Farm Small Farm Smart

Drawing from Harvard, MIT, and McKinsey research, Diego breaks down why farmers with superior produce lose to competitors with worse products.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Po...

Revenue per acre in market gardening ranges from $20,000 to $400,000. Same crops, same square footage, 20x different results. After 10 years interviewing hundreds of farmers, the difference isn't luck — it's six factors working together. Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Ge...

In this episode, Dr. Paul Zorner of Locus Ag Solutions sheds light on the role of weeds in maintaining soil health and in soil succession.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podca...

After years of failed crops and poor germination, farmer Ray Tyler cracked the code on consistent lettuce production. Now growing 400 pounds weekly at 75% profit margins, he shares the complete system that generates $160,000 annually from lettuce alone—on less than half an acre.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming to...

In this episode, Dr. Johannes Lehmann of Cornell University talks about how our knowledge of soil and humus evolved through decades of research.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower...

Ray Tyler rejected the race-to-the-bottom pricing that destroys most small farms. Instead, he discovered customers willing to pay $10/pound for premium lettuce—5x what big farms charge. With 75% profit margins and weekly harvests creating constant cash flow, Ray built a farm that supports his family plus 4 employees on just one acre.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farmi...

In this episode, Dr. Bruno Basso of CIBO Technologies how keeping the soil covered can help keep nitrogen in place.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:   Carrot Ca...

In this episode, Diego talks about uncomfortable financial questions any aspiring farmer MUST answer before starting their farm business.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast...

Michael Russo spent 20 years as a chef — 80-hour weeks, sometimes 100. Seven weddings in a single day. Then he looked at the executive chefs above him: seventies, still working 100-hour weeks, miserable. He walked away at 40 with no farming experience, no degree, and no business background. First real growing season: $2,100 in his best week ($600 restaurant, $1,500 farmer's market). Even off weeks...

In this episode,  Research Associate Professor Dr. Buz Kloot of Soil Health Labs talks about the difference between practices and principles and how one principle can have many different practices for execution.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   I...

Stop buying hope. Start making informed decisions.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:   Carrot Cashflow   Farm Small Farm Smart   Farm Small Farm Smart Daily   Th...

How much should a market garden bed generate? After analyzing numbers from hundreds of farmers, the range is massive: $300 per bed to $1,500+ from the same bed size and season. This episode breaks down seven per-bed revenue benchmarks by crop, from the $500 baseline that keeps you alive to the $1,500+ hero crops that keep your farm profitