Small Farm Nation: Farming | Marketing | Homesteading

Is branding important for your farm business? Let’s start with what I mean by the word “brand” because it’s a word that we hear often, but we may not understand the meaning.  I mean, what does the word “brand” mean anyway?

So what’s the secret to marketing farm and local food products? Today, I’ll tell you, and set you on a solid foundation for marketing your farm and/or food products. Because, if we produce great food and farm products and there’s no one to buy it, what’s the point?

Each month, I conduct a mastermind interview for members of the Small Farm Nation Academy. They’re video calls between me and an expert in matters that relate to growing a profitable farming business, and they tend to be an hour long, give or take. In this episode, I’m gonna share some highlights of my discussion with Greg Gunthorp of Gunthorp Farms in Indiana. 2018 marks Greg’s 20th year as a successful sustainable farmer. This year he’ll raise and market well over 100,000 poultry in addition to 2,500 pigs. Tune in as Greg and I discuss: how to process and wax ducks, what poultry processing equipment to use, how to sell farm products to restaurants, how to pitch products to chefs, what chefs look for in terms of consistency, building a meat smoking/curing facility, financing a farm business, managing the wholesale order process, the most profitable farm distribution channels, much more! So listen in, now. Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: Leave a comment in the Farm Marketing Group

Each month,I conduct a mastermind interview for members of the Small Farm Nation Academy. They’re video calls between me and an expert in matters that relate to growing a profitable farming business, and they tend to be an hour long, give or take. In this episode, I’m gonna share some highlights of my discussion with Jordan & Laura Green of J&L Green Farm in Virginia. The Green's have built a fast-growing pasture-based meat business and, get this...they don't even own a single acre of farmland. We discuss: how they started their farm farm investors, partners and contractual relationships the pros and cons of selling at farmers markets why J&L Green Farm hasn't aggressively pursued selling to restaurants logistical issues shipping frozen meat products delivering farm products via drop sites (or metropolitan buying clubs) and so much more that relates to marketing and running a farm business So listen in, now. Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: Leave a comment in the Farm Marketing Group o

We all know that sustainably produced food is more expensive than supermarket food, so how do we explain that when challenged? This week I want to discuss a challenge that many small farmers face.  It’s one that they seem to all dread and it puts them on the defensive. It’s the whole issue of defending why their products cost so much. Or, at least seems to cost so much. Now, this is a real issue for many of us, so it’s not one we should run from. We need to be prepared to face this head on, and the better you get at this, the more it will become a non-issue. Why is that? Because, as your skill improves at conveying value, that skill will permeate all aspects of your marketing. Your blog posts, your social media updates, what you say on your website and in your email marketing. You’ll become proficient at conveying value and focusing on benefits, rather than being defensive. Before we dive in, I want you to understand something. The Dollar Store shopper isn’t your farm's customer. Or at least not for most of y

Each month,I conduct a mastermind interview for members of the Small Farm Nation Academy. They’re video calls between me and an expert in matters that relate to growing a profitable farming business, and they tend to be an hour long, give or take. In this episode, I’m gonna share some highlights of my discussion with Curtis Stone. Curtis is well known for maximizing farming profits on small, urban lots, and has helped lots of folks to do the same thing. Whether you’re interested in urban or rural farming, I think you’ll get a lot out of this. So listen in, now. Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: Leave a comment in the Farm Marketing Group on Facebook. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn To help the show: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW for Small Farm Nation on iTunes. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play or TuneIn Credits/Resources Relevant to This Episode Farming for You lyrics by Tim Young Buy the rock classic, Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealer's Wheel on Amazon T

Facebook is now focused not on the brands…or those of you who have farm Facebook pages, but rather focused on the individual FB user. Learn how to use Facebook effectively with the end in mind. And the end is getting people to conduct a transaction with you.

An email list is your most important communication asset, and email marketing is a great way to sell your farm products. But how do you build a list in the first place? In this episode I walk you through the four not-so-simple steps of email list building for your farm business.

Small businesses routinely fail in every industry segment, but what   causes small farms to fail? In this episode I share 7 reasons why small farms fail, so you learn what not to do so that your farm thrives. I'll walk you through seven reasons why small farms fail.

A lot of people dream of starting a family farm and selling directly to customers, but how do you protect yourself from getting sued? In this episode, join me and the Food Lawyer as we discuss farm law, liability and how to protect your personal assets.

The phrase hobby farm is cute and all, but what’s the difference between a hobby farm and a farming business? In this episode, I’m going to tell you why you might have a farm hobby that costs you money rather than a thriving farm business that earns you money.

This week I was a guest on the popular Peak Prosperity podcast. It was a great pleasure speaking with Adam Taggart, who co-founded Peak Prosperity with Chris Martenson. You can listen to the episode here on the Peak Prosperity website, here on iTunes or here on YouTube. We discussed many aspects of starting and running a successful small-scale farming business. If you'd rather read than listen, you can read the entire transcript of the episode, below. Episode Transcript Adam: Hello, and welcome to the Resilient Life podcast. Resilient Life is part of peakprosperity.com. It's where we focus on practical and actionable knowledge for building a better future. I'm your host, Adam Taggart. Many of those looking to live with greater resilience dream of owning productive farmland that's managed sustainably. Now, in the past we've profiled funds like Farmland LP that enable folks to become directly invested in farmland like this, but many aren't interested in simply being passive investors. They want to become far

We’ve all heard the term corporate branding, but what is a personal brand, and do farmers need one? In this episode, I’m going to tell you why you need to develop your own personal farm brand, and how to do it. Because, from a marketing perspective, a sustainable farm business is quite unique in the scheme of business models.

