Keeping it Simple: Starting a Successful New Farm
In this episode of the Direct Farm Podcast, we talk with Camille Abdel-Nabi of Long Lane Farm in Warren, Rhode Island. We discuss the transition to her new Farm, CSA Subscriptions, the establishment and growth of their Farm brand, and prioritizing convenience for their customers and the Farm.
Long Lane Farm is growing mixed vegetables, greens, tomatoes, and microgreens. With a popular CSA, Long Lane’s goal is to become a staple in their local community.
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Richard Weisberg: Welcome to the Direct Farm Podcast. I'm Richard, your host for today's episode. We have a great conversation for you today with one of our Farm Advisors, Camille Abdel-Nabi. She has been a Farm Advisor with Barn2Door for over a year now and has started a new Farm, Long Lane Farm in Warren, Rhode Island.
We are so excited to learn all about it. Welcome back Camille.
Camille Abdel-Nabi: I'm glad to be back. Thanks for
Richard Weisberg: having Absolutely. Well, could you start by telling us a little bit about Long Lane Farm and what you all produce today?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Sure. Um, yeah, Long [00:01:00] Lane Farm we're located in, um, Warren, Rhode Island, and we have about two acres of tillable land here, but we're kind of only growing on about, uh, half an acre outside.
And then we have three high tunnels and we're mostly doing mixed vegetables, a lot of baby greens, tomatoes, um, microgreens. And we have a pretty big CSA for our size and we are also delivering door to door currently. And then we have an honor system Farm stand that came with the property. So that's been working out, uh, really well.
Richard Weisberg: Great. I had no kidding. Well, um, and now is it just you, Camille, uh, who's all working on the Farm?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: So I own and run the Farm with my wife Devin, and then right now we're employing about, uh, you know, 50 hours of help or so a week. Um, and then getting a [00:02:00] lot of help just from family as we're getting our, our new Farm set up right now.
So, um, yeah, this is my 10th year farming. Hmm. And before this I was part of, um, Little River Farm, which I started with a business partner in 2013 and until last year, um, we were farming both in Warren and then in rented land that we had had since 2013, where we started Little River Farm and we were trying to grow at both locations and stay as one Farm, but they were located, you know, 40 minutes away from each other without traffic.
So it became pretty clear that doing that commute for either one of us wasn't gonna make the most sense. So my business partner is continuing Little River Farm on the rented land. And then, um, we started a new Farm as of this year Long Lane Farm that's just in, at the Warren property, the new farm.
Richard Weisberg: Well, awesome.
Well that kind of, uh, segueways right into the next [00:03:00] question I have for you is really how did Long Lane Farm come to be? Was it simply just logistics?
That
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Was a large part of it, I imagine. I imagine. Yeah. So last year I was commuting back and forth, uh, you know, four days a week and traffic, um, it was taking sometimes, an hour and a half each way and it hit the fall and it was like, okay, this isn't really the quality of life that I want and, and this isn't sustainable.
And also just feeling like my stress load was t oo high and trying to reduce that. So, um, yeah, it definitely, I think came out of necessity and mm-hmm. It's what I've always wanted since day one of starting the Farm. I did an apprenticeship where I lived at a Farm and I saw just how nice that was to step outside your door and go to work and yeah, if you have a family, they can be involved in the Farm.
So Long Lane Farm is that dream finally coming true of just walking out the back door and [00:04:00] going to work every day? So, far it's been been pretty great. Has its challenges starting a new farm, but, um, where
Richard Weisberg: great. Well, a, absolutely. And you know, if all the Farms I work with, I can't tell you, then a lot gets stuck in rush hour.
Yeah, I'm sure it's
Camille Abdel-Nabi: nice. Yeah, you just kind of think about all the Farm work you can be getting done in in that time. Oh my gosh,
Richard Weisberg: I believe it. I believe it. So with, uh, this new Farm, Long Lane Farm , what's the mission? You know, what's, what's the vision of the Farm here?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Yeah. Um, my wife and I, our, our goal is to mostly have this be a place where we can sell all of our products through a CSA and then a farm stand.
So our goal is to really have it be a centerpiece in, in our community and to provide the healthiest food that we can to our surrounding community. So we're gonna try to keep it pretty simple and small and produce as much as possible, but trying to really take advantage of the great property we have and have [00:05:00] events, and we host a big plant sale that gets a lot of people to our Farm and then really continue to grow our CSA while also delivering some shares to, to the rounding area as well.
I know for me, I'm just trying to create the best life I can for myself and I've, I've come to realize sometimes that means, keeping it as simple as you can while also trying to keep it profitable. So it's a hard line, but to really have a great quality of life and give as much great food as we can to the people right around
Richard Weisberg: us.
That's awesome. I love that. Now you've mentioned your CSA a few times. I've heard some good things. You've sold out, correct?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: We did. We were really, um, not surprised, but, we didn't initially have the intention of doing 50 and we sold those out. People kept asking, so we opened up 10 more.
So we're at about 60 members and, we feel like we definitely could have sold more. So [00:06:00] definitely it's great, that people are, are still interested in that and we got a lot outpouring of, of support and, and just new people who found our Farm and wanted to try
Richard Weisberg: it. That's awesome. Um, a ton of the Farms that I work with are working on building out subscriptions maybe for the first time or, um, trying to get their feet wet with the CSA model here.
Um, tell us a little bit about the CSA setup. You know, what do you think made it so desirable for customers? Was it convenience or, you know, what makes it different from other CSAs?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: I think convenience is a large part of it. Um, I'd say it's about right now 35% come to the Farm and pickup and the other 65% do get it delivered. So I think having that option definitely makes it more popular, especially for people who have families and young kids, and it's just hard to come to our Farm during that selected amount of time. I also, sell three different shares throughout the year.
So we have one in the [00:07:00] beginning, it's called our Spring Green CSA, and I really just try to make it clear that that's gonna be a lot of green, so if you don't like that, you know, wait until the summer one and that one, we can start in April out of our high tunnel. So it's definitely a time of year when there's not that much fresh vegetable around and we can fill a bag.
You know, this week it's. Basil and beets and garlic scapes and, and lettuce. So just giving a lot of options before some other Farms can. And then we have our main season CSA that runs from June through mid September. Mm-hmm. And then we'll sell another one. That's our wintertime CSA after that, that goes until Christmas time.
So, um, you know, having a few different options for people. There are people in our area who garden, so they just want the, the spring and winter one, but the summer one doesn't work for them. So just trying to give different options for people.
Um, we do get a lot of people who pay upfront, but uh, having [00:08:00] the option to pay weekly as well, Barn2Dooor has it all set up that it just automatically, you know, charges their card every week. Um, that really works for some people who are more on a budget and makes it, uh, affordable for them.
Richard Weisberg: Definitely. And that, that accessibility, both in terms of having it delivered to the door and little friendlier for the wallet is huge.
Um, people need to eat well and it's what a great way to serve a, a local community. Now shift gears here just a little bit. You know, you're starting this new Farm, you could really take Long Lane Farm and make it whatever you want it to be. Why did you feel it was important to offer both pickups and door-to-door delivery?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Well, we had been doing the door to door delivery as Little River Farm, and we knew how much people liked it. So we wanted to keep something consistent and constant and still be able to reach, um, our same customers. Because the two farm locations were in different spots. Mm-hmm. We had started to develop some new customers.
Um, so it was [00:09:00] about trying to keep the new and the old.
Richard Weisberg: Now I, one thing I noticed while we were chatting, um, Farmer's Markets don't make an appearance for fulfillments. Um, you know, is there a reason why you're not leaning into the farmer's markets or anything
Camille Abdel-Nabi: like that? Yeah, it was definitely an intentional decision my wife and I made, because we were starting this new Farm, we really could pick and choose the things mm-hmm.
That we liked and, and didn't like about, um, the previous Farm, how we had it set up. So at one point with that Farm, we were going to three Farmers' Markets a week. Wow. And it's, it's. It's a lot of time, and if you're not going, you have to send two other people. So just sending a lot of labor hours there and a lot of time prepping.
So we felt that because we already had a established customer base who knew us, and we have a good newsletter system and email system that we didn't really need the exposure anymore that the farmer's markets tend to provide for a, a new farm. Mm-hmm. And they're great for that.[00:10:00]
What I like about the online ordering is it's all paid for before it's even harvested. So you really know exactly what you have to get. When you're going to the market you can take records, but there is some randomness too of it, so you can harvest a lot and, and then not end up selling it. Because we're so small, um, how we produce here in a no-till way, it was really about how can we, like, maximize efficiency and not have any waste and also just be able to have our weekends right, to not have to base it completely around the, the Farmer's Market
Richard Weisberg: schedule.
Definitely. Well, I love it now, um, tell me a little bit about that transition from Farm to Farm. I mean, a lot of folks, um, are in a similar position where maybe they apprentice at a Farm for a long time and are now starting their own or rebranding. Um, what was that transition like for you?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Yeah, it's, it's a weird feeling right now because now that I'm a year 10 farmer, it's much [00:11:00] different than year one where I really was just learning how to grow things mm-hmm. And run a business and, and what that all meant. Now I feel like I have those skills, but I don't have the correct infrastructure to necessarily grow as, as much as I want, as we're still putting in an agricultural well and a fence. So, um, it's, it's a different experience right now for sure.
Mm-hmm. Um, definitely, you know, going back to those beginning years, I would just encourage Farmers, you know, try to really focus on a few things that, that you can do well and start there. I think we've made a mistake for a little bit of, of trying to do too many things, , it's, it's nice setting up a new Farm also having that experience of, of what worked and what didn't work and what you really don't wanna let happen. Like, you know, let all your weeds go to seed and then you have a problem forever, kinda thing.
Richard Weisberg: Right, right. Awesome. Okay. Well, one of the decisions you made when making this transition to um, [00:12:00] Long Lane Farm was to hold onto your online presence and Barn2Door.
Um, you know, what role did Barn2Door play when it came to that transition? And, and you know why stick with Barn2Door?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Yeah. As I was saying before, we felt like sticking with them was a good choice, um, because our customers were familiar with it. We were really familiar with it. Um, we knew that we could sell subscriptions through Barn2Door, that we could get really good pick lists, that we could integrate it all with our, our delivery and we're pretty used to that. So we knew we wanted to continue the online presence with just how successful it had been. So, Barn2Door was really great because they pretty quickly built us a whole new website and designed the Farm logo, so it was really appreciative of that.
It only took, I think a month or five weeks, you know, it was, it was very quick. So that was very much appreciated cuz it really was like, okay, we can't sell the CSA shares [00:13:00] until we have the new website and the new Barn2Door store. So that was a, a really good process and we were really appreciative of it.
Richard Weisberg: Right on. Well, I know with, your account manager and, um, you know, hearing through the grapevine with the other folks hands on your account, um, people were pretty excited and, uh, we're leaning in to help you with that transition as well.
