'll just go in reverse order of the way we started. Go ahead. Yeah, I think the relationships are like we said before it's huge and with your processor and with your consumer and I think it's all a learning thing. And like we said, the value added side of things we are like we're trying some different products this summer and so we'll learn and see how we go with that. I think as a producer, I think when you go down this avenue I think it just opens up so many more different things and not everybody wants to do that. I mean, there's people, Trisha's got an uncle, he's fine with great CalCaf man but he sells his calves the last week of October and he's like I do not wanna look at consumers face to face. He said I couldn't do what you do Donnie and so it's not for everybody and you gotta find what your niche is and what you wanna do and I think that's the biggest thing to come out with and find products that work for you and find your avenue and ask lots of questions. I'll add to that, just keep the conversation open between you and your processor and it's a give and take honestly is what it is. It's something like for us we're always thinking I guess and I'm very glad that Spencer mentions other things to us sometimes have you ever thought about this? And so that and be able to understand that we're not the ones in the meat plant every day processing these animals, cutting them up going through all the steps of this and as an owner of a processing facility you look at that a little bit differently and we've all of our owners have said this from the beginning that we need to make sure that we treat our staff right as best we can and because we don't wanna be the ones standing they're having to cut the meat. I mean, that is not our skills and abilities. Spencer does an amazing job for us. He has a great staff right now and we're very fortunate for that so. Moving on to Ron and Beth. Thank you for coming and joining us. Trisha and Donnie, it was greatly appreciated. Yes, thank you for having us on. And yeah, thanks Isaac for reaching out to us again. It's always like I said, fun to be part of this and they pick up, there's always something to learn from other panelists but getting back to our processor and they try to do the best they can for us and if you treat them fairly and respectfully they're open to criticism or asking, can we try something else or? We've thrown some things at Dalton and somebody wanted a French rack and we had no expectations ahead of time and we put it together and we took it to the customer and they were excited about it and the first person we went back to and we reported to him that what you did was acceptable, they were excited about it and so not only do we, if we have issues which Spencer, he brought that up and you guys as co-owners and customers know that it's like Spencer said they're human, everybody's got a different way but also make sure that if you are pleased with the product or whatever, to let them know because they're just like anybody else or anything else like that they always like to hear the good stuff too and if you do have a good relationship heavens knows you want to continue it because from Spencer's standpoint or any processors and we've seen this over the years to get your foot in the door and be a regular, Trish and Don started and stated that that all of a sudden that got pulled out from underneath them and they set up a new one especially when you have a current business and clientele could be tough and so getting back to communication and flexibility and being upfront with each other means a lot it really does and we've been fortunate in our dealings with this. Well, awesome, thank you. This concludes our webinar for the night. Thank you to everyone for joining us. It was a good experience and a good discussion tonight. Thank you.


The thing is, this is not something that you have to practice. Is it true, is it a fact that the body that you carry today, which we imagine is yours, is the soil of this planet and must have been carried by many, many, many creatures, not just men and women, by every other creature, plant, animal, insect, worm should have used this soil at some point in these a few million years or billion years of existence of this planet. For sure it is so, isn't it? So what you think is your body is just planet's way of recycling itself. So right now it is with you, if you want to claim it is mine, you can claim it. But Mother Earth will teach you a lesson one day and show you that it's not yours, not an atom of it can you take anywhere. So these are fundamental facts. So what I told you in the satsang is not that you have to practice this, this is a reality, this is a truth about your life. This truth, truth cannot be practiced, truth cannot be invented. You can only remind yourself, you can realize and remind. So if you have realized, if experiential realization has not happened, at least intellectually you have realized that the body that you carry, the air that you're breathing right now, which is an important part of your life, the water that you drink, the food that you eat just flows through you and makes you who you are. For this moment it is not something that is either you nor is it yours. You must be grateful that you're allowed to use this to whatever extent you wish. I only hope people will use it sensibly. The important thing is to be conscious that this is the reality.  So if you are conscious that this is not even yours to use it, a sense of gratitude will arise within you and once you know this is not you and this is not yours, your ability to use it also will be greatly enhanced and you will naturally start exploring what is the nature of who you are. This is not something that I have to guide it. I don't have to tell you, please seek your inner nature. If you know that everything that you think or imagine as myself right now is actually not even yours, if that realization sinks into you, longing to know what is the nature of who you are is a very natural process and it will be a successful process because you have set the necessary ambience. Without setting this ambience, being deeply attached, being deeply engaged with the body, thinking it is me or mine and trying to… talking about self-realization is like mooring your boat and then going on using the… you know going on rowing the boat, it's not going to go anywhere. Obviously you have no intention of going anywhere unless you untie your ropes. So this is just the fundamental ambience that is necessary for one to move forward. Without setting this, it is… it is like you're tied up and you want to row the boat, it's not going to go anywhere. So do not practice this, just remind yourself, this is the reality. Spend some time with this truth, it is true that it is not actually yours, it only passes through you and see how… how much of the time you can stay conscious of that. Remind yourself, that's all. There is nothing to practice. It is there staring in your eyes with every breath. Can you just inhale and hold the air that you inhale? You have to exhale. That is telling you that you can't even hold it for a moment, it can't be yours. If the air that you breathe is not yours, the water that you drink, how did it become yours? The food that you eat, how did it become yours? The land that you walk upon, how did it become yours? So this is not a new idea or concept. This is a reality which is constantly staring you in the face, but most people choose to ignore.


Do you realize how important communication is in your life? In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell discovered that you could quickly transmit sound through vibrations to create acoustics or sound to the receiver of the person you are speaking with. Thus the invention of the telephone. Switchboard operating systems like this one soon became very popular as people were able to connect through a switchboard operator and reach someone on the other end. Surrounded by cell phones, Facebook and all the sorts of social media, it's easy to forget that most communications technology was invented in the past 200 years. I love to communicate and like a wise man once said, we have to apply the science of communication to the communication of science. My name's Carissa. I'm a National Science Technology Week Champion. Will you be one too?


All right aside from episode. What was it 151 back in Jaya last episode may have been the biggest info dump We have seen in this series yet absolute insanity the ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the channel My name is Jack the Buster. I should know be give episodes 3 15 and 3 16 of our one piece watch through today And yeah, it was a lot go back and watch if you missed it garb is Luffy's grandpa Dragon is Luffy's dad who is leading a revolutionary army shanks is on the same level as white beard It's just madness. If you need a channel drop a sub and hit that big boy bell and let's hop into the episode How nice of you garb good guy garb Like yeah, they're not gonna be okay with that Dude, he's actually gonna let them leave. Oh my god. He's just gonna dip. Does he want him to say I love you? I Love garb dude. He's a bit of an odd one though. We're gonna be here a minute if Frank He's gonna build a whole friggin boat Good times man He's a runnin a coke rose back in mermaid form gimme gimme Wait, how did you get here? Why didn't we get to see that? The article is a lie. They lie about like where Navy ships are so the pirates can't keep up with them Yeah, they've got a contract with the sea kings It's gonna be so sad to see Marion like flashbacks and stuff, man Oh What that keeps them away? Oh? No I don't have a deal with the sea kings. They just completely avoid them. Oh dang dude. It's taking notes Yeah, honestly though information from a Navy officer sergeant. Sorry. Where's coke girl? Let's go Dr. Vega punk. Oh my gosh New tech that was an object to eat a double wait, wasn't there something was it long ring long island where there was an object? No, wait, it was spandam sword. It was a sword that ate an elephant, right? I'm pretty sure that's like the same thing I still don't know how Luffy ended up in the barrel Hey, listen Kobe at this age. That might not be a bad gig. I'm gonna be honest Meppo robo cop It's cute these three hanging out man Who's all destiny? He seems cool Yeah, he like they were like tadpoles and he actually took them under his wing Who's there mr. Miyagi train them like crazy, but now they're much stronger much more capable She's not even listening anymore Want him to leave Yeah I have a bad feeling that that's like inherently saying that like they'll end up clashing at some point a second half of the ground Oh, were they said the emperors kind of a chokehold Lassie Oh the new world Dang So the new world is where the emperors sort of hold a rule Oh My gosh the second half of the grand line We even knew like sort of overarching aside from like just getting to the very last island in general was the last island Raftel Dude Kobe is an admiral Kobe. I'm gonna be honest. You might have to eat a double fruit, buddy. I've seen how Kiji Inspiration like pushing them again. I don't want them to fight He's like, that's crazy They never did I think this would be the next time they would meet 300 something episodes later on one of the next one will be like 600 or so It seems so far away then but it's closer now They're both still severely outmatched but like I said they've come so far man It's really like adorable optimism out of them and now the rest of the crew knows who they are and how they impacted Luffy and Zoro It's good man. Oh gosh the new world Have to go there eventually but I mean if shanks is like in such high ranking there Then like I feel like they'll have a good chance with someone like that on their side Yeah, oh the newspapers everybody's gonna find out CP 9 Well, yeah, it was supposed to be a Yeah, they can't talk about it, but they're gonna say it was because of the straw hat. Oh Man, I didn't think about that. They'll blame the straw hats for just Annihilating any a slobby. I wonder what spandems up to I'm kind of sad we didn't get to see exactly what went down as soon as they left Kobe you're seeing more man True true actually he could be one of the good ones Someone's got to change things I call him up.  Oh My gosh, Karp is brutal Is that a mini water seven in this water park? He thought it was not me Let's go everybody come hang. Oh, yeah Okay, guys, uh, this water park is getting a little crowded Sliding on his tail Bro, Polly chill Does he not have a problem with what they wear every day Franky in trend number one is he is he gonna like jump in the pool? The last time it felt like this was like a Sky Island when when they were having like the bonfire and stuff. This is so cute These scenes are so wholesome man the drinking buddies and water seven is at peace feels good man Did he just want to know her thought process I never forgot his name That's why he's a That's why he let her escape at least damn he put his friend down The one thing he gave Saul I Like that a lot I like on the tree Damn Oh, horror still lives on oh my gosh She's like kind of worried or scared that he's here But like I don't know I saw is sort of like a like a good omen from him Like it's almost like he doesn't see her as a threat like the government does because he's seen who she is He's seen what she's gone through And the fact that she'd be willing to