The Urban Farmer: 5 Common Reasons Why Many Small Farmers Fail and How You Can Avoid These Pitfalls (FSFS14)

Listen to more episodes of Farm Small Farm Smart

Common Reasons Why Many Small Farmers Fail At Farming

  • Growing too many crops. 
    • Not focusing on the crops that make you the most money and fit your growing system best.
    • Growing what you want, not what the market wants
  • Not knowing who your customers are.
    • Where do they live, how much money do they make, what type of foods do they like to eat, how much food do they buy, etc.
    • It is very important to pay attention to and learn the nuances and subtleties of market and how they change season to season and over time.
  • Not realizing that you are in the people business, not the food business.
    • A lot of people will buy product from you because they like you and your story and they want to support you.  It isn’t just all about the product.
    • If you focus on the product at the expense of the customer relationships then you might end up with a lot of product and a little customer base.
  • Not having a plan.
    • A lot of farmers start farming and then try to mold a business around that, versus conceptualizing a business, creating a plan, creating a plan, and then executing.  You need to have a business concept before you start farming.
  • Waiting to starting your farm marketing until you have a product to sell.
    • You can start marketing your farm and building an audience from day one. 
    • Don’t expect people to be lined up out the door just because you have product to sell.

 

Learn More from Curtis Stone:

Read The Urban Farmer book

Listen to The Urban Farmer audiobook

Subscribe to Farm Small Farm Smart in your favorite podcast player:

iTunes | Spotify | PlayerFM

3 replies on “The Urban Farmer: 5 Common Reasons Why Many Small Farmers Fail and How You Can Avoid These Pitfalls (FSFS14)

  • Christopher

    Sincerely speaking, this is an informative article and one that can save us the trouble of losing money on unprofitable farming ventures.
    A lot of us make the mistake of thinking ‘if we start growing, people will start buying’ and then we end producing stuff that no one is interested in.
    Great tips

    Reply
  • Mark

    Great show! I appreciate the “tough love” sort of way that you explained the harsh realities of this business. It reminds me of the inspirational lectures that my father gave me as a kid.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *