Terra Firma Farm Creamery: One-Stop Shop for Local Community
In this episode of the Direct Farm Podcast, we're delighted to host Brie Casadei with Terra Firma Farm Creamery. Listen as Brie shares how the Farm experienced tremendous growth by selling online with direct delivery and how implementing these changes empowers Terra Firma to support the local community.
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Rory: 0:26
Welcome to the Direct Farm Podcast. I'm Rory, your host. We've got a great conversation for you today with one of our newest farm advisors, Brie Casadei of Terra Firma Farm. Welcome Bree. It's great to have you here. Before we get started, could you maybe tell us a little bit about yourself and some of your background.
Brianne: 0:44
Sure, thanks for having me. So I'm a first-generation farmer and blessed to farm here in North Stonington. With my two kids, we have a mixture of chickens, and pigs, and goats, and sheep, and cows. But our main focus is dairy. I didn't grow up on a farm. And I think as a kid, you know, farming was more of, or I guess more of a life with animals was the dream. So I went to university of Vermont and got my degree in animal science.
Rory: 1:17
Awesome. Obviously there, you have really deep roots in animals and in the land. Could you maybe give everyone a little context to the story of Terra Firma Farm and how it was founded, how that business has kind of evolved to the point where it's at today?
Brianne: 1:30
So, we started out as a nonprofit community farm in 2004. I was 25 years old and had 500 bucks from my dad and that was it. So we've always relied a lot on our communities. So we opened up the farm with the mission of reconnecting youth to agriculture. So the way that I've stopped, being able to do that was have a working farm, having a working farm stand where people could come and reconnect with how food was grown. So see the chickens laying her eggs and see the pigs being raised and see the cows being milked and be a part of it. So we did afterschool programs and field trips and summer camps and, you know, every way we could possibly get the communities' kids on the farm, we did it. And We always had products for food production. So it was always a farm stand with eggs, and pork, and beef, and chickens, and Turkey and you know, whatever we could, we had a really big market garden in the beginning, and it was always just connecting that would, that we were going on the farm with the people, you know, in our community that were eating it.
Rory: 2:39
Could you maybe kind of talk about what sustainability means to you and maybe a little bit on how you implement that at your farm?
Brianne: 2:46
So I think sustainability is, to me, it's the ability to keep moving forward. So economically, environmentally on the farm, and even like emotionally, like mentally being able to move forward. And so, you know, you have to think about all the decisions we make as a farmer and as a business person, they have to be something that is good for us and good for our community and good for the animals and good for the land. Right now, but also 10 years from now, 30 years from now, you know, as a first generation farmer and as a business woman, I'm always trying to think like, how can we keep Terra Firma Farm alive, forever is . Obviously the goal. So sustainability, I think I kind of think about that all the time. You know, the impact we have on the land that we farm. We have to make sure that it stays healthy for as long as we want to, you know, have our animals on it. The business has to make correct decisions to stay sustainable through everything. Like COVID was a perfect example and switching to using Barn2Door and Direct to Consumers, sustainability is, you know, moving forward with change too.
Rory: 3:52
That's really awesome to hear. And you, you kind of started to touch on some of your educational field trips, the volunteer farm days, and you guys have some other youth programs. Could you maybe talk about those a little bit more and what those actually look like?
Brianne: 4:05
Yeah. So, we are in the middle of summer camp right now. And so that's one of our biggest things. We do two different programs for summer camp and I think all of our programs, it's basically showing the kids a day in the life. So whatever's going on at the farm that day, have them tag along. They hike out to the fields and, you know, we rotationally graze our cows. So they'll hike out with us and move fences. They'll collect eggs, they'll feed the pigs, and we always try to talk about different things with them. So farming, and food, and environment, I mean the farm is full of lessons. So you basically teach kids about responsibility by showing them raising animals. You can teach kids about teamwork by all of us working together to, you know, harvest the long row of potatoes. So we've had the ability to really teach through actually physically doing things. Getting kids outside and back on a farm that's a lesson in its own now not many kids are raised on farms. It used to be, they might have a grandparent or somebody on a farm, but now it's not like that anymore. So this is their, you know, exposure to agriculture, which is so important because it helps them and their parents make decisions to shop locally and you know, they see us at the grocery store and they're like, there's Farmer Brie and know, you know, they make that connection and it makes it real for them, opposed to just milk coming on a truck or tomatoes coming in a can, you know, it makes it real.
Rory: 5:32
Yeah, that's awesome. And I mean, feeding the pigs and collecting eggs, moving things that's about as hands-on as it gets. Well, something else that you guys are doing is your Terra Firma give gallons campaign that you guys I think launched in January of 2019. It's also the hashtag TFF give gallons. If people want to search it on social media, but could you maybe kind of share the vision and the mission behind that campaign?
Brianne: 5:56
Yeah. So Terra Firma Farm Give Gallons or TFF give gallons is based off of a national idea of a customer can buy a gallon of milk and instead of us delivering it to them. We deliver it to the local food bank. And it's sort of started because well it started for a couple of reasons. It started because our Creamery was actually started through a Kickstarter program. When we wanted to bring dairy back to Terra Firma we started a Kickstarter campaign and it was a 100% funded through our followers. So we raised $50,000 and then a lot of our own money as well, but that's what we use to purchase the pasteurizer and the bottler and to rebuild the Creamery, so it could be licensed. So it was our way of giving back to the community for them giving to us in the beginning. So, we started that and it was a way for us to give the milk to the food banks. Number one thing that they need is dairy, but they don't get it because it has no shelf life. I think if you're not bottling your own milk, dairy farming is kind of a disaster. Farmers are paid on an amount of money that doesn't even cover the cost of raising the animals to make the milk. And they don't have a say in it because they're shipping milk, but that's the whole different disaster. So where, when we started, we also wanted to go above and beyond where we could produce, so that we could buy now from other local dairy farms and process it for them and put that into our give gallons program. So we were able to pay the farmers more than they would be getting if they were to be shipping their milk. So it was kind of like a three-way win for everyone we thought. And it's been, I mean, it's been going since we started it. You know, we get donations every week for people to send milk to the food banks. And ever since we switched to Barn2Door and started doing more direct consumer and online sales and people are shopping kind of off of the. You know, putting things in your shopping cart. We noticed so many of our like weekly customers, they just toss in an extra half a gallon, or they toss in a gallon every week or they'll buy the monthly donations. And so it's been a pretty awesome program for us to watch it grow and to be a part of it. It's one of my favorite things we do every week.
Rory: 8:12
That is so cool to hear about. And also that just the added convenience of the online store just makes it that much easier for people to kind of pitch in where they can and help out. That's a sweet, awesome platform that you guys have launched. Now kind of transitioning into more of the business side of things and how you guys run your dairy. You mentioned that you guys do some in grocery stores a little bit ago. Could you maybe talk about how you guys have leveraged both the direct to consumer, but also the wholesale side of your business?
Brianne: 8:39
So, we've always sold products direct to consumers. So we've always had a farm stand. We've always done farmer's markets. We've dabbled a little bit into wholesale accounts. So grocery stores and co-ops and restaurants. But when we started the dairy, that really kicked in because you know the cows make milk everyday. So, we have an amazing family grocery store. McQuaids marketplace is our local grocery. And they from the beginning have supported us when we added the dairy. So our dairy has always been right on the shelf with the other, you know, big companies. So for us, that was great. Well, all of a sudden COVID hit and that changed everything that we were seeing going. So we no longer were able to keep our farm store open here on the farm, when. And we also saw a huge reduction in Brookview stores. Yes. When COVID hit. And so our idea, and it was, you know, sort of amazing how things just let them happen. They always work out. But our idea to switch, to direct, to consumer and to increase our wholesale was huge during that beginning of COVID time. So I think things like Amazon and other, larger big companies that they really helped, I think paved the way they got people used to getting food back on their doorstep. And they got people used to home deliveries and those things. So for us, we started the home delivery. The idea was we were going to do a one day a week. we were going to do just a couple of towns right near us. And we thought, you know, whatever, it'll be small, we'll be fine. And so it started pretty slow. And then we realized, Wow. we got to do it five days a week. And so it just, I mean, the growth that we had when we started doing home delivery was it was insane. I mean, it was completely insane. And that was just sort of through a very simple online form. It was just milk and dairy and eggs. The things that we produced, a lot of. We were adding in some veal and some beef and some pork as we had it, but not something on a continual basis. And we weren't working with any other farms. So it was just what we were producing. And then we started realizing that if these customers are going to pay $5 for a . Delivery fee, they probably want to put that over a lot of items. So we started to work with other farmers to make sure that we had the supply for the demand. So we always have beef. Now we work with a farm that helps us make sure that we always have beef. We do raise our own beef here on the farm too. We always have pork, and then we have vegetables that come from another farm. We have a restaurant that does prepared foods and granolas. We do a local coffee. We do some local soda. We we do bread. We do chocolates. We do honey. So we've just added in a lot of products to the online format so that we feel that, that our customers can spread that delivery fee over, you know, everything that they want. And it, you know, they can fill their cart with almost everything they need for the week now.
Rory: 11:45
That's really cool to hear. There's kind of two things I want to touch on there. Maybe the first of what you talked about, how you've been able to leverage product diversification, to grow your farm business, and get more people to come and buy from you?
Brianne: 11:57
So dairy was the only thing that we were selling online for pre-order pickup and or the small amount of home delivery that we were doing. I think the reason why we added in other products to basically increase the revenue that our home delivery was doing was on the fact of spreading out that delivery charge. And also making it convenient. So if somebody's going to just buy milk from us once a week, that's going to get old because you're still going to have to go other places you're still going to, if you're a farmer's market shopper, you're still gonna have to go to the farmer's market. You're still gonna have to go to the grocery store. So we developed it and grew all of the products that we had on our list, so that we would become kind of the default, shopping method for our customers and so therefore the more products that you can offer and as long as you keep your quality up I think people will tend to do, you know, one stop shopping. If they can get all their meat for the week and, their bread and their vegetables and all the dairy that they need and the eggs that they need and throw in some chocolate chip cookies. Then they have everything they need for the week. And we saw the more that we added, the more orders we were getting in the bigger the orders were. And so it was great to have that be so easy for us. Barn2Door took care of adding in all the items. We just had to get them all lined up and figure out what people wanted. It took a little while, you know, sometimes we have things where . You think that you know, oh, We're going to sell a ton of these people, definitely want it. And then you only sell a couple and then, you know, you have other things that customers ask or, and those takeoff. So it's really paying attention to what your customers are asking for. And just making sure that you can find it locally and have a good quality product and have the other farms have the same parallel methods that we do. We want to make sure that they're raised humanely and they're outside and they're grass fed. And the feed that they're you know, fed is a good quality and that they're processed in a humane method and raised kindly. So you have to kind of make sure that the other businesses that we're working with, stay in line with who we are just cause, you have to stay true to the name.
Rory: 14:06
Yeah, I know that something that a lot of farmers are trying to do is very similar to what you guys are doing in terms of adding more products from other farms that are around you to your store. Could you maybe talk about how you've kind of gone about establishing those partnerships with other farms and kind of turn that into something that actually is on your store?
Brianne: 14:24
Yes, I've been lucky to be around in the community for so long, you know, you meet other farmers at farmer's markets and most of my friends are food producers or farmers just by default. So, but we actually have some businesses that we work with that, you know, we sought out and I would have never known them before I realized, like we needed to add lamb to the market. So it's great to be, there's a lot of small farms around and you know, just by trial and error, finding out what they have and how they raise their animals or what they use for ingredients. That's basically how we get all of our partners. Most of them I've worked with for years. The person that we use for honey, we've been doing business together since I opened, in the beginning, our vegetables that . We get from Hunts Brook Farm, I've known them for years. So that's been great. And then adding in some new businesses that we work with I think for the business side of it, for them, most of them are just selling one product. Most of the farms that we've partnered with, or even the food producers that we've partnered with they sell one product. So it's pretty hard for them to get that out in the same means that we do. And that goes back to the convenience. So if we're able to co-op in all of these, other farms and offer our customers, all these different products from the different local farms, then it's, it feels like a, you know, they're shopping at a farmer's market in one stop. And it's great for these other smaller farms who don't have the time to do marketing and they don't have the time to, you know, make an online store and they definitely don't have the ability to do delivery. So it's been good, I think for both sides of it to work together and offer more.
Rory: 16:09
Yeah, that's super awesome. And a really good point there too. And that's sometimes the farm does just have one product. And so it makes more sense to kind of team up with you, and obviously you have a great market that you're already serving and so they can kind of tap into that as well. That's a great opportunity for them. So you kind of started to touch on a little bit ago about your decision to start doing delivery. Could you maybe talk about how you decided to kind of take that step and start offering home delivery for customers, and how that kind of empowered you to meet the buyer expectations?
Brianne: 16:39
So delivery was always something that in the back of my mind, I knew it was a great idea. It's one of those things that customers always asked for and it was just, I don't have the time. I don't have the means. I don't have the methods. And then slowly but surely when we started trying to figure out . How do we add this in? Cause it seems like that's how things are moving. You know, the trends are moving that way. I think farmer's markets were very busy three years ago, but now they're definitely not like they used to be. So I think delivery was really, the idea was how can we make it easier for our customers to get our milk? And so home delivery was for us, it was the way that it would make it easier for our customers to get our milk, but also from a business side, it was also more convenient for us. So opposed to having a farm store that was open all day long that maybe had five customers. We we're able to set aside delivery times so people can order all night long. I don't need to stop my day to take an order. They come online, we wake up in the morning and we print out the daily orders. So for us, it was also really a good time management decision because now all of the orders are basically they're handled on their own. And then we deliver them at a set time opposed to stopping and going to take care of a farm stand.
Rory: 18:01
So Terra Firma Farm has been one of the early adopters of Barn2Door, new routing integration with Routific. Could you maybe talk about how route optimization software has helped you save time and money while offering that delivery service?
Brianne: 18:15
So we have used a couple of the different routing softwares and for me personally, that's the most time consuming side of it all. Since we switched over to delivery, you want to make sure that, the route that your drivers are doing, it's gotta make sense. So we also live in a touristy area, so we have Mystic, Connecticut, which this time of year it's got a float. So you want to, obviously you want to deliver as many stops as we possibly can in the shortest period of time, while still being safe and kind to our customers and all of that stuff. And it's time consuming and it always has been time consuming and there was a lot of mistakes. We have a Drawbridge in Mystic and sometimes the software would send our drivers over the Drawbridge two times. So that's 45 minutes that they're just like going back and forth. So it's crazy. So when we watched the testimonials on Routific and it, the integration was huge. So it's literally one button now, so I clicked the button, the same screen that I'm clicking our packing lists from every morning, you click one button and it sends all of our orders right over to the Routific software. And then I go over there and I pick the driver and I pick the number and then it sends it to the driver. And then the app is amazing too. So the driver now on their phones can see and make sure they have all the right items. They can communicate directly with me saying, oh, I already delivered this one and they can also communicate directly with the customer saying, Hey, we just dropped your milk. It's in the back door, or we didn't have one pound of ground beef. So we gave you two this week. So it's great because they have the ability to do that directly with the customer. Obviously they can text a customer and obviously I can put all the addresses in Google maps, but the amount of time that this saves is amazing. I mean, absolutely amazing. And the ease. So that's what this is all about. Like, make it easy for all of us and make it easy for the customers. And the integration on this one. I mean, that was like an A-plus on Barn2Door there, I even sent Miranda an email cause I feel like Barn2Door is always one step ahead on figuring out how can we make this easier on farmers. And one thing, farmers and I think all entrepreneurs, I don't think farmers are special in this sense, but I think all small businesses, we don't have enough time. There is not enough time in the day to get done everything that we want to get done. Naturally, we're driven people. So we have this huge ambition of what we're going to get done in a day. And there's not enough time. So Barn2Door and these little integrations that you guys do save us so much time in the long run that it's just makes it easier. And therefore it makes, I mean, I think it lets us raise a better product and it makes us do more marketing and it has us to deliver more deliveries and make more revenue and keeps us going. You know, talking about sustainability. There it is right there right?