just stay with them and be with them shows that that's all she wanted That's all she does one god to do it out Kiji. I'm really like him. He just rides right past everybody. Oh man. I Love that so much a treat a call home I Figured there had to be some kind of closure with everything especially since it's all kind of quieted down That was set like my heart I was I wasn't even like on the verge of crying But like my heart was just so filled because of how much it feels like out Kiji did want her to succeed I mean, yeah, he left her alive and originally because of Saul and has kind of followed what she's been up to But he really did expect her to fall at the hands of CP9 and to be captured and just used I'm guessing And I don't think he would have done a thing about it But I think the way everything went he's genuinely like happy and happy for her So I don't know man Like I feel very optimistic Especially with like I said all the stuff that's come out about shanks and stuff and the fact that out Kiji has like a Sort of like a warm place in his heart for all of them. I don't know episode 316. Let's get it


Welcome to Uplink Innovation Day. I'm Emanuella Orsini and I'm joining you from the World Economic Forum in Geneva. I'm very happy to be your moderator here today. We're celebrating Uplink's first birthday this month. It's one year since the launch of the World Economic Forum's open innovation platform, founded in partnership with Deloitte and Salesforce, where bright ideas can gain the visibility they need to become a reality. Uplink is a place where anyone, anywhere, can share their idea to make the world a better place and gain access to the resources, expertise and networks they need to have a global impact. It's also a place where investors, academics and other experts can find the next game-changing solution they'd like to get involved in. It's fine. The webcast for the thousands will be fine, I think. Over the next hour, we're going to learn about the real impact Uplink has had in its first year. Watch on the webcast, okay, Emanuella? Here are some numbers. I can't hear it though. Can you guys hear it? We've launched around 20 challenges and over a thousand ideas have been submitted to the platform. We're now working closely with over 100 innovators to help scale their solutions and maximize their impact. We're currently running 13 open Uplink challenges for solutions on topics like deforestation, protecting ocean ecosystems, clean air, the circular economy, and fighting COVID-19, with many more planned in the coming months. We'll be announcing two of them at the end of this event, so stay tuned for that. We're going to be hearing from two innovators who recently began their Uplink journey. They'll tell us a little bit about their innovation and what they hope to achieve in the future. We'll also talk to one Uplink innovator who has been with us from the start about the impact the platform has had on her company and the global challenge she's working to solve. But first, let's watch a video about Uplink's journey so far. Two startups of young people. Planetary boundaries are crashing with dire implications on health, on the quality of life, and these are systemic issues. We all could be tremendous platforms for change. We all could imagine a better, safer, healthier, more equitable, more sustainable world. We can do it together. We must use this moment to truly catalyze change. Quartolio helped researchers find cures and treatments that they wouldn't otherwise have been able to find. We've developed a technology that can take seawater converted into drinking water through the photons of the sun. We're exploring how we can unite art, science and local communities to accelerate marine restoration. Being part of a platform like Uplink and benefiting from the exposure that this platform has was a real game changer. So to kick things off, I want to introduce you to one of Uplink's very first innovators. She's been with us since the beginning of the platform. Elise Van Middlem, CEO of SUGI, welcome to our first Innovation Day. Thank you for having me, Manuela. Now SUGI is an app that lets anyone anywhere plant a small forest in urban areas. Tell me more. I was one of these people overwhelmed by the ecological problem. I wanted to make an impactful contribution, but I couldn't quite find the answer that satisfied me. I was looking at all these tree planting organizations, many of which are monoculture, and they actually also are doing harm sometimes and not always restorative. And I thought, you know, I'd like to find the solution that allows me to track and stay connected to my forest. I wanted to follow the journey and be part of the story. And I remember reading about Miyawaki Method. It's amazing. It's 100 times more biodiverse, 100% natural, 30 times denser compared to conventional tree planting. And I thought, that's it. I'd like to create a platform that allows anyone anywhere to plant these ultra dense biodiverse forests in urban spaces. So what is the Miyawaki Method? Can you tell us a bit more about that? Certainly. So Dr. Kiyomiyawaki, a botanist, pioneered this method 40 years ago in Japan. It's been hugely successful. He's planted over 3,000 forests himself. The basic idea of the method is that we mimic ancient forests. So if you think about it, most cities are built upon forests, and it's the idea of bringing them back within our environment. That's why we call it rewilding our lives. And the way we plant the forest is that we start with the soil, we bring back natural ingredients to the soil, and then we plant three to five trees on a square meter. So ultra dense. Plant shrubs up to three canopy and four layers. And for that, we really have to understand how natural forests function, what are the percentages, and we plant native species. And so what are the benefits of having these tiny small forests in urban areas? The benefits are, as you can imagine, on both levels, not only scientifically or climate-related, but also on a human level. For climate, they're fantastic. Because of the density, they really allow, as a sound barrier, they're really great for temperature reduction on heat islands.  