204 A Two-Year Roadmap for New CSA Farmers with Glen Young of Cold Springs Organics
March 29, 2023 by Corinna
What if someone could give you a roadmap of “what to do” in your first 2 years to build your CSA business? In today’s episode, I interview Farmer Glen Young — a 2-year farmer who is hell-bent on building his new farm business to be profitable by year 5.
Glen has made all of the mistakes possible in his first two seasons of organic market gardening as he has built up to a 40 member CSA and a once-per-week Farmer’s Market operation. He has “bet the farm” on making Cold Springs Organics environmentally and financially sustainable and he has a deep-rooted interest in seeing other new farmers do the same. Join him and Corinna as they discuss all the sales and marketing things that have worked and what he would do differently if he were to have a do-over for the first two years on the farm.
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Who is Glen Young?
Better known as “Farmer Glen” these days, 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. They’ve grown from a revenue of $7K in year one to $60K in year two and have to double again next season to get into the black. Glen will share what has worked and what hasn’t worked in his first two seasons along with his priorities for next season. 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
Some of the resources mentioned in this episode:
Join my free email list! I have a great “email onboarding sequence” that will guide you through the marketing jungle over the course of several months. Each week, you’ll get a new email with suggestions and tips to make your marketing better.
Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller — Glen mentioned this book several times, as a key resource that helped him identify the framework for his farm’s “brand script.”
Accelerator Group Coaching with Corinna — get on the wait list for this 15-member group Mastermind and Farm Marketing School experience.
A to Z Vegetable Storage Guide — join the dozens of farmers who have purchased this Canva template to use as a lead-generating tool
Glen offered his farm’s business plan to our listeners. You can find it on his website here.
ChatGPT — an AI powered bot that will blow your mind with its creative writing potential.
Sign up for my CSA Academy — and get access to my CSA member resource library to use for your own CSA (as long as you’re a paying member). Use coupon code TRIAL to get your first month for $1.
CSA Early Bird Launch Course — Learn how to get your CSA members to renew their shares when you want them to, using the “launch” promotion technique in this online course
CSA Quickstart — Glen enrolled in this comprehensive course that teaches you how to start a CSA from scratch — all the systems and production stuff — in 60 days.
Find my Facebook group for farmers!
Follow me on Instagram for a daily IG story tip on marketing! @mydigitalfarmer
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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 mydigitalfarmers@gmail.com.
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