Rory: 21:14
Yeah, well, and I think that's always the hope, you know, we want to try and make it as easy as possible on the business side of things so that you can focus on, on not only the most important part, you know, raising the animals, raising the products, but I mean, nobody wants to sit on their phone at night, figuring out the route they're going to take the next day for all their deliveries. So, that's really awesome to hear that it's been good for you. Do you know, or have any idea of how much time this has been saving your drivers since using the Routific integration?
Brianne: 21:40
So it saves me about an hour every morning, which doesn't sound like a lot of time, but that's a lot of time. And it's been saving the drivers at least that as they go out during the day. And that's huge. So all of a sudden this, you know, tiny little one button click is saving us two hours in a day. That's huge.
Rory: 21:59
And you're delivering every day, correct?
Brianne: 22:01
We do. Yeah. A lot of the days we have more than one driver out. So not only are we delivering five days a week, sometimes six. We have several drivers out every day, so it gives us the ability to make different routes for each driver.
Rory: 22:13
Awesome. And how have, I mean, you've been doing it for a few weeks now that you've had this integration going, how has the experience been for customers? What's the feedback been?
Brianne: 22:22
They really like the communication for them is better. So we don't always have the same driver for every route. So, I'm sorry. I know I, if I get a random phone number on my phone, I'm like, who is this? They're feeling like the communication I think it's a little bit more professional. It's not just randomly coming from someone's, you know, text messaging. So they really liked that and I think, one of the most important things I've learned over doing the deliveries is the communication with the customer is probably the easiest way to keep them happy. I mean, they expect, and they know they're going to get a good product, but that's the only customer service you have anymore is that tiny bit of communication. With your customer when their order comes, because we're not meeting face to face anymore. They're not talking to me when they order. They're not physically taking a bag from my hand. People still need to have that connection. So making that connection like, "Hey, your milk is on your door." "Hey, it's in the cooler." You know, oh, you didn't leave anything out. Don't forget to grab your bag. They use like little moments of communication, or even just like, hey, your delivery's been made, and have a great weekend. That's the ease that the Routific software is made to communicate with the customer. That's been good because if it's super quick and easy, it's more likely to get done.
Rory: 23:37
Maybe for farmers who are thinking about starting to do delivery, what's something you wish you would've known before you started your delivery program that might be good for them to be aware of?