Now, um, speaking of, you know, the logo process, rebranding, you know, brand is a huge deal. And so how did you come up with the name of the Farm, um, and you know, the brand? How did you rebrand and really move forward with that?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Yeah, I mean Long Lane Farm, it's named after, literally the road the farm is on Long Lane, so, perfect. Um, we were going back and forth between a few things, but I always think it's really nice to kind of have a descriptor of the land or what's around it in the Farm name. And then we had a, small list of names we liked and we put it out to the public through an Instagram poll and got a feel for which one people liked and Long Lane Farm [00:14:00] won. It also used to be the name of this Farm, so kind of honoring the history of it, cause it, it's been a farm since 1930 and the community really has a connection to it, so. Wow. It just felt like a nice thing to do to really keep that tradition going.
Richard Weisberg: Yeah. Well, that's awesome too. Um, I mean, what better way to, to, like you said, honor the community and, and carry on a legacy from something from the 1930s. That's incredible. . So tell me a little bit about updating the brand and logo process. Uh, you mentioned, , we, we leaned in and helped you out, but what was that logo process like?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Yeah, it was a really great process, I believe we worked with Serena and was sent over the forms and she had us fill out some things we were thinking about and different color ideas. She also did our website, so it was kind of one big package. So, I definitely encourage if any Farmers do go through that process, make your answers as detailed as possible and, um, that will create really good success on the [00:15:00] other end. So it was great. She designed it all and then we had a Zoom call and we went over everything to be able to, to give feedback and it was a really quick process, and now we already have the logo on our new Farm sign and, on our t-shirts.
So it was really nice also because when you do design a logo with Barn2Door, you get all the different photo formats sent over a bunch of different color options. So it's definitely a lot more than what I was used to where we just had a friend, you know, design one logo and it was kinda hard to use on things and right, so this one has made it really easy to, to put it on labels and um, kind of anywhere that we
Richard Weisberg: can. Awesome. Now, when you, when you saw the logos that they presented to you, was it anything that you expected?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Um, a little bit, but not completely. And, three were presented, which was nice and there was one we just, we really loved, but we were like, you know, actually this other one is a lot [00:16:00] more just usable in terms of Oh wow. Everywhere. And if, I would like to think, cuz we sell some of our stuff in, in small grocery stores and it, it goes out into the world, so. Mm-hmm. Kind of what looks the most professional and what can people from a wide audience connect with? So that's why we ended up choosing the one that we did. Wow.
Richard Weisberg: Well, and that, I think that's a really good perspective to bring up. Uh, you, you really liked one logo, maybe one was speaking to you a little bit more, but thinking about it pragmatically, you know, what's gonna make the most sense for our brand and our marketing and our, our presence and our packaging.
Um, so definitely a great thing to keep in mind there. So, um, awesome. Now, especially when it comes to, starting up a new Farm, any Farmer I've worked with personally anyway has not had a lot of spare time. Right. So in what regards has Barn2Door helped you save time and, managing your farm a little easier?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: It's definitely helped, um, manage the CSA subscriptions. Mm-hmm. Immensely. [00:17:00] When we had first started farming, we really did a big CSA, but we ended up moving away from it because, I felt like it was a lot of individual management. Um mm-hmm. You know, people were mailing in checks, so you were sending in invoices and had to manually keep track of if people needed to skip a week or who was paid.
Um, so it just felt like a lot of management of each customer. So Barn2Door, selling the subscriptions through them has just really helped streamline that. And, you know, the number of CSAs for each day just comes right up on the pick list. So that's really useful. And, because we do deliveries using the delivery sync with Routific has really made doing that mm-hmm a lot easier. And it's just all in one place. And then we do really take advantage of the Mailchimp integration.
So definitely all those different integrations where it's just automatically uploading the mm-hmm. The things you need everywhere you need it is really [00:18:00] useful. And not having to keep track of so much, just, you know, on a piece of paper or in your head.
Richard Weisberg: Certainly. Well, um, you know, I know a lot of the Farms we work with are familiar with Mailchimp, we get 'em plugged in right away for their email marketing, but not everyone that, uh, we work with takes advantage of a tool like Routific. Um, could you share a little bit of your experience and kind of what you think about Routific and how it's helped you?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Yeah, definitely. If you're doing deliveries, you absolutely, need a route planning app. And we were using another one previously that wasn't integrated with Barn2Door and it was great, but we would have to manually download the spreadsheets and then format them to be back downloaded, um mm-hmm, you know, into that other app.
So once we started using Routific, it was really easy cuz you literally just press "Sync to Routific", and then you log into Routific and everything's there and you just click "Optimize Route" and, and it's all ready to go. So it definitely took out a lot of steps and it, it made it [00:19:00] so much quicker to, to do that for sure.
Richard Weisberg: Perfect. Perfect. Well, anything to hopefully at the end of the day allow you to kick your feet up. So, awesome. I'm happy to hear that now, um, you know, we're at this exciting position for Long Lane Farm. So what's next? You know, what are some of the goals for Long Lane Farm this coming year?
Camille Abdel-Nabi: Yeah. Our goal is right now to build out our infrastructure mm-hmm. And continue to, to build up the land that we can farm on. Um, definitely the land needs some rejuvenation from, from where it was when we found it, so, mm-hmm. Definitely focusing on, getting the soil to where it needs to be so we can grow the best crops for people.
Um, and then just continuing to grow our CSA. We're hoping for the winter, we can take, closer to 70 people or so and continue to, to keep that going as we go into next year and increase sales at our Farm stand. That just kind of happens by [00:20:00] word of mouth and it's been a really nice connection to have to local chefs - they find us through the farm stand, they come and shop there. So really our focuses are are, you know, get our soil and our farm where it needs to be to grow food, increase sales at our farm stand and then increase our CSA going into the, the fall and wintertime.
Richard Weisberg: Awesome. Well, we're excited to be, uh, working with you some more, Camille and especially Long Lane Farm.
Um, I wanna extend my thanks to Camille for joining us for this week's podcast episode. Here at Barn2Door. We are humbled to support thousands of Farms across the country, including of course, Long Lane Farm. If you wanna connect with Camille and other Farm Advisors attend Barn2Door Connect. Register for weekly sessions at barn2door.com/connect.
And for more information on Long Lane Farm, you can follow them on Instagram at @longlanefarmri. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time.
[00:21:00]
Welcome, Coby thanks for joining me today. Yeah,
Coby Buck: thanks for having me on, James. Um, excited to be here. Well,
James Maiocco: hey, before we get started, why don't you tell us a little bit about your personal story and what you were doing prior to awes, you're your fifth generation Rancher, you know, what did that entail?
Coby Buck: Yeah, I mean exactly what most, uh, fifth generation Ranchers, entail.
I mean, grow up on the operation, working side by side with my folks. Our Ranch is located in northeastern Colorado, western Nebraska and Kansas. So, uh, we run mostly a cow calf operation, uh, commercial black Angus, maybe some Sim Angus on the terminal side. But really just learned ranching by way of fence post, uh, and quickly grew to help my dad on the management [00:02:00] decisions.
And, and then after high school left, uh, went to the east coast for college and after graduating, just spent about five years working in global commodity supply chains. After understanding the data, the needs, the insights that those global supply chains have. I got inspired and got connected with AgriWebb to help launch it in the United States, to, to push the agriculture industry kind of toward those global supply chains that I had experience with.
James Maiocco: Well, that's fantastic. AgriWebb is a great partner with Barn2Door. It's great to hear your involvement at AgriWebb. Tell us a little bit about your evolution of responsibilities at AgriWebb. You said you just got started with them. Initially you were a US account manager. What did that entail? Yeah. Uh,
Coby Buck: pretty unconventional start for AgriWebb in the United States. I got asked to join, I think March of 2020, um, it was an eventful month, if you don't remember. I do recall that.
James Maiocco: A little bit of lockdowns,
Coby Buck: right? Yes, exactly. The pandemic really kicked off right [00:03:00] afterwards. So, um, luckily I was able to get out of New York where I was working, um, previously and really started laying the seeds for AgriWebb US, at the ranch office. So worked with producers and, uh, helped launch the product and get it prepared for the US markets. And as we really went to market and started offering this to, to ranchers all over the United States, I quickly approached, our customers from a business perspective, really engaging those customers after the sales process, ensuring that AgriWebb met their demands and took feedback from them to help improve the product. So managing those accounts, it's more so working with those ranchers to, to help them, uh, improve their operations using AgriWebb .
James Maiocco: Yeah, that's a big deal. Uh, you guys are like us, a, a software company and we can only improve by getting feedback, especially from the strategic accounts, right? Because many times they're pushing the envelope on what you're doing with the software and with your services.
So last year you were promoted actually to Director of Strategic Accounts. Congratulations. [00:04:00] That's great news. So how has your role and responsibilities evolved? I imagine you're talking to a lot of major ranchers pretty consistently now at this point. Yes.
Coby Buck: So it, I mean, it started off talking to most ranchers underneath our AgriWebb customer base.
Mm-hmm. But, as the, the company grew as we added, a larger team behind it. Uh, really, focusing more in on the sophisticated producers, what they need to improve their operation, what functionalities that we can add, working with those operations that might be larger. Um, so the strategic accounts start to, um, market in there.
And I, I spend a lot of my time working with high level sophisticated producers. Uh, If they're pushing it from a genetics perspective, they're pushing it from a regenerative or holistic management perspective, or across the supply chain. So it's been good. I've also started to work a little bit more on the ground in the UK. Did my first trip to Australia where our headquarters are located. Um, so, [00:05:00] uh, yeah, lots happening. It's very exciting for the company and, I enjoy a lot as an
James Maiocco: individual. Yeah, I mean, I imagine growing up as a fifth generation rancher, it must just be really inspiring to be able to expand beyond your own, you know, personal experience on a ranch to really touch and impact so many people around the world.
And it's just great to see. Um, you know, I guess notwithstanding the COVID impact, the, great aspect of that is people are really wanting to dig into and really understand, how their food is being raised, wanna understand good stewardship, people are very concerned with how animal welfare, a variety of different things.
Soil health and AgriWebb has so much to offer here in terms of not just managing operations, but even just improving practices too. So let's talk a little bit about like, some of the things that AgriWebb has done to, to bring forward some of the data, right? Because one of the things I find so impressive with your company is the fact that you guys have such a big reach, not just here in the US but globally, right?
So you guys recently completed this state of the Global Farmer Report. For the [00:06:00] listeners who are not familiar with that, first off, what was the overall intent of the survey and the . report? What audience are you trying to serve here? Yes,
Coby Buck: I think, overall, we're just trying to serve the livestock producers globally.
I think our main goal for the state of the Global Farmer report is just that to, uh, listen to Farmers across the globe, listen to Ranchers across the globe and see what, what common interests, what common concerns, what struggles might boil to the top when it comes to what they do. I think oftentimes, we can look at the livestock industry, the ranching sector and kind of, uh, focus too closely on geographies.
