EMRA Update November 2025

Mission

Create supportive relationships to challenge paradigms
while building profitable and sustainable enterprises
to regenerate our land for the next generation.

What are YOU thankful for?

As plants begin to go dormant, as crops are harvested, and calves weaned it becomes a nice time to reflect. What are you grateful for? What keeps your spark for farming or ranching? What opportunities presented themselves this year? What goals did you reach this year? Take the time to reflect on all there was and is to be thankful for this year and start your plans for next year. You all have positive impacts on the land and your communities, and for that, we are grateful.

Dear Regenerators,

Happy Thanksgiving. It has been a privilege and an honor to serve as Executive Director of EMRA. This group of people make me proud to be part of the regenerative movement in Eastern Montana.

Please accept my invitation to the EMRA Annual Business Meeting, Tuesday, January 6th, 2026 in Miles City. We have important business to attend to that would greatly benefit from your presence and input.

– Election of 3 board members

– Building our vision and establishing pillars

– Planning the future of EMRA including 2026 gatherings, ranch tours, and

workshops

Enriched Ag has been invited to share their Ranch Intelligence Network and determine if EMRA is interested in this opportunity as collaboration. Check them out at Home – Enriched Ag. The Business meeting will be followed by our Kick-off event. This year we’ll take a deep dive into financial tools and Sara Keough bringing a wealth of understanding the direct connections of soil, grazing and human health.

Please mark your calendar for the afternoon of January 6th & all-day January 7th . You are the foundation of Eastern Montana Regenerative Agriculture. Your presence is essential.

Warmly,

Sue FitzGerald

Resources available

Resources available under the NEWS tab. Along with newsletters there is a Rangeland Health Guide and a Podcast/Reading list available.

Education Committee Update

EMRA education committee is made up of EMRA member volunteers that meet monthly to organize education workshops, tours, and gatherings throughout the year. Currently the committee is organizing small in-person gatherings, EMRA annual meeting & kick-off, and next summer’s stockmanship workshop. Do you have topics or speaker ideas? Reach out, we would enjoy hearing them!

What if…

I was looking over a few compost and soil samples this week and spotted a fungal spore that caught my interest. I was able to ID the little guy, after hours of research… but it had me wondering, how many microbes are yet to be discovered? Just like a latent seed bank waiting to germinate, surely thousands of microbes are dormant, waiting for better conditions, and waiting to be identified for the first time.

“Only about 1% of the microorganisms found in soil have been identified so far – our soils are one of the largest reservoirs of microbial diversity on Earth; this includes many single-celled organisms, such as bacteria and archaea, as well as certain fungi too. There’s so much about the organisms that live in our soils that we still don’t understand, and many think that further research could lead to important developments in agricultural, medical and climate sciences.” https://www.soilassociation.org/causes-campaigns/save-our-soil/10-soil-facts/