And then, of course, there is the carbon capture. But now on a human level, because of that density, it allows also for biodiversity to come back at rapid pace. Small birds and mammals, that is already an incredible moment for human being when you're in a forest and you hear a song where just your senses, everything calms down.  So, yeah, that's the idea, just bring it back to the people. And especially this year, with the COVID-19 pandemic, there's been an urge and need to be closer to green spaces. 100%. I think there's not one magazine or paper you open, or there's something written about the healing effects of urban space. In Japan, they speak about it already for a long, long time. The forest, Shinryuoka, you know, that idea of forest baiting, 10 minutes in a forest really can reset so many of your senses and just reconnect us. We're also constantly, all the time, connected to technology and just to be surrounded by the forest being alive. You know, it's a sensation, yeah. And so some of your projects also have these healing effects for certain communities. Can you tell us a bit more about those? Yeah, certainly. In Chile right now, we're still in the midst of raising the funds, but there we're going to create Healing Islands within the Children's Hospital. It's one of the most emblematic hospitals in Santiago. And that idea will be to not only create medicinal herbs within the forest, but also allow for meditation spaces. Again, because of the density, you can really feel wrapped around the forest. Now, in the U.S., for example, we planted a healing forest with the Yakamination. It's a native tribe on the east of Seattle in Topanish. And the idea of the forest there was really reconnect the tribe to their roots in a way, you know, bring back what was once there. Plant a forest that not only will allow them to do the gathering with the medicinal herbs, but also have, you know, that idea of bonding, you know, to plant a forest with a correctional facility is quite a moving and powerful moment now. Very powerful healing and moving as well, as you mentioned. So how many of these forests have you planted and where in the world? So we started with the first forest, actually, almost two years ago in Beirut. That was quite a feat, because if you think about it, Beirut was actually, it's a forest on a landfill. I think we took over 300 liters of plastic. Today, that forest, the soil is almost like an ancient forest. Because of the technique, actually, you speed up the process of the forest soil. And in 10 years, you have a 100-year-old forest. So from that forest, today, we have about 90 projects in the portfolio. I mean, one project will be 200 schools in India, so many more projects. But, yeah, we planted about 80, yeah. Oh, that's incredible. So now you've been on uplink for over a year. How has it been, and can you tell us a bit about the impact that it had on Sugi?  Also, to have or to be part of this community within this year, where we're all locked inside, I mean, locked inside. We were lucky in Switzerland to be able to get out. It was very bonding to actually be able to exchange with the cohort members all doing incredible work in their field, allowed also to see that we're not alone in this. It's very motivating, I will say. And then something that happened to us, and there was a really quite incredible uplink allowed us to create a video. So with that video, we got enormous amount of visibility. We had incoming requests for forest from Kazakhstan to Kenya, from Manila. Chile actually, the team in Chile came through the video that they saw on uplink. And with that growing demand for this forest, we thought, OK, what do we do now? And so it allowed us actually to create a Sugi fellowship. So with that fellowship, we'll allow anyone anywhere to become a Sugi forest maker, trained in the Milwaukee Method by our expert forest makers, because we have now a network of 22 forest makers around the world. And we'd like to expand that rapidly. Oh, that's great. So you're expanding. And you've also collaborated with some other cohort members that are part of uplink. We're in the midst of actually creating collaboration. So Sarah and Tanzania, we had a fantastic exchange. I mean, definitely in Dar es Salaam, there's this opportunity to re-wild and this need. Because again, as I mentioned, these forests, because of their density, they're fantastic for heat island productions in cities, storm water medication, very necessary in these cities. So yeah, we're excited. That's incredible. So now what's next for Sugi? What's next? As we just discussed, you know, further expand the network, further build the stories, because this is where we really want to go the extra mile. It's really understand why are we planting a forest there? What are the benefits? What can you do to the community? So when you go on to our website, you can always see that the way we tell the story, you have all the details, also the geotag and the images of the plant. That takes some extra time, because we'd like to expand that growth of the forest. But then it's the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration coming up. In June, it's going to be launched. So we're excited to be part of it as an official partner. So there's a lot to be done around biodiversity and ecosystem restoration. Well, best of luck. Thank you. And thank you so much for joining us here in the studio on Uplink's first Innovation Day. Thank you for having me. Now let's meet some of the most recent innovators to join the Uplink community, two of which participated in our recent ocean and circular economy challenges. Joining me from SACO, based in Maine in the U.S., is Brianna Warner, CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms, and from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Zafri