Brianne: 23:47
I wish I knew how awesome it was going to be. If I knew two years ago that our demand was going to grow this fast, but then I would have had a heck of a lot more cows in the milking parlor. And so to be prepared, but that's a good thing. So we've also been able to help, you know, other farmers and grow because of this amazing demand that we've had. And we have people who ask us about, you know, how has it been since you started using Barn2Door, or how has it been since you started doing home delivery? And I have 99 positive things to say, and you know, one negative thing to say. I feel like there's huge things like our revenue's gone up and we have way more customers and we're moving more products. And people are drinking more local milk and eating more local meats. So there's all those awesome things, but there's also, I'm a single mom and I eat dinner with my kids more now. And like, we definitely have changed our business in a way because it's made way more streamlined for us. And all of a sudden we went from, you know, just this tiny little business. So I feel like I have this huge Barn2Door team. You know, I have like the marketing people and the onboarding people and all of these people at Barn2Door, who would help us every step of the way. And even the integrations that we have adding in the tax software and connecting our QuickBooks and making the Routing things go faster. I mean, all of these things help the business run smoother, which gives me more time to do things that are important to me. So I always tell these farmers who asked me, you know, do you like adding in these? And it's like a no brainer, yes. You know, I'm like, just do it, just do it. What can happen? You do it and you realize that home delivery is not for you or that, you know, online sales is not for you. Then go back, but if you don't try it, you won't know how good it is. And the other thing I think the trend right now is really online. I mean for everything. People are just changing how things go. I mean, things change all the time. Look at how many taxis there were on the road at one point and now Uber drivers. So, you know, with the things that change, and I think for farming, online sales is how things are changing and it's a convenience thing. And it's also I think a diversity things so they can pick and choose more products than one stop. And I just think it's how things are going. And farmers definitely should jump onto it.
Rory: 26:04
Yeah. Awesome. That's really good advice too. And then finally, maybe just the last question around delivery. Are there any extra things that you guys are doing to make a delivery, either more convenient or just more enjoyable for your customers that are choosing to order that way?
Brianne: 26:18
So I'm constantly trying to think of new and fun ideas that are different products or different things that we can help our customers . the process more because it's not the same as coming to the farm. I will definitely admit that. So getting online and picking and choosing your products is not like it used to be when you would drive in and smell the cows and see the pigs and shop in a farm stand. So that's been removed. So it, like you just said, I think you have to make sure that it's enjoyable for the customers. So we throw in, you know, little chocolate bars here and there, or stickers or key chains or, you know, however, we can make it fun for the customers. I like to write personal notes to our new customers, thanking them for being new customers. We do giveaways through social media and through our email list. So one of the great things with Barn2Door is the integration with MailChimp. I was not good at emails before, so we had a lot email addresses, but it was a heck of a lot easier for me to take a cute picture and throw it on Instagram than it was for me to sit down and write an email. So the integration with Barn2Door and the templates that they made and how easy they made it to basically keep in contact with our customers. I think that has been also a great way to connect with them. So weekly emails or monthly newsletters and just talking about new products that we have from email or specials that we're having that's been a good way to keep in contact too.
Rory: 27:49
I think that's a great way, small little things that you can do that go so far with customers, especially if they're just starting to buy from you. That's just something you'll never get at a grocery store.
Brianne: 28:01
Yeah, and refunds are the other things and admitting you're wrong. So we grew really fast and we made a lot of mistakes, just how it happened. So we accidentally gave someone chocolate milk instead of coffee, or we accidentally, you know, forgot somebody's eggs. Like we definitely made those mistakes. So I try to we, we give out a lot of free eggs to make up for the mistakes because everybody . Likes eggs. And also just like, oh my god, I'm so sorry. I said that so many times in an email, when a customer sent me an email and was like, you know, this wasn't the right order or you're, I mean, we forgot orders. We missed orders in the beginning before we started using the software. And so you just have to be willing to say, sorry, and make the customer happy. And I think when you have, you know, a farm store full of great products, that simple half a gallon of chocolate milk or an extra dozen eggs, that's what they want. They want it to be like, wow, like we realize that you messed up last week. She's saying, sorry. And like we have breakfast tomorrow and then it just moves it along. And it also makes me feel better because I, there were mistakes and there were forgotten items and messed up items.
