Essential Digital Tools for Farm and Food Ventures - 25th Annual Southern SAWG Conference, Lexington, Kentucky.

1. Essential Digital
Tools for Farm
and Food
Ventures
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2.  Introduction
 Case Studies
 Eric Rozendall, Rockville Market Farm
 Amanda Andrews, Tamarack Hollows
Farm
 Carl Russell, Earthwise Farm and Forest
 Farm Management
 Growing Markets
 Website Basics
 Social Media
 Networking
 Q & A
“I only started using email in
2007, but . . . “
CARL RUSSELL - EARTHWISE FARM AND FOREST
How digital tools have changed his farm and forest
businesses
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AGENDA
http://bit.ly/1c1kVGG

3.  To accomplish tasks in the field and in the office
more efficiently.
 To make more informed decisions based
 To manage the “business” side
 To market products and access new markets
 To network with other farmers and consumers
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HOW ONLINE TOOLS ARE CHANGING FARM
AND FOREST BUSINESSES

4. 4
WHAT NOT TO DO
 Get in over your head or over your
budget
 Gather data just to gather data
 Lose sight of your personal and
business goals.
 Discard your old tools and equipment
 Become discouraged
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/new-high-tech-farm-equipment-nightmare-farmers/

5. ERIC ROZENDAAL
ROCKVILLE MARKET FARM
1. Budgeting and Accounting
2. Staying Organized
3. AgSquared
4. Farmigo
5. Farmers To You
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Rockville Market Farm is a Family CSA Farm offering
Organic veggie, meat, egg and localvore shares, and
delivers to restaurants and stores.

6. ERIC ROZENDAAL
ROCKVILLE MARKET FARM
BUDGETING AND ACCOUNTING
http://www.youneedabudget.com/
http://quickbooks.intuit.com/
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7. ERIC ROZENDAAL
ROCKVILLE MARKET FARM
https://evernote.com/
https://www.wunderlist.com
https://mindnode.com/
STAYING ORGANIZED
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8. ERIC ROZENDAAL
ROCKVILLE MARKET FARM
http://www.agsquared.com/
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FARM MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING

9. ERIC ROZENDAAL
ROCKVILLE MARKET FARM
http://www.farmigo.com/
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CSA MANAGEMENT

10. ERIC ROZENDAAL
ROCKVILLE MARKET FARM
Regional Partnership between
Vermont Farmers and Boston
http://farmerstoyou.com/
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ACCESSING NEW MARKETS

11. AMANDA ANDREWS
TAMARACKHOLLOWSFARM.COM
1. Kickstarter
2. Square and/or Paypal
Here
3. Quinciple/Farm to
People
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12. AMANDA ANDREWS
TAMARACK HOLLOWS FARM
https://www.kickstarter.co
m/projects/tamarackhollo
w/get-this-farm-off-the-
floodplain
“It’s running a
small business in
miniature.”
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KICKSTARTER – CROWD FUNDRAISING

13. AMANDA ANDREWS
TAMARACK HOLLOWS FARM
• Requires networking for months ahead of the campaign.
At every market we've been letting our close friends and core customers know that we will be
running a Kickstarter campaign, and asking if they have any advice, not if they will donate.
• Folks that are genuinely interested and want to follow through
will instantly offer their help - social media networks, assistance with creating
your rewards after the campaign, creating the video, or reaching out to someone who ran a
successful campaign.
• With most of our immediate network, their words have been
more valuable than their wallets. Sure, some of them have donated, but it's
getting to that second or third ripple out where you're going to make your goal.
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14. https://squareup.com/
Easy Online Payments Accept credit cards at markets
AMANDA ANDREWS
TAMARACK HOLLOWS FARM
http://paypal.com/
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ONLINE AND MOBILE SALES

15. AMANDA ANDREWS
TAMARACK HOLLOWS FARM
Quinciple is a weekly subscription service that creates a
balanced box of groceries each week, including meat, fish,
cheese, bread, produce, eggs and pantry staples.
http://www.quinciple.com/
http://www.farmtopeople.com/
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CONNECTING WITH NEW CUSTOMERS

16. CARL RUSSELL
EARTHWISE FARM AND FOREST
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1. Soil Type
Databases
2. Mapping/GIS
3. Other Apps
https://youtu.be/wskbdjLN_9Mu3Q

17. CARL RUSSELL
EARTHWISE FARM AND FOREST
NRCS Web Soil Survey
http://websoilsurvey.sc.e
gov.usda.gov/
http://casoilresource.lawr.u
cdavis.edu/gmap/SOIL TYPE SURVEYS
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Soilweb

18. MAPPING
Ushahidi by Ushahidi
Geo Measure - Map Area /
Distance Measurement by
ObjectGraph LLC
GPS Kit HD by Garafa
ArcGIS
CARL RUSSELL
EARTHWISE FARM AND FOREST
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19. PRODUCTIVITY APPS
Documents to Go
CARL RUSSELL
EARTHWISE FARM AND FOREST
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Hours Keeper - Time Tracking, Timesheet & Billing
http://www.dataviz.com/index.html
http://www.apptism.com/business/appxy/hours-
keeper-pro-time-tracking-timesheet-billing/

20. FARM MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING
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FARM MANAGEMENT, PLANNING, AND RECORD KEEPING
http://gocrop.com/

21. FARM MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING
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AgSquared
http://www.agsquared.com/

22. DAIRY FARM RECORDS 22
Farmeron helps bring dairy farm
records online and boosts your
farm’s results with actionable
metrics and suggestions.
https://www.farmeron.com/

23. HERD MANAGEMENT 23
http://www.icattlemgrpro.com/
iCattleMgrPro and iLivestockMgr

24. BUYING CLUBS AND ONLINE FARMERS
MARKETS 24
USING TECH TO CONNECT DIRECTLY
Online Farmers Markets
• Reach new customers by creating locally-
based online markets where customers can
buy from their local farmers in one simple
transaction and pick up everything at once
in one bag.
Challenges
• Recruiting additional farmers
• Keeping inventory up to date
• Not enough diversity of products to
replace a visit to the super market
Farmers
list produce
for sale
Customers
buy on-line
whenever
they like
Farmers deliver
produce once
a week
Customers
pick up
produce in
one bag
Local
coordinator
promotes the market.
Yourfarmstand
manages the website
and all
transactions.

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ONLINE BUYING CLUBS
Serving: the Atlanta and Birmingham, Atlanta area
http://www.moorefarmsandfriends.com/
Serving: Florida
http://organicgrowndirect.com/
Serving: the Austin, TX area
http://www.farmhousedelivery.com/
Serving: Florida
http://www.frontporchpickings.com
Serving: Entire Southeast
http://organicgrowndirect.com
Serving: Florida
http://organicgrowndirect.com/

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 Sell your own products, but also
offer enough of a diversity of
products to replace a visit to the
supermarket.
 Increase customer retention
 Extra Income
 Connect with other groups
Wholeshare
http://www.wholeshare.com/csa
EXPAND YOUR CSA OFFERINGS

27. LocallyGrown.net
 Provides a simple system for farmers' markets to move from the traditional
booths and tables "flea market" system to a fully coordinated on-line
ordering system.
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ONLINE FARMERS MARKETS

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CSA MANAGEMENT
• Online
Ordering
• Membership
Management
• Delivery
Scheduling
• Financial
Reporting
http://www.csaware.com/

29. WEBSITE BASICS
http://rockvillemarketfarm.com/
 Be able to manage it yourself
 Contact information
 Hours and Locations
 Simple, Intuitive Navigation
 Integrate Social Media
 Images
 Responsive – works on
smartphones and desktop
web browsers
http://wordpress.org/
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30. SOCIAL MEDIA
• Social media is “the next generation of word-of-mouth
marketing,” - gateway for their friends or family to get
to know more about your farm.
• Farmers can use social media to inform people about
agricultural issues that matter to them.
• Social media also is used to keep farmers engaged
with other farmers – sharing ideas about crops, pest
control and marketing strategies.
• Social media aids customer service.
• Social media opens up conversation.
The users of your farm or experience
are the best people to learn from when
it comes to making things better.
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31. SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
 IDENTITY: Define who you are, what you stand for, and what you do
best.
 VALUES and MISSION: Communicate your values in a way that is
meaningful and relevant to your audience.
 AUDIENCE: Identify your audience(s).
 SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES: What do they gain from engaging with
you? What do you have to gain from engaging with them?
 Entertain
 Educate/Inform/Alert
 To be a part of something bigger
 To make human connections
 Express feelings or beliefs
 Have a voice
Planning is
the key to
success
Don’t try to do
everything
Remember it is
not all about
you.
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32. Funny and Thematic
OTHER SUGGESTIONS
• Facebook Events
• Tag other producers (@)
• Complete “about”
• Contests
• Crowd-source info – recipes
• Ask Questions
Share info from other
sources
Interact: Respond to
comments.Photos & Video
FACEBOOK CONTENT
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33. Facilitate sharing of content
“Like or “Follow” from website
Schedule posts Unique Facebook Address
Make use of Facebook Insights – Know Your Audience
Using Apps, integrate MailChimp, Instagram,
Twitter, Maps, etc into your Tabs.
Build your audience
Like and then Tag (@__) other
organizations, farms or
businesses)
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34. Email Newsletters
Keep in touch with
consumers or CSA
members
Google Places – aka Google Plus Local
Farms will appear on google maps and be
searchable on google map by name. Also
enhances search listings
Dropbox.com
Cloud
Backup and
sharing big
files
NEWSLETTERS, ETC
http://frontporchforum.com/
Front Porch Forum
Reach your neighbors
http://mailchimp.com/
https://www.google.com/business/placesforbusiness/
https://www.dropbox.com/home
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USING FACEBOOK TO CONNECT
Looking to put Farmers and
Homesteaders in touch with one
another for the purpose of selling
or trading livestock, farm equipment,
and supplies. Likewise, you can use this
group to post Wanted Ads too!
NETWORKING https://www.facebook.com/groups/NekFarmSwap/
NEK FarmSwap Facebook
Group –
Start a group in your
community

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NETWORKING
A worldwide community of farmers that build and modify farm
tools. Hacks are shared online and at meet ups.
Fido, the temperature alarm that
sends text messages
Low cost pedal power root
washer http://farmhack.org/tools

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Top Farm
Management
Software
Products
http://www.capterra.co
m/farm-management-
software/

38. Essential Digital
Tools for Farm and
Food Ventures
SOUTHERN SAWG CONFERENCE
JANUARY 29, 2016
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ROBERT FISH
ROB.W.FISH@GMAIL.COM