Zainuddin, CEO of Sticks Fresh. Now, Zafri, let's start with you. Sticks Fresh created a safe, natural sticker which can make fruits stay fresh two to three times longer, up to 21 days. Where did this idea come from? The idea started in, I'm not mistaken, in 2015 or 2016. So during that day, I was involved in fruit business and also owned a fruit farm. And also I was surrounded by friends and family that sell fruits. And when we, you know, like doing some gathering, meet up, one of the hard topics of the discussion is the shelf life problem and also the food waste. So during that time as well, most of fruits has a sticker on it, right, that represent branding and also have a very small QR code for traceability system. So actually that sparked the idea of using a sticker as a material that can extend the shelf life of the fruits. So how does this exactly work and what is the material made out of? Basically, we created a formulation from natural resources or it's extracted from plant that has anti-fungal effect. Yeah, but how does it work, right? So generally, plants produce a compound that can protect themselves from any harmful environmental condition. So what we essentially did is we repurposed that compound and applied it on the top of the stickers. When you stick stick pressed stickers on the fruit, it will create a protective barrier around the fruits and will make your fruit fresh longer up to three to four times longer.  What was the idea behind Atlantic Sea Farms? I started working with the company in about 2018. It was the first commercial seaweed farm in the country in 2009, which is a really neat claim to fame. But what I was really doing, I come from the world of economic development and we here on the coast of Maine have a coast that is almost completely dependent on the lobster fishery. And as Zafri said, he stated kind of this problem statement also this opportunity statement of that region of the world grows so much of the world's fruit. Well, here in Maine, we don't have a lot of diversity, but we do have a lot of lobster. And it's really the only way that people are able to make. They're living along the coast in some of these coastal areas. Having said that, the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of oceans in the entire world. And so that industry, even though it is very conservation minded, it is not overfished, is really threatened by the continual climate change. So right now, people are still doing pretty well. They have pretty big boats. It's an owner operator fishery where everyone, if you're on your boat, you fish that boat that day. There's no like fleets of boats. So the challenge statement is the water is warming. The opportunity statement is there's a lot of people with a lot of equipment right now that have a lot of social capital on the water that know what they're doing on the water and that only fish two or three seasons a year and aren't doing a whole lot in the winter without equipment. And so kelp farming, which happens in the winter, can be a perfect supplemental income source as the lobster industry becomes increasingly volatile because of the climate change. At the same time, it also helps remove carbon and nitrogen from the water. So it's both a mitigation strategy as well as an adaptation strategy for climate change. And then what we do is we turn it into value added products that people want to eat.  It doesn't matter. So we turn it into products that people actually want to eat that people are excited about. And so we can kind of drive that demand and therefore amplify our impact back on the coast. So what does kelp taste like? Is it delicious? Do you have any recipes to share with us? Yeah, so here in the United States, people don't love loud flavors. It's not something we know for throughout the world. I think anyone can know that about us here. So what we try to do is, you know, take kelp and seaweed and make it into products that are really accessible, really easy to use. You don't necessarily have to know how to cook to use them. So our products range from things like kelp cubes, which are pureed blanched kelp. These bright green cubes are bright green, not because they have any dyes, because they have nothing in them, but because they get blanched in water. And then people put them in their smoothies, pastos, those kind of things. To fermented seaweed salad, which is a fermented product that is fresh, all fresh kelp. We never jar anything. And it's got that kind of like taste of that bright green seaweed salad that's ubiquitous throughout the world, except without the dyes and without dehydrating it and then rehydrating it. So our products are basically meant so that any pun in the U.S. can just stick a fork into it or stick it into a blender and eat it and not be sort of overpowered by the flavor. Now Zafri, you recently changed your business model. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? Basically, before this, we are aiming to approach B2B market because we're helping companies to reduce their food waste using our stickers, right? So after our video will be published by the uplink in combination with the WEF World Economic Forum, we receive a lot of questions from all of our industry, especially our green industries, retailers, distributors. And the interesting part is the consumers are starting to reach out first. They want their experience on using these stickers by themselves actually. So what are some of the reactions you've gotten from the public? I think your video has gotten millions of views. Yeah, basically one of the best reactions is people want to use these stickers in their home, in their house, right? So they want to use in their vegetables as well as smaller types of fruits such as grapes and also strawberries, right? So we are very close to, right? One finding, you know, every fruit and every fruit used up there will have steep price technology to eat, to extend shelf life. All types of fruits make the fruits