But really if you, if you take a step back, you can look across our different geographies. There is a multitude of overlap when it comes to problems, initiatives. Mm-hmm. And being able to assemble that, uh, and, and expose that for, for the common Rancher, the family that that's producing cattle was, was pretty special.
James Maiocco: Got it. And what was the scope of participation [00:07:00] for that? You said it's a global survey. How much of that was like respondents were in the US versus other parts of the world?
Coby Buck: I might come up short on the exact breakdown. I believe that we had nearly a thousand survey responses from all over the globe.
Um, because the AgriWebb customer base has historically been largely Australian. I would say the majority of respondents were Australian, but we still had several hundred, I think it, in the UK, in the United States, to have that, that more global approach and, to be able to cross reference any commonalities across geographies.
James Maiocco: Got it. So Cody reviewing the data in the report, there's a lot of great information, right? Some expected, and some quite surprising. So I'd love to dig in from, from your perspective, what, what did the, the data indicate in terms of priorities for Farmers and Ranchers?
Coby Buck: Yeah, I think that there are several different priorities across our different geos that really boiled to the top or, or really kind of become evident. When it comes to what do [00:08:00] Ranchers and Farmers really prioritize? We see it very much a commonality, that we expected, improving that profitability, ensuring that, that they have economic viability.
Uh, the last five years, especially in the US, have been, tough and, challenging for the cow calf producer or those in, the industry. Um, so ensuring that the next five years will, will be improved is, a major topic on their minds. Also improving herd efficiencies when it comes to genetics, when it comes to grazing, uh, the typical breed ups, um, weening weights, pounds produced per acre, those types of metrics, they won't be as efficient and as productive as possible while, um, maintaining their, economic growth margin and hopefully managing higher costs.
Uh, the last item I think was a little bit more of a surprise. Maybe at the, the headline level, but less so when you start talking to the Ranchers like I do, my everyday [00:09:00] job is increasing operational efficiency. That might be different than the actual cows. But what we mean by that is labor is consistently a challenge in these rural areas. Being able to run and plan forward and, and be able to manage effectively, uh, when the labor market, the dynamics are a little bit shifting away from rural America or have been that might be changing in the next
James Maiocco: decade.
So increasing overall profitability, improving herd efficiency, increasing operational efficiency, all three of those, I can see why that's just a, common thread regardless of where your ranch is located, you know, around the world. I mean, the keys to running a good business, but especially a livestock operation like you said.
What were some of the big biggest challenges that, you saw in the data that were facing US Farmers and Ranchers?
Coby Buck: Yeah, I would say the concerns or the challenges, uh, when we started gauging sentiment was, it's not a new headline it's been present for the last year or so, but rising input, cost, [00:10:00] inflation.
Um, so I mean, really looking at it and if you overlap that with, with a drought or overlap that with, , less attractive supply and demand economics. It, it really causes a lot of anxiety for producers across all GOs. So, I mean, rising interest rates, rising fertilizer costs, rising feed costs, the those inputs are, are really top of mind.
As the, the ranchers flipped over their, their calendar into 2023, I think still maintaining and improving margins, getting, uh, a little bit more creative on their marketing side of things. In the United States, in addition to Australia and the UK, we saw, , an increased concern on, on regulatory pressures, um, maybe higher tax reforms. Those types of things always grasp the attention of, of producers.
Um, that a lot of those kind of boil outside. The input costs are something we can discuss in depth. But, um, [00:11:00] the regulations, I think, from my perspective, or, or something where we can look to operate a little bit differently, look to rejig, um, how we market animals, um, and, and, and whatnot to control what we can control.
And if legislation's passed, we will have to adapt, but it shouldn't discourage people from trying new things and, and adjusting to these market dynamics. Yeah, I
James Maiocco: think one thing that's been really interesting is how, um, you know, after COVID this food, , sourcing is top of mind for American consumers in particular.
The fact that we're seeing things that, you know, rising input costs in the past was not something that was understood by Americans is now a headline topic on the Wall Street Journal. Right. That it is going to hear about meat prices and now we're hearing about egg prices recently in the United States, right?
So people are becoming very conscientious. Of the, uh, logistic impacts and input impacts on the price of food. . So [00:12:00] again, I think this is a good thing for, Farmers and Ranchers ultimately because that means people are gonna be even more, uh, sympathetic I think to paying for high quality products, uh, cuz they wanna support local producers, right?
That's just a very big deal. Absolutely. Uh, I was gonna say, with these challenges in mind, what can Farmers Ranchers do in your mind to, to improve their business operations and, and reduce or streamline their cost?
Coby Buck: Yes. I think, high cost, lends its hand to reevaluating if that cost is worth it.
So, I mean, I think for. Fertilizers would be a great example of this. When you overlap the, the push for consumers that they want to know more about the food they consume. Um, and you look at the R O I on fertilizer at three times, seven times, 10 times the price that than it was maybe historically.
Um, it really actually turns into a, a unique evaluation on. All right. What is the optimal amount [00:13:00] or do I need to, uh, put fur fertilizer out? And if I don't, can I market my animals in a unique way to, um, capitalize and align and get a premium on the other side of that. So all of those are, are really adjustments.
What we focus on at AgriWebb is, really being able to simply track those, uh, inputs, track those direct costs, allow those, those ranch managers, those Farmers to, to do what they do best. They've had decades worth of experience on evaluating the trade-offs for their operation. They know it intimately. What we can do is show, what the cost looked like, what you would need to preserve your, your gross margin. Um, being able to track the productivity from, let's say fertilizer or a strong grazing regiment to see, all right, does the extra labor, does the extra inputs, really factor in to my operation negatively, or, or are they worth, the expenditure?
AgriWebb for those that don't know, , we really have a systems approach to, [00:14:00] uh, livestock management. We look at, there are several different systems a Rancher has to adapt to. I mean, the ecosystem, the weather, the animal science side of things, um, the forage and the forage availability, the financials.
So AgriWebb is a product that is designed around that Ranch, the way it looks based off of the map, and allows users to not just capture their breed up, not just capture, uh, the animal, uh, performance, but also overlap that with grazing and, and being able to look at direct cost on top of that to see which herd, which individual, which group of animals they have, what enterprise they might be deploying on their operation is really the one that's driving their business and driving their profitability.
James Maiocco: I imagine it's just gotta be a fantastic tool to be able to leverage something like AgriWebb, particularly for Regenerative Farmers and Ranchers who are trying to really optimize, like you said, their forge regimen mm-hmm. And their practices there. Right. Like, so. Absolutely. Talk, talk to me a little bit about what the report said in terms of how are [00:15:00] Farmers and Ranchers thinking about technology as a vehicle to help them improve that efficiency?
I mean, what, what did the data tell us in the report?
Coby Buck: Yes. I think that's one thing that we were very excited about. I mean, when we send this report out is not just our customer base, it is whoever is aligned with livestock production, they can fill out this report as well. And we had a large number of people from outside the AgriWebb product that come in and fill out this survey.
So the majority of, Farmers and Ranchers globally, uh, saw technology as a vital piece of their future success on the operation. Being able to, in my mind, my dad's been working on our family operation for 35 years, if not longer, um, downloading that previous generation's brain on how they practice, how they manage, why they do so.
So that, I mean, as we come into this generational shift on who's producing our food, you can reference and, and utilize the previous [00:16:00] generation's experience and expertise to produce animals and produce livestock in an economically viable way that, aligns everything or aligns profitability, trying new marketing strategies with what the land gives you, how you should treat the land, and I think that's, that's very special. I mean, to see a majority of respondents see that as a vital, um, portion to their future success is great.
And I think as we look forward in the supply chains, as we look forward to shifting, the way that we continue to produce safe and, and viable , protein. It gives your room for a lot of excitement.
James Maiocco: Yeah, it's, it's pretty impressive. I was happy to read the report, but is it 51.6% of respondents said that tech would be very important for the success of their Farm in the future, and like you said, that next generation Rancher or Farmer. You know, the ability for them to take that map that's in their father's head of how they've been rotating their [00:17:00] grazing patterns or rotating to different paddocks and what have you, , you know, now make that actually something that, you know, they can actually manage on AgriWebb through and app right, on their mobile phone.
Right? Why not take advantage of that? Why don't you share a little bit more about like how AgriWebb actually does that today for Farmers and Ranchers, right?
Coby Buck: Absolutely. So, when it comes to what is AgriWebb , it's best to walk through a couple of examples. So if you, you feel like awes worth exploring for your operation, Get in touch with us. Visit us at AgriWebb.com. You can start a trial and really in the first couple of days of that trial, you will, be approached by someone from AgriWebb, to see how you're engaging about, uh, with, with the product, what your goals are from the operational side.
Uh, then we also help you map your operation so that you can see it, your operation as it lies. And then from there, the record keeping, um, is fairly intuitive. I mean, when you're moving cattle out of a pasture, you drag that, that group and drop into the next. We start [00:18:00] capturing days of rest on that previous pasture, days of, of grazing time.
Um, start deducting the amount of forage from your forage amount so, you drag and drop, we start capturing five or six data points on the backside. So when you get home, , you can look at that report and, and see just exactly how your pastures are mapping it and lining up.
Um, if it's breeding, you drag and drop bulls into it. Creates a joining, record or a natural service record. And then when it comes to marketing and branding looks like on the mob and you said that you wanna brand the calves and they, they naturally kind of feed through. So our goal is to make it as user-friendly, uh, to really target that 60 or 65 year old Farmer or Rancher that it might get a little skeptical about how easy technology is.
And really facilitate a positive interaction that they feel comfortable doing, that really leads to massive steps down, the years or down the management,[00:19:00] system. Being able to benchmark your operation from a grazing perspective or, or from a weaning weights perspective, and see how you're attracting toward that year after year.
James Maiocco: That, that sounds fantastic. I just, you can just imagine, you know, your father, for instance, in managing their team and thinking about like, hey, what pasture, how long these animals can see on this pasture versus how quickly he might move them through another pasture, and then how long it may need to rest.
He probably just has all this information in his head, like you said, from decades of experience that you know what's, likelihood he's gonna sit down and explain that all. Let a, versus having an app that's effectively just capturing that in real time, right? Like day over day, week over week, month over month.
I could very well imagine after a couple of years of use particularly you just have this incredible wealth of, of knowledge and mapping that it would make it much easier to translate this off and hand it off to another ranch manager, right?
Coby Buck: Absolutely. And I think to extend that, I mean, no [00:20:00] year's the same in, in farming, ranching, I mean, you get rains at different times, you get snow at different times, volumes of precipitation change quite often. So I, I look at like this past year as a great example of, of, what it means to keep track of those records. Um, on our feed inventory side of things, you can populate how many hay bells you have, how, how much feed you have on hand. Um, and when we went through a winter in the Northern states, in, the mountain states that we had this year with a, a large portion of snow, um, that we haven't seen in 20 or 30 years.
