Jared Luhman was full-time Farming with his dad when he married Valerie in 2018. The family raised bulls and wanted to move to direct sales. In 2019, the couple saw Grass Fed Cattle Company for sale online, and decided to buy it. The Farm was 8 years old, and they found it helpful that systems were already put in place to start their direct sales operation. They signed on with Barn2Door to handle sales, and have created a successful Farm business where they can serve local Buyers while raising their kids. Valerie shared her tips for balancing life on the Farm as a family. Listen to her podcast episode:

Offering a Subscription bundle box from your Farm - often referred to as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) -  can help you attract recurring orders, increase cash flow and build Buyer loyalty for your entire season. It is important to create a system for your Subscriptions that is streamlined and diminishes stress instead of creating more complexity. Farmer’s Choice CSA boxes eliminate the chaos of Buyers choosing each individual item included in their box, and puts the power back into the Farmer’s hands to assemble complementary products to meet Buyer expectations. Your Farm can greatly simplify its operations, and reduce labor costs with a Farmer’s Choice CSA model to effectively scale and manage your program long-term.

Farmers Markets can be a crucial avenue for many Farms to build their brand, meet new Buyers and sell their products. For other Farmers, some may see Markets as time-consuming, costly, and a lot of work with little return. 

It is important to ask yourself if Farmers Markets are profitable and worthwhile, or something to skip altogether. Setting aside your personal bias, be sure to ask yourself these 3 questions to determine if attending a local Farmers Market is profitable for your business.

Yoder-Way Farm in McVeytown, Pennsylvania was established in the 70s as the Yoder family’s commercial dairy. Lois and her husband, Jeremy, decided they could no longer maintain a sustainable living with the milk prices they received on the commodity market. After switching to direct sales, the Farm has now built a 6-figure beef operation. We recently met with Lois to discuss their transition to direct sales, and how they maintain a consistent ordering process:

Combined Inventory means your Farm store can offer a single item --- regardless of price(s), unit size(s) and / or price sheet (retail, private or wholesale) --- and ensure it pulls from the same inventory. Your inventory counts per item can now update automatically, accurately across multiple sizes, regardless of amount paid or type of Buyer. Combined Inventory works across both in-person and online purchases.

To sell more products and meet Buyer expectations, your Farm must provide a simple and easy shopping experience, online and in-person. Your Farm must be accessible from a variety of avenues to serve a multitude of Buyers. Offer convenient fulfillment options that will serve Buyers with a range of routines and schedules.

As an Independent Farmer, the capability to seamlessly serve your Buyers online and in-person is crucial. Your online and in-person sales must be fully synced to allow for a streamlined ordering process, avoiding any confusion or loss of profits or product. You will miss out on Buyers when they are not given multiple ways to shop. Not every Buyer will have cash to pay for your products at your Farm stand, nor will every customer have a credit card on hand.

A “Butcher Cut Sheet” is a set of instructions for the butcher detailing how you would like a certain piece of livestock to be cut, processed and packaged. Cut Sheets can apply to various types of livestock (e.g. cows, pigs, goats) and game (e.g. deer, moose or bears). But, “Cut Sheets” are most popularly utilized with a cow or pig.

Barn2Door is pleased to announce a new Farm Legal Academy! This Academy class is designed to help Independent Farmers better understand the primary legal rules and regulations that affect local food production and consumer sales. Farmers will gain better insight into various federal and state laws that may affect your Farm operations. The Academy classes will be led by Alexia Kulweic, the managing director of Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF). She has decades of experience working to protect and support Farms across the country.

The most successful Independent Farms offer their products for Pre-Order ahead of season, to capitalize on market demand, simplify their harvest schedule and to increase cash flow. There are some simple steps to help your Farm sell out before harvest. To begin with, you must build a base of local Buyers eager to pre-order your goods, market to them regularly to stay top-of-mind, and offer an easy ordering system - online and in-person.

Farmers Markets are a great way to interact with your local community, build a base of loyal Buyers, increase Brand awareness, and form partnerships. However, there are several mistakes that successful Farmers are glad to share with others to avoid. To ensure a profitable visit to the Market, follow these best practices to minimize your losses.

As a Farm business owner, it is important for you to have accurate reports on your Farm finances to know what parts of your business are profitable, and what is not. It is crucial to analyze the profitability of your Farm operations, breaking down income and expenses, and setting goals for different lines of your business.

Bennett Farms, Michigan sells pastured proteins direct to their community. Through in-person and online sales, Tom Bennett has maintained a 6-figure business while supporting his six kids. Tom serves 29 Farmers Markets a week across three states during peak season. Over 7 years, he has cracked the code on best practices for seamless booth prep, attracting new Buyers and converting customers to online sales.

New Farms and generational Farms alike often question how to price their products to sell, while increasing profits. Many Farms get into a race to the bottom, believing they need to price low to sell more product. However, our most successful Farmers build product value and maintain strong Buyer relationships. That enables them to command premium prices and attractive margins, the key to building a healthy business.

Your Farm Brand is the sum of Buyer interactions with your business that help your Farm stand out and differentiate your products from other alternatives. Your Brand should reflect the foundations of your Farm - from how you raise your products, your commitment to quality, to your relationship with your local community.

There are many ways to sell beef. The most common avenue to market is selling your animals at auction to a major wholesale buyer (aggregator). However, many Farms and Ranches, also sell directly to Buyers under their own brand, whether it’s selling quarters, halves and whole beef, selling beef cuts or pushing various cuts in a Bundle Box. There is a wide variety of options to consider - each with their benefits and challenges.

Farms selling Direct-to-Market find success in offering convenient pick-ups and home delivery options to local Buyers. This can spur purchases from busy customers, attract new Buyers through word-of-mouth marketing and reinforce their support of local businesses. Farm delivery day does not have to be a stressful ordeal. Simplify your delivery day routine with systems designed to prep all orders in advance.

Peter of Bartlett Farms has learned to increase their Average Order Value (AOV) by communicating the health benefits of their products, pricing at a premium and offering attractive fulfillment options (direct-delivery to the doorstep). Now, the Farm maintains a profitable 6-figure business through their direct Sales of milk and protein.

In 2020, Joe made the switch to Barn2Door’s software built for Farmers. Instead of using analog records or a horizontal ecommerce solution (formerly Shopify), he moved the business to an order management solution, designed to support Retail (consumer) and Wholesale (restaurant) buyers. While Joe has seen other Farms constrained by commodity prices, he has maintained premium prices for his products by selling Direct-to-Market.

There are time-saving automations you can deploy to bring ease to your marketing efforts, without adding hours to your current workload. Having a set schedule each month to plan efforts and using automated software will give your Farm the ability to market to more Buyers without added stress.