Growing For Market Podcast

Corinna Bench learned digital marketing by doing the marketing for her family’s farm, Shared Legacy Farms. They grow certified organic vegetables for a 400-member CSA in Ohio, and Corinna offers classes and coaching for farm marketing through MyDigitalFarmer. Whether your goal is to get more people to your market stand or sell out your CSA by the New Year, don’t underestimate the importance of marketing to grow your business! In this interview, we talk about what she has learned from running her own farm’s marketing campaigns.Corinna tells us how to identify products ripe for a promotion, plan around important dates, set revenue goals, and create marketing peaks to maximize sales. The discussion also covers nurturing customer relationships through engaging content and using lead magnets to attract and retain customers. Since this is the first episode of the new year, Corinna tells us how to plan out a promotion calendar for the whole year. Corinna offers marketing classes and coaching at mydigitalfarmer.com. Connect With Guest:Website: https://mydigitalfarmer.comInstagram: @mydigitalfarmer Podcast Sponsors:Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:Rimol Greenhouse Systems designs and manufactures greenhouses that are built to be intensely rugged, reliably durable, and uniquely attractive – to meet all your growing needs. Rimol Greenhouses are guaranteed to hold up through any weather conditions, while providing exceptional value and an easy installation for vegetable growers of all sizes. Learn more about the Rimol difference and why growers love Rimol high tunnels at Rimol.com. BCS two-wheel tractors are designed and built in Italy where small-scale farming has been a way of life for generations. Discover the beauty of BCS on your farm with PTO-driven implements for soil-working, shredding cover crops, spreading compost, mowing under fences, clearing snow, and more – all powered by a single, gear-driven machine that’s tailored to the size and scale of your operation. To learn more, view sale pricing, or locate your nearest dealer, visit BCS America. Since 1972 Ohio Earth Food has been the go-to source for soil testing, consulting as well as the highest performing and most cost effective granular and liquid fertilizers, seed starting soils, foliar sprays and disease and insect controls. All approved for use on organic farms. Start seeds in The Seed Catapult soil with mycorrhizae and put Re-vita Pro fertilizer in the soil before you plant. Learn more at ohioearthfood.com. Farmhand is the only ready-to-ride assistant made by and for farmers. Through a simple text or email to Farmhand, you can offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more and take one of our many time-saving tasks for a test drive to see firsthand how Farmhand can help you earn more, and work less at farmhand.partners/gfm. Bootstrap Farmer offers a complete range of growing supplies including heat mats, ground cover, frost blankets, silage tarps, irrigation, and trellising. They also make all-metal, all-inclusive greenhouse kits, constructed of steel made in the USA and fabricated in Texas. Their heavy-duty, Midwest-made propagation and microgreens trays will last for years and are available in a full spectrum of colors. For all that plus experienced support for everything they sell, check out Bootstrap Farmer at bootstrapfarmer.com. If you're an experienced vegetable farmer, don't miss out on the 2025 Organic Vegetable Production Conference! In its 9th year, this conference fills that "expert-level" niche you're looking for. With online sessions on January 23rd and 24th for only $75 and in-person sessions on January 31 and February 1, in Madison, Wisconsin, you can plug in no matter where you are. Register today at bit.ly/ovpc-2025. Subscribe To Our Magazine -all new subscriptions include a FREE 28-Day Trial

Rogue Farm Corps grew out of the age-old network of farmer-led apprenticeships, to help make the apprenticeship system compliant with modern labor laws and fulfil its educational component, while continuing to give people real-world farming experience on the way to starting their own farms. In the process they’ve added many opportunities in addition to traditional apprenticeships, forming a robust training program to the benefit of beginners and current farmers alike.Geoffrey Van and Kait Crowley tell us about Rogue Farm Corps on this week’s pod, a non-profit that trains and equips the next generation of farmers and ranchers in Oregon. RFC's Farmer Training Program seeks to train an inclusive and diverse next generation of farmers through on-farm training and mentorship; classes, farm tours, and discussions; networking in the agricultural community; and connecting with other beginning farmers. RFC's Future Farms Program addresses systemic barriers to accessing land, capital, and other resources by providing the education and networking for farmland leasing and transfer; farm business technical assistance; and resources and assistance on collaborative models of farming.Both Geoffrey and Kait have many years of involvement in farming. Before becoming current RFC’s Farmer Training Program Manager Kait completed an advanced apprenticeship with Rogue Farm Corps in 2018. Kait also co-founded PK Pastures, a certified organic and Animal-Welfare-Approved pastured livestock operation. Geoffrey was born and raised in Hong Kong. After school, he began working on farms in New Mexico and Oregon. In 2017, Geoffrey and four friends started Spoon Full Farm in Thorp, Washington, where they primarily raised livestock, grew vegetables, and made value-added products. In late 2020, Geoffrey began working at Rogue Farm Corps where he is Director of the Future Farms Program.Connect With Guest:Website: www.roguefarmcorps.orgInstagram: @roguefarmcorps Podcast Sponsors:Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:Since 1972 Ohio Earth Food has been the go-to source for soil testing, consulting as well as the highest performing and most cost effective granular and liquid fertilizers, seed starting soils, foliar sprays and disease and insect controls. All approved for use on organic farms. Start seeds in The Seed Catapult soil with mycorrhizae and put Re-vita Pro fertilizer in the soil before you plant. Learn more at ohioearthfood.com.Farmhand is the only ready-to-ride assistant made by and for farmers. Through a simple text or email to Farmhand, you can offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more and take one of our many time-saving tasks for a test drive to see firsthand how Farmhand can help you earn more, and work less at farmhand.partners/gfm.Bootstrap Farmer offers a complete range of growing supplies including heat mats, ground cover, frost blankets, silage tarps, irrigation, and trellising. They also make all-metal, all-inclusive greenhouse kits, constructed of steel made in the USA and fabricated in Texas. Their heavy-duty, Midwest-made propagation and microgreens trays will last for years and are available in a full spectrum of colors. For all that plus experienced support for everything they sell, check out Bootstrap Farmer at bootstrapfarmer.com. If you're an experienced vegetable farmer, don't miss out on the 2025 Organic Vegetable Production Conference! In its 9th year, this conference fills that "expert-level" niche you're looking for. With online sessions on January 23rd and 24th for only $75 and in-person sessions on January 31 and February 1, in Madison, Wisconsin, you can plug in no matter where you are. Register today at bit.ly/ovpc-2025Subscribe To Our Magazine -all new subscriptions include a FREE 28-Day Trial

