120 Should You Start a CSA Farm? (SARE Video Series: CSA Starts Here)

August 11, 2021 by Corinna

Have you thought about starting a CSA, but you’re not sure if you’re up to it?

What does it take to become a great CSA farm anyway?

Before you take the leap, what if you could get some advice from seasoned CSA farmers, to tell you what you need to commit to if you want to be successful?

In this podcast, we interview Lauren Rudersdorf and Cat Becker, collaborators of the recent North Central SARES video series called: CSA Starts Here. This video series was designed to help farmers learn the key questions and skill sets they must master before they jump into the CSA movement. Before you EVER think about starting a CSA, take a couple hours to review this video series, just to make sure you’ve thought things through.

You’ll thank me later.

CSA isn’t easy, and before you hit the “GO” button, you should REALLY do some research and know what you’re getting yourself into. There are a LOT of skill sets you need to have (besides growing product) if you want to be successful. Lauren and Cat share some of the results of their research, and we talk about the highlights of this video series.

Hit play and let’s get started!

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WHO IS LAUREN RUDERSDORF?

Lauren Rudersdorf is a CSA farmer, coach, food blogger, recipe developer, storyteller, social media enthusiast, and educator obsessed with the CSA model and helping farmers execute it well in order to find more stability, profitability and success on their farms. She’s been farming with her husband Kyle in southern Wisconsin for the last eight years at Raleigh’s Hillside Farm. In 2019, with funding from North Central SARE, Lauren launched a collaborative project with CSA farmers across the Midwest to create a video series to help aspiring and beginning farmers determine if CSA is the right model for their farm business. Lauren is the co-creator of the online course “CSA Quickstart” — which teaches farmers how to start a CSA business for their farm. Lauren is also a Soil Sister and farm member of FairShare CSA Coalition. And she is a recent mother to a new baby girl.

WHO IS KAT BECKER?

Kat Becker came to farming with a background in International Agriculture and a Masters in Sociology and a passion around seed politics, plant varieties and plant breeding. Her farm Cattail Organics was founded in 2017 and she runs a CSA as well as a wholesale vegetable farm. Kat was one of the collaborators of the “CSA Starts Here” project.

Some of the resources mentioned in this episode:

- - Follow me on Instagram @mydigitalfarmer to get a daily marketing and farm business tip.
  - Find my Facebook group for farmers! I jump in here every month to teach farmers tips and fundamentals of marketing.
  - Want to watch the “CSA Starts Here” Video series? It’s hosted on the CSA Innovation Network website. Go here to find the direct link.
  - Want to sign up for my CSA Quickstart online course when we open enrollment in January? Then sign up here on my wait list, and you’ll be sure to hear all the details.

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My hope is to feature guests periodically on the show. If you know someone who is innovating in the area of marketing as a farmer, please send me an email at corinna@mydigitalfarmer.com.

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120 Should You Start a CSA Farm? (SARE Video Series: CSA Starts Here)