The method of the madness that my dad will always say- I mean, you need a year's worth of hay just in case you have that bad blizzard really boiled to the top. I mean, uh, if you didn't have that hay, the markets started to get pretty expensive. Mm-hmm. Um, I think that there has been an un underlying initiative to, to minimize the amount of winter feed mm-hmm.
That, uh, a lot of [00:21:00] ranchers need. But that doesn't, that shouldn't correlate to the amount of feed you have on hand because you have these once in a generation type of events that really test your ability to, really manage that operation, um, in inclement leather.
James Maiocco: Yeah. Well, let's, let's shift over maybe to the revenue side, right?
We've been talking a lot of ways in which you can manage costs, right? And that's certainly one way to expand your margin, right? On the other side of that is increasing revenue for the business overall, right? Either expanding avenues to market or, or increase in price from a margin perspective. So tell us a little bit about kind of the shifts you're starting to see there.
And particularly any data that came from your survey, as to, you know, Ranchers openness to actually going direct to market?
Coby Buck: Absolutely. I think, to set the scenario, Farmers and Ranchers, uh, globally, , they, have been experimenting and, [00:22:00] adopting value added programs, uh, for the last five or six years, if not longer, and, a big takeaway is that these value added programs are here to stay.
Um, like the, the premiums, there are the supply chains that have been fitted around these products. It feels like the All Naturals, the NHTCs, um, the organic supply chains. I mean, they're gonna have a, a major presence in our supply chain moving forward. Now we're starting to see, the continued innovation of these, these Ranchers, in addition to just doing value added programs, really a propensity to start experimenting and, and, uh, putting some of their cattle into direct consumer supply chains.
Uh, I think that, uh, looking at our survey, , I wanna say around 40, 50%, are experimenting with direct to, consumer marketing. So that might not be all of their animals. That might be a cohort of their animals that go to [00:23:00] grass-fed beef or they go to, I know Wagyu continues to, , increase in popularity, but, um, really experimenting with different ways that they can grow the revenue and the price they get per unit within the, the gates of the Farm.
James Maiocco: It's a pretty, pretty dramatic shift. I know we work with a lot of folks who are cow calf producers who are putting their first foot forward or first toe in the, in the pool, I should say, in terms of going direct to market.
Right. And I was really encouraged to see the data in your survey that over 50% now producers are looking to sell some. Or all over their beef, direct to market and, and the margins are just so much more significant. Right? We certainly see it cuz we see both wholesale and retail, uh, on, Barn2Door. And so we certainly see, you know, oftentimes a three, four and even five x increase in the, you know, the price that a Rancher's getting for that product.
Now that comes with some tax per se, not just necessarily tax necessarily on a [00:24:00] product, but more importantly in terms of direct customer relationships and marketing. Mm-hmm. And building a brand. Uh, but great to see that producers are actually seeing this as an opportunity. Kind of curious your thoughts.
I dunno if you've watched the show Yellowstone, which I know a lot of folks kinda laugh about at times, but the fact that even Yellowstone was even mentioning this, Hey, maybe we need to start to go direct to market because we could just make so much more money as a Ranch. Yes,
Coby Buck: I'm familiar with Yellowstone.
So, I find it fascinating as well. I think, um, Sheridan when it comes to, I mean, making a topical inappropriate to the, the real Rancher highlights some pretty important themes, um, and direct to consumer expanding upwards through this supply chain. Um, being able to keep those animals on Farm for as long as possible and thus capture more value.
It is a trend that, uh, continues to, to occur. Um, and I also think, like we always often talk about the, the [00:25:00] negative actions on when it comes to regulation, but I mean, if you look at the processor space, the deregulation that we've had, starting to cut some red tape and allowing more local plants and, uh, regional plants to be, um, USDA approved or being able to ship product.
Between states more easily. I mean, I think that that's a tailwind for, for us as an industry and looking at different options when it comes to marketing and increasing revenue and profitability.
James Maiocco: Yeah, I, I would say in the past years, certainly during COVID, we heard a lot about processing constraints, right?
They were super top of mind. We often heard from Farmers and Ranchers that they would love to go direct to market, but they just couldn't get any dates with their processor for harvesting their animals. So what are some of the trends that you're starting to see in terms of access or improved access to USDA or state processing facilities?
You mentioned some deregulation that's having some positive impacts here.
Coby Buck: Yes, you're really seeing it up and down the [00:26:00] scale of size. I mean, I think that that's one thing that has gotten gared a lot of attention is high profits in one portion of the supply chain, lead to new investments, lead to, a sharper pencil when it comes to new players or, or rejigging, um, older processing facilities.
So over the last. Two or three or four years, maybe longer. Cuz we, we've known that the processing capacity has been an issue for our industry for quite some time. But you have seen a lot of investment go, go toward large plants, medium plants, and those more local small plants. It might just do somewhere between 1, 2, 3, head a week.
Or 10 or 15 head a week. Mm-hmm. Um, really up and down the, the processor and packing plant design, you're, you're really starting to see incremental capacity come online, which is, uh, on the macro level, a boom for, for, uh, producers. But then, I mean, looking at what each and any, Rancher can deploy is [00:27:00] a direct consumer path where they can sell into their local market.
And that has compounding effects both in the local economy and on the Ranch as a whole.
James Maiocco: Yeah. That's a huge, huge benefit. Right. You know, there's no reason to buy beef from, you know, a, a Ranch or from across the country. Uh, if you can get the beef locally right. And support a local producer and, and local jobs and keeping the money local.
Right. Nothing wrong with that at all.