more accessible to a place or to a community that has never been accessed before. And as well, of course, reducing the food waste starts from the fridge at your home. Now Brianna, we haven't produced your video yet because you're one of the most recent joiners. What do you hope to gain by being a member of uplink? Yeah, I mean, like you said, we're just at the beginning on our part with uplink. Like Zafri, I'm being part of an ecosystem where people are doing really innovative work. I mean, our food system is broken and the people that you have involved in this project are people, not just in food but elsewhere, who are trying to fix systems and to revolutionize systems that have really denigrated not only the planet but our health. And I think that it's really exciting to be part of this group and meeting people like Zafri who are making a substantial difference as small and as big at the same time as a sticker or a kelp. You know, this is stuff that it's just very practical and it makes sense and there are changes that can actually make a difference and that's what gets me excited about being part of this community. Now Zafri, what are some of the needs of Sticks Fresh right now? You know, as for us as an early stage company here in Malaysia, actually we need a group of people who can help us especially expertise in a variety of ways to bring our technology in the market properly and aggressively and we see uplink can help us succeed on that. I would say uplink is a mass-joined platform for innovators, entrepreneurs out there to connect with the industry player, decision makers as well as we can share our views, comment and contribute to our ideas, especially in SDG and strategies. Now Brianna, if an investor is listening to this program, what would you tell them are your needs right now for your business? Yeah, so right now we're actually going into funding round right now mostly because we are moving into a new facility but also, you know, we're in kind of a cramped space right now but also because we're trying to bring on more marketing and sales team to make our products more efficient to create because what we really want to do is get kelp on everything. You know, it's not this isn't just about somebody eating our fermented seaweed salad or kelp cubes which is great but I want our kelp powder and I want our kelp puree to be in soup brands that have nothing to do with kelp on the shelf because it's got umami in it and they want to do the right thing. I want it to be in crackers. I want it to be in drinks. I want it to be everywhere so that you walk into the grocery store and there's 2% of, you know half of the products in there have some kelp in it because with us it's not the bottom line of making money although we need to be profitable in order for us to succeed and that's key I mean in order for our farmers to be taken care of but every time someone eats some of our kelp I am getting another fisherman in the water and right now we have an incredible sense of urgency as the climate warms to give people a different way to work on the water or else 30, 40 years from now the coast of Maine which is a microcosm of a bigger problem of what our coastal communities can look like across the world as the climate changes because those coastal communities are going to feel at first you know if we can come up with solutions before there's disaster then we've done something very right in economic development and I think if we can prove out that proof of concept this kind of thing not necessarily with kelp but with other products can be done or with other ways of thinking and other ways of farming can be done across the world so we're urgently working to kind of prove out this proof of concept and we have to get the product you know price point down we have to get it out there to everybody we need the marketing to get people to know what kelp is and then that's really where we're raising money to continue to kind of amp up that impact Thank you so much to both of you for being with us here today it was a pleasure talking to you and all the best thanks for being with us and we'll see you next time on Uplink it's now time to reveal our two new challenge areas this is an opportunity for you if you have a big idea to solve one of these problems to submit it to Uplink and join our network of innovators the first is the generation restoration youth eco-preneurship challenge this is a search for nature-based solutions which are either run by young entrepreneurs or are aimed at benefiting young people the solutions are open until June 15th let's take a look at what that's all about to truly conserve and restore our world we'll need fleets of unreasonable optimists and that's you so if anyone has any ideas or even before an idea a passion to restore our world conserve our biodiversity I encourage you all to apply for the one trillion trees challenge and spread the word I see eco-preneurship having a great role when it comes to tackling the climate crisis and especially when it comes to improving the quality of our environment because we are looking at eco-solutions solutions that are not harming the planet now we are the stakeholders of the future so if there's going to be urgency there's going to be action happening it has to come from the generation that is seeing that it's going to be the most affected and whose children are going to be the most affected Joining me now is Ariana Day-Un CEO of Forested Foods our youth eco-preneur representative in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and from Salesforce one of uplink's founding partners and a sponsor of this challenge Suzanne Dibianca who joins us from California welcome to the both of you thank you thanks it's great to be here great so Suzanne let's start with you tell us a bit about this challenge and why is Salesforce launching it yeah we're really really excited to launch the challenge I think these uplink challenges we have really unearthed some incredible innovators