Pete Russell used his experience in the food industry to design Ooooby, a sales platform for farmers to sell directly to the public. Their goal is to put local, ecologically sound growers back at the heart of the food system. Ooooby integrates all the apps one would use to build an online farm store into their software to simplify the process for farmers and offer a seamless experience for the customer.The platform has been available in Australia, New Zealand and the UK and is now becoming available in North America. One of the ways they keep the platform true to its values is by steward ownership- where the people who work for the company and the users all have buy-in. Learn how it works in this week’s podcast interview! Connect With Guest:Website: www.ooooby.comInstagram: @oooobyhq Podcast Sponsors:Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support: There are a lot of farm sales platforms out there, but there’s only one that’s cooperatively owned by farmers. That’s GrownBy — your all-in-one solution to simplify farm sales. From start-up market farms to complex and scaled-up CSAs, GrownBy makes online farm sales easy and affordable; setting up your shop is free, and you only pay when you sell. Join over 900 farms who have already signed up for GrownBy, and you’re eligible to join the co-op and become a member-owner after your first sale. Visit grownby.com to get started.Farmhand is the only ready-to-ride assistant made by and for farmers. Through a simple text or email to Farmhand, you can offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more and take one of our many time-saving tasks for a test drive to see firsthand how Farmhand can help you earn more, and work less at farmhand.partners/gfm.Bootstrap Farmer offers a complete range of growing supplies including heat mats, ground cover, frost blankets, silage tarps, irrigation, and trellising. They also make all-metal, all-inclusive greenhouse kits, constructed of steel made in the USA and fabricated in Texas. Their heavy-duty, Midwest-made propagation and microgreens trays will last for years and are available in a full spectrum of colors. For all that plus experienced support for everything they sell, check out Bootstrap Farmer at bootstrapfarmer.com. Subscribe To Our Magazine -all new subscriptions include a FREE 28-Day Trial

In this interview Leah Penniman tells us why and how she started Soul Fire Farm, along with what she would do differently for those starting out or starting over. She discusses her most recent book, Black Earth Wisdom, and the recent adaptation of her first book, Farming While Black, into a documentary movie of the same title. She discusses how, in 1910, about 14% of farms in the United States were Black-owned, compared with about 2% today, and how her books are an effort to help Black farmers reconnect with their agricultural heritage and reclaim it from racism, discrimination and dispossession.In the conversation with host April Parms Jones, they explore land access, soil health, seed keeping, and the cultural connections to farming, emphasizing the importance of community and resilience in the face of challenges. Leah's insights provide an understanding of the historical and spiritual ties that Black communities have with the land, and the ongoing efforts to reclaim and nurture these connections through sustainable practices. Connect With Guest:Website: www.soulfirefarm.orgInstagram: @leahpenniman@soulfirefarm Podcast Sponsors:Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:BCS two-wheel tractors are designed and built in Italy where small-scale farming has been a way of life for generations. Discover the beauty of BCS on your farm with PTO-driven implements for soil-working, shredding cover crops, spreading compost, mowing under fences, clearing snow, and more – all powered by a single, gear-driven machine that’s tailored to the size and scale of your operation. To learn more, view sale pricing, or locate your nearest dealer, visit BCS America. There are a lot of farm sales platforms out there, but there’s only one that’s cooperatively owned by farmers. That’s GrownBy — your all-in-one solution to simplify farm sales. From start-up market farms to complex and scaled-up CSAs, GrownBy makes online farm sales easy and affordable; setting up your shop is free, and you only pay when you sell. Join over 900 farms who have already signed up for GrownBy, and you’re eligible to join the co-op and become a member-owner after your first sale. Visit grownby.com to get started. Tilth Soil makes living soils for organic growers. The base for all our mixes is NOP-compliant compost, made from the 4,000 tons of food scraps we divert from landfills each year. And the results speak for themselves. Get excellent germination, strong transplants, and help us turn these resources back into food. Try a free bag, and check our 2025 seed starter pre-sale for the best prices of the season at tilthsoil.com/gfm. Farmhand is the only ready-to-ride assistant made by and for farmers. Through a simple text or email to Farmhand, you can offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more and take one of our many time-saving tasks for a test drive to see firsthand how Farmhand can help you earn more, and work less at farmhand.partners/gfm. Bootstrap Farmer offers a complete range of growing supplies including heat mats, ground cover, frost blankets, silage tarps, irrigation, and trellising. They also make all-metal, all-inclusive greenhouse kits, constructed of steel made in the USA and fabricated in Texas. Their heavy-duty, Midwest-made propagation and microgreens trays will last for years and are available in a full spectrum of colors. For all that plus experienced support for everything they sell, check out Bootstrap Farmer at bootstrapfarmer.com.  Subscribe To Our Magazine -all new subscriptions include a FREE 28-Day Trial