Coby Buck: Yeah. And I would say I would kind of overlap this with, , a lot of the, the environment and, and climate action talk that we've had, , just as a country, as a, uh, a world. Like I look at, one of the cheapest ways to decrease emissions in, in, in the beef supply chain or the, the animal protein supply chain is to really quickly decrease the, the transportation miles.
So if you can bring, uh, an animal to, the local processor, and that's 10 miles as opposed to 200, I mean, that's a very drastic reduction.
James Maiocco: Yeah. That's, that's a big [00:28:00] deal. I know, uh, in Washington State, they've even, even been experimenting with the first kind of USDA certified mobile processors actually bringing mm-hmm.
The processor to the Rancher. You know, like you said, maybe they're only processing 10 head a month. And they just need the processor to come on site one day a month. It's a lot easier to do that if you've got a, a facility provided you've got the support oftentimes from a USDA agent who's gonna be there on site. So, requires coordination, but it's good to see that they're beginning to experiment with those things.
Well, I'd love to shift gears just given your, your experience with where you came from, what you're doing today to talk a little bit about the future. Right. Uh, really curious in terms of your experience as a fifth generation Rancher now working in tech.
Where do you see the business of farming and ranching evolving looking ahead? and we don't have to talk 10 or 20 years, but even in the next three to five years, like, what do you think the expectations of buyers, and Ranchers, how, is that going to impact the, the future of ranching?
Coby Buck: Yes. I think, , [00:29:00] as of today, let's say, , it seems like we're coming into a different, uh, supply and demand dynamic when it comes to, beef and, and protein production.
Um, I, completely have, concerned for those ranchers that are in drought and have not been able to preserve a lot of their herd, but as we stand right now, , live cattle prices, feeder calf prices are, are near, at or above record highs .
So in addition to that, um, leverage is starting to shift more toward the producer as a whole. I'm very optimistic when it comes to the economic performance of , the upstream supply chain nodes of cow calf producers and grass-based, um, , livestock operations, I think that they will see a more profitability, even with higher input costs. Mm-hmm. Uh, if they can manage their risk.
Today until, for at least for the next 18 months, it's very optimistic from a research perspective. But looking, kind, taking a longer view, I think, for those [00:30:00] families that are, and those of families and individuals that are dedicated to a livelihood of, ranching, farming and, livestock production. The next five years, the next 10 years, the and onwards looks like a very exciting time. There's going to be a lot of opportunities. We do not have enough people coming back to rural America to dedicate their livelihood to livestock production.
What that means is people that are there that are, focused on that as a business, will have opportunities to expand their operations, to extend their fence lines, um, and, really come out of, uh, this generational kind of shift and succession with more energy, with larger operations, with, with more productive animals and a marketing scheme or a, an array of marketing schemes that, really allow them to preserve their, their [00:31:00] viability and, and increase their profitability.
James Maiocco: , I too share your enthusiasm, Kobe. I think it's a very exciting time, both in terms of the buyer expectations of wanting to know Ranchers and Farmers and their willingness to pay for high quality products that are produced locally. And like you said, the tools and technology that companies like AgriWebb and Barn2Door produce to enable Farmers and Ranchers to do what they do best.
Right? Yeah. And bring their, bring their products to market. Very exciting time. Any other final thoughts or feedback before we, before we sign
Coby Buck: off? Yeah, just kind of, uh, overlapping the, the optimism from a demographic perspective. If you look at, the regenerative push, the idea, the traction that, that this movement's going toward, I think a lot of Ranchers, I've likely been on that growth curve for a lot longer than people think.
I mean, when we started, uh, the Ray Ranch, we used Allen Savory's rotational grazing design from day one to increase forage. So a lot of producers have decades of [00:32:00] experience on improving grazing regimens, improving, the sustainability aspects of the product that they produce. Uh, and now we have a, a large microphone and a large ability to, to broadcast that narrative to consumers that are more conscious of what they, consume and protein being a major and important side of that healthy and balanced diet for not just Americans but a rising middle class globally.
It's very exciting and I think that looking at how we really capitalize on, , the sustainability and regenerative post, demographic, uh, and supply and demand opportunities and, and optimism. I think it's really capturing that information to use as evidence that this is how your animals are raised, and, and that's what we focus on.
That's what we get up in the morning to do at AgriWebb. So, If anyone is, is interested, please visit our website. Please jump on with us and , we'd love to get to know you, understand your operation [00:33:00] and, work with you to, capitalize on a lot of these major themes and opportunities moving forward.
James Maiocco: Well said, Coby. Uh, again, we share your enthusiasm here at Barn2Door. Very exciting time for Farmers and Ranchers. Not to just be investing in these types of regenerative practices, but to also benefit from buyer's demand for their such products, uh, and willingness to pay for that. Right? That's just a really great outcome, both sides of the coin, uh, in terms of improving profitability for the Farmers and improving sustainability of their practices.
So really great. Great feedback, Coby. I wanna extend my thanks to Coby and the entire AgriWebb team for joining us on this week's podcast episode. Here at Barn2Door we're humbled to support thousands of Farms across the country, and we're honored to get the opportunity to learn more, , from our most successful Farmers who share tactics and resources and tools that they use to grow and manage their Farm business, like using AgriWebb. For more information on an awe, I encourage you to go check out their website. Go to AgriWebb.com. That's [00:34:00] A G R I W E B B.com or follow them on social media @AgriWebb. Thank you so much for tuning in to the Direct Farm Podcast and we look forward to seeing you next time. Take care and have a great day.