over the over the years that we've done them and for me you know and for the planet really this is the decade of action around climate and we both have to reduce emissions which is why Salesforce is a net zero company and we have a great product called sustainability that helps people reduce and track their own emissions but we also have to sequester carbon it's why we launched along with you at the World Economic Forum went T.org earlier in the year and we know that nature race solutions are super powerful and we know that young people are driving this movement so you know we won't be effective if we just sort of count trees on the platform but we do know that big key component is how many young people are able to do successful businesses like Ariana and impact the ecosystem overall so really excited for generation restoration Great. Now Ariana we saw you in the video earlier you're an ecopreneur you founded your own organization can you tell us a bit about it and why it was important for you to start this organization Sure so Forested Foods is an early purpose is to combat deforestation which we do by building and working with networks of small holder forest communities to earn more from conservation based agroforestry so we produce things with our partner farmers like forest honeys spices gums resins and fruits we're essentially trying to build the cargill for deforestation free and regenerative agriculture products starting in Ethiopia but hopefully expanding across the global south of things I think I never really you know saw myself as an entrepreneur my whole life I think at heart I'm just like a big problem solving nerd and after I got my first experiences learning about agriculture and emerging markets small holder farming and food supply chains and really just seeing how food systems don't work as well as they need to in favor of people on the planet to really you know define deforestation and really building a nature-based solution to climate change just became the issue that I found was incredibly complex and the one that I really wanted to throw my own energy and resources behind so Suzanne why is it important for Salesforce to invest and promote youth entrepreneurship because this challenge is all focused on youth-based solutions well I think youth are really driving this movement I mean I've been inspired by so many people to help the world wake up and like Arianna I was really inspired by Felix who is incredible entrepreneur started nine years old an organization called plant for the planet and you know he has he's now 23 years old he's planted billions trees 14 billion I think and you know think of a scale that we'd be able to unlock if we can just you know meet youth where they are and really put wind in their sails I think that this is where I'm inspired this is the generation where climate change is going to impact more than you know anything is in future generations so you know we have to get behind these incredible young people and enable them yeah and Arianna why do you think it's important for your generation to be so involved so I think there's a few reasons so the first one might be a little sad but I think you know you will have a longer time with on and in our earth and so it's reasonable to assume that you know there should be more mass buy-in and urgency for our generation to make sure that our ecosystems, natural resources really our home and basic needs like air, water and food can sustain our generation and future generations to come the second thing is that there's a higher proportion of idealists in our demographic you can call it the reality is that the world needs it climate change is you know an incredibly overwhelming daunting topic and it can be really paralyzing and so you almost need this unreasonable level of optimism and people who persist in an uphill battle to really restore the earth and I think the last reason is that environmental issues both systemic drivers of them and solutions are incredibly intersectional environmental issues intersect with politics economic and dynamics locally globally and you know what that means is that we'll need more collaboration than ever to restore our environment and no generation has had as much access to the tools platforms and technology to do so than today's youth So uplink definitely is one of these platforms Suzanne what will Salesforce and uplink offer some of the entrepreneurs or all the ideas that are coming through for one it's a huge connect the dots moment with other entrepreneurs that are working in this space with businesses that are making a difference you know we have technology to offer we have 60,000 incredibly passionate employee volunteers that I know would love to be of assistance and you know we have a France program that gets behind some of the nonprofits we have an impact to get behind some of the for-profits so you know we're just one company but I think the key power in unlocking these kind of innovators is sort of connecting them with companies like Salesforce but at scale and Ariana what advice would you have for any entrepreneurs or I would say ecopreneurs that would like to submit their solution for this challenge I would say do it stick with it whatever it takes to finalize the solution I think you know applying for a lot of these competitions and programs that can be quite overwhelming and time-consuming but I think a program like this being able to get the support of companies like Salesforce you know organizations like the World Economic Forum is just an incredible opportunity and a lot of you know the good work that we're all doing really needs you know that amplifying effect thank you so much to the both of you for joining us today thank you good luck to everyone who applies the next challenge that we are officially launching in May is the World Class Education Challenge the COVID-19 pandemic has sent shockwaves around the world highlighting and in many parts of the world widening the global education inequality