It’s easy to grow your farm or small business, right? Just define your ideal customer and find more like them. Well, today, I’ll put an end to this myth and explain why it’s not about your ideal customer, but rather it’s about YOU! You know, it’s frustrating when we start a farm or any new business. We hear things like, if you build it they will come. Experts advise us to simply define our ideal customer…our avatar, in modern speak, and we’re all set. Simple as that. Have you heard that before? Here’s an example of what the process looks like to define an ideal customer. I’ll call mine—Jane. And…I think Jane works in advertising. She has two kids and lives on the outskirts of a major city—let’s say, Dallas. Jane enjoys spending time with family, cooking from scratch and playing with her cats. So far, sounds like a profile you might see on a dating site, but I like Jane, don’t you? Let’s see what else we know about Jane. She values organic, sustainable, locally sourced food that is non-GMO, and she detests f

Serving the local food community and reconnecting heritage breed animals to neglected farmland was, and is, a worthy pursuit, and it's one that a growing number of people are drawn to. If you're one of those people, that's awesome, and I encourage you to follow your dream.

When people think of retirement, they often think of golf or travel. But what about homesteading or farming as a retirement strategy? In this final episode of season 1, I’ll share with you how we and many other farmsteaders are thinking very old-school about retirement. Listen to the Podcast Subscribe to Self-Sufficient Life on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play or TuneIn Several years ago as we prepared to transition from sprawling urban life to our rural farmstead, Liz and I were filled with excitement about growing our own food and being immersed in nature. Yet, during that period of intense change and learning we also spent many hours discussing, of all things, retirement. At the time the idea of retirement was many years away for us, but in our “former” lives we at least understood what the plan was, so we rarely thought about it. The plan back then was simply to keep working until we were, I don’t know, 62 or so and then let a 401K or pension plan fund the rest of our lives, perhaps with a little

Sign Up Spring has sprung but the grass ain’t ris, and we can’t find where the flowers is. This week, Liz joins me as we shake the winter blues and share an update of what’s happening on the farm. Listen to the Podcast Subscribe to Self-Sufficient Life on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play or TuneIn Welcome to Episode 29! First off, we've received 70 reviews on iTunes, and Liz and I would like to thank each of you for leaving a review. This podcast is a labor of love for us and we greatly appreciate you showing us that it's not a waste of energy. This week Liz is back on the podcast, and she shares a surprising challenge that we've had to deal with in recent months. And that challenge is, boredom. The climate in our new homestead means winter is longer and spring arrives later, so we've really had to adjust to having more time off from garden and farmstead chores. Sounds like a good thing...but it it'll drive you stir crazy. Still, we've got a lot going on, and in this episode we discuss: our recent c

We love animals, so farming livestock was an easy decision for us. So how can we eat the animals we love? Today, I’ll tell you why PETA is dead wrong and why eating the "right" meat is best for people, the environment AND the animals. Listen to the Podcast Subscribe to Self-Sufficient Life on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play or TuneIn So, of all the decisions we contemplated when we began farming a decade ago, choosing to farm livestock was the easiest. Of course, that meant we would care for livestock, and then eat animals we cared for. We spent years hatching cute little chicks, watching Ossabaw Island piglets being born in the woods, pulling calves, collecting and cleaning eggs, and just watching our cows and sheep graze lush pastures. We’ve loved farm animals since we took our first steps out of the rat race, and we love everything about them. So it seems strange to some folks that we not only eat our animals, but we give them names and develop relationships with them before we do. If that doesn’t

When you search for rural land you’ll find all sorts of places that look promising. But how do you know if you’ve found your dream property? Today, I’ll share what we’ve learned and cover the 23 questions you should answer before buying that rural property. Listen to the Podcast Subscribe to Self-Sufficient Life on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play or TuneIn So, Liz and I have bought rural property twice now. It’s both an exciting and exhausting time, Before you plunk down that deposit on the first rural property that screams your name, consider this: you are planning to make a move there for life. A new life, a better life and, perhaps, not only the rest of your life but a homestead that future generations will cherish. So, yeah, it’s appropriate to take time and weigh the decision against criteria that are important to you and your family. With that in mind, I’ve come up with a list of 23 important questions you should ask and answer when looking for rural property. But, really, these 23 questions ar

Many people believe that The Great Depression was a hard time for all Americans, but is that true? This week, I’ll tackle that myth and share 10 Survival Lessons from The Great Depression era. Listen to the Podcast Subscribe to Self-Sufficient Life on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play or TuneIn So, we all grew up reading and hearing about The Great Depression, right? That time in American history when times were tough, everyone was thrown out of work, food was scarce. On top of that we had the Dust Bowl with infertile land and tremendous storms of dust blanketing the heartland of the country. And, of course, virtually no one had money. Sounds like a made-for-TV nightmare that’s almost beyond belief. But—as terrible as that time was, was it really terrible for everyone? I ask, because sometimes the impact of events is often exaggerated when recalled, whether it be a personal or societal event. And, even if it is horrific, what percentage of the population is it horrific for? Just a few years ago, from 200