Rory: 29:09
Yeah, I mean, chocolate milk. That's a sure way to kind of cover up any animosity right there. That is awesome. Well, so as a customer and a farm advisor to Barn2Door, can you maybe share kind of how your experience has been thus far with Barn2Door and how it's kind of evolved in terms of product innovation and services and support. You've kind of touched on some of the integrations you've utilized, but yeah, just kind of how it's grown over the time you've been here?
Brianne: 29:34
We've been open since 2004, so what's that 15, 16 years? Joining Barn2Door is probably the best thing I've done business wise since starting the business. And so I always say, so farming is like, that's the fun part of my day. That's the thing. I love Business is What makes it work. So like, that's what makes it a job, the business side of everything. That's not my favorite part, but joining Barn2Door and like tapping into the unlimited resources you guys offer. So the podcasts and the eBooks and the videos and the conferences and the staff, I mean, the process from the beginning was so awesome. It was basically like having, like I said, I mean, I've said this a million times. It's like all of a sudden you've hired a whole team to help you move forward. So the onboarding was amazing. I mean, we had all of our products in another, you know, software type of thing and you get, I didn't do anything. It was all of a sudden it was all done and our website was completely done and every step of the way has been so easy. So the questions that they asked on what I wanted for a website were so right on, because when the website came back, I was like, this is exactly what I was wanting. And so it's been great all along. And then having somebody like Miranda who's been with me so long, and we've talked on the phone and done so many interactions together. She knows our business and she knows kind of she's figured me out, I think enough to know how she can help, and that's going to ask them. So if I have a question, I can text her and she answers me. If I have a question on software, I text or email the website people and they fixed it. I mean, it's been so amazing to have Barn2Door and I think not only that customer service side, but the other side. The things I've learned from talking to other farmers when I did the academy, that was great. We bounced back ideas and we, you know, I talked about mistakes I had made or things that were successful for us and other farmers did the same and it was so awesome because they might've been in California and I'm in Connecticut, but we're both doing the same thing. So you can bounce ideas back and learn from each other. I mean, the things that Barn2Door has done for our business, it's just, it's been amazing. I can't say enough about how great it's been for us.
Rory: 31:55
That's great. And honestly, just really humbling to hear, because I think that's what everybody here wants to be the result, you know, as the last question here, what would be your final piece of advice for farmers who are considering a direct to market business?
Brianne: 32:09
So I would definitely suggest it just jump in and give it a try. But make that jump an educated jump. So figure you're gonna sell more than you think you are, because convenience is huge. Make sure you stay true to who you are. So. Over the years we have a logo and we have a brand and we have a name and my name and my face is associated with everything that goes out for Terra Firma Farm. And I feel like you have to remember that and stay true to that, but add in where you can, so get other farmers or other food producers or other people to work with you and offer as much as you possibly can to your customers in the most convenient way you possibly can. And I think that would be, I mean, obviously that's using somebody like Barn2Door, so stay true to who you are and then add in other people who you feel are true too, and get, you know, local food out to whoever you possibly can. I don't think no matter how hard we tried, I don't think local farmers should never feel like you're in competition with somebody else . Because there's so many people to feed and we could never feed all of them. So if I'm making it easier for customers to buy direct and expect home delivery, then I'm only helping out the next farmer who wants to do the same. And so if we can get people to have the mindset that, you know, farms are up to date with technology and we have websites and you can order online and we're going to deliver it and it's going to be, you know, in good quality on your doorstep. I think that's a way that we can all work together.
Rory: 33:44
Awesome. That's really great to hear really good advice for someone looking to start a direct to market business. I want to extend my thanks to Brie for joining us on this week's podcast episode. Here at Barn2Door, we are humbled to support thousands of farms across the country, including farmers like Brie, who implement sustainable agriculture practices and support their local community. For more information on Terra Firma Farm, visit TerraFirmaFarm.org. To learn more about Barn2Door, including access to numerous free resources and best practices for your farm. Go to Barn2Door.com/resources. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you next week.