gap this new challenge is looking for solutions focusing on equitable access to education investment in teachers and skills for the future submissions are open until June 18th let's watch a video to learn more about the competition Education is a building block for a strong well functioning society it is required for long-term economic growth it provides the tools needed to solve a set of social political and economic problems and crises uplink will enable Deloitte and the public to identify bold high impact ideas and approaches to address the global education challenges now is a young voice in education Ilana Milkis the founder of World Tech Makers in Bogota, Colombia as well as Michelle Parmoli from Deloitte our founding partner and sponsor of this challenge welcome Ilana Michelle now Michelle let's start with you why is it important for Deloitte to have solutions for the future of education Education is fundamental to progress it empowers and it uplifts but COVID-19 has disrupted students education worldwide 1.6 billion children were out of school at the height of the pandemic educational inequality was an issue well before COVID and the pandemic has only widened the learning gap unless the impact is taken now this moment could be a year of lost learning and growing education and equity but there is also room for optimism this past year has illustrated the possibilities for learning in the future we saw schools and educators adapt their teaching we saw students learning in new ways and this is inspired Deloitte and the forum to launch this challenge to improve education opportunity for more billion children that step into the classroom each day this will be the first challenge on uplink to address sustainable development goal number four we have an opportunity to identify innovations that are delivering results for students and determine what we can scale we will look for solutions in Africa and Asia where most of the world's children and youth will live and learn over the next decade we want to find equitable access for students who are being left behind models that invest in teachers and educators helping to bridge the gap between what is taught in the classroom and the jobs of the future this challenge builds upon Deloitte's world-class ambition to support 100 million individuals to access equality education skills and opportunities by 2030 our primary goal is to prepare people for the jobs and opportunities of the future we don't want our world's youth to be left behind by the workforce of tomorrow and how will Deloitte support innovators and their ideas so it is clear that we need to accelerate progress towards the sustainable development goals based on current trends it may take until 2073 to achieve these goals young people will be the most impacted by an action today as an employer as a global citizen we believe business must play a role in addressing these issues particularly inequality of opportunity but we don't have all the answers to make an impact we must collaborate across sectors with the leading innovators in the space and that's why I'm so excited to be able to leverage the power of the uplink platform to surface solutions to education inequity we will invite the selected innovators to a year long program led by Deloitte and supported by global education experts to scale and advance their impact we want to work hand in hand with the innovators to bring their ideas to life and scale their solutions we will provide mentoring we will bring leading practices from the business sector and we will work with them both on their clients but on a pro bono basis we aim to partner with education leaders and innovative thinkers who are deeply committed to making a positive difference and that's why we're joined by Alana Milquez the founder of world tech makers who Deloitte has supported as one such leader who is positively impacting education in Colombia so Alana let's go to you now can you tell us a bit more about world tech gaps you've seen in education yeah thank you so at world tech makers we're free to prove in education on three verticals so one we focus on personalization of learning to make sure everyone receives a personalized learning route we're also focused on access so just to give you an example in Colombia 70% of the schools are rural and only 16% of that 70% have internet access so covid that gap and we're focusing on narrowing it down and the third vertical is relevancy most of the jobs of the future haven't been invented yet and we believe that we need to make sure the skills that are being acquired and learned by the students are relevant for the next 10 years yeah so can you tell us a bit about what are those skills that are needed for the future of education yeah so we focus on different categories from digital to cognitive to personal to emotional skills social we have this technology called digital DNA where we understand learners and provide learning routes so that they can receive personalized opportunities in terms of content but also job connection and we do this leveraging different technologies like online learning and also adaptive AI so what advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who maybe want to participate in this challenge yeah well first think about awesome partners like Deloitte second think outside of the box I think the future needs us to think beyond what's already there and third focus on applying and of course like doing teamwork to face all the challenges we have in the next decade great well thank you both so much for joining us here today for uplink innovation day I want to thank you all for joining us here today for uplink innovation day whether you're an innovator investor or expert I hope you'll become a part of the uplink community as we continue to grow and find solutions for real change if you're not already a member make sure you sign up to uplink by scanning the QR code on the screen which will direct you to our uplink app thanks again thank you