313 Building Systems ad Automations into Your Farm Business Using Zapier (with Glen Young)

What if you could reclaim hours of your time each week—just by documenting and automating the simple tasks you’re already doing?

In this episode, I sit down with Glen Young of Cold Springs Organics, a Farm Marketing School member and automation-building wizard, to talk about how he’s using Zapier + AI to automate processes in his farm business—from order management to email marketing, lead tagging, customer onboarding, and even abandoned cart follow-ups.

Glen shares how he went from juggling everything manually to building smart, scalable workflows that save him time and create a better customer experience. He walks us through his “white belt to black belt” automation philosophy, shares the tools he’s using (and loving), and explains how he’s using ChatGPT to document and coach his systems into existence.

🎧 If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything yourself (and it’s too much), this episode will change how you think about building systems in your farm biz—one Zap at a time.

Listen here.

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Today’s Podcast Guest: Glen Young

Glen is the owner of Cold Springs Organic Farm in Campbellcroft, Ontario. He has a background in engineering and worked for 15 years in information technology. During that time, he built enough of a real estate portfolio to semi-retire and spend a lot of time with his young boys. In 2016, he and his wife Amy welcomed a new baby girl into the family. Baby Grace’s birth really opened Glen’s eyes to the risks of climate change and problems with the industrial food system, so Glen found a friend and investor to help him form a joint-venture, buy some farmland and start farming carbon.

His goals are to make the farm an example for sustainability and to accomplish this, he’s been racing to make it financially sustainable. Glen lives with his amazing wife Amy and three children just east of Toronto, Canada and always loves to connect with other small-scale farmers or aspiring farmers in the area so don’t hesitate to reach out to him!

Glen’s website: coldspringsorganics.com

See Glen’s first appearance on the My Digital Farmer podcast, Episode 203: A 2-Year Roadmap for New CSA Farmers – Interview with Glen Young of Cold Spring Organics

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Podcast Sponsors:

Local Line:

Local Line is my preferred e-commerce platform for farmers. Are you looking for a new solution for your farm? I can’t recommend it enough. Easy-to-use inventory management, great customer service, continuous improvement, and a culture dedicated to equipping farmers with marketing expertise. Local Line is offering a free premium feature for free for one year on top of your paid subscription. Claim your discount by signing up for a Local Line account today and using the coupon code: MDF2025. Head to my special affiliate link to get started: www.mydigitalfarmer.com/localline

Farm Marketing School:

Marketing doesn’t have to feel overwhelming! Farm Marketing School is my step-by-step system for building a profitable farm marketing plan. Inside, you’ll get access to bite-sized marketing projects like:

• 📆 Creating a promotion calendar that drives consistent sales
• 🛠️ Setting up & optimizing your Google Business Profile
• 📧 Writing high-converting emails (nurture, promotions, onboarding)
• 🗣️ Collecting & using customer testimonials effectively
• 🔍 Auditing & improving your sales funnel
• 💬 Monthly live coaching calls for answers to your burning questions

Each project includes a workshop and step-by-step plan so you can take action and see results without the overwhelm. Join here:
👉 www.mydigitalfarmer.com/fms (Cancel anytime!)

Helpful Links Mentioned in This Episode

🛠️ Glen’s Bonus Freebie Mentioned in this Episode: Want to see what Glen is building? Download his 5 Simple Farm Automations Guide and get started with Zapier basics. 👉

Zapier.com ==> check out this tool which connects apps together so you can build automation workflows. There is a free and paid version. You can do quite a bit for free!

ChatGPT ==> sign up for a free account with this AI tool, and use it to help you document and write some of your automation workflows. Let Chat help you! https://chatgpt.com/

Hear Glen’s first appearance on the My Digital Farmer podcast, Episode 203: A 2-Year Roadmap for New CSA Farmers – Interview with Glen Young of Cold Spring Organics

What email provider do I use? I recommend Kit.com (formerly ConvertKit.com) — it is easy to use, powerful, and getting better every year. It also integrates with most e-commerce providers and tools. Use my affiliate link!

📲 Follow me on Instagram: @mydigitalfarmer

📬 Join My Email List: Get weekly farm marketing tips delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up at www.mydigitalfarmer.com/subscribe.

🌱 Want more farm marketing strategies? Visit my full resource library at www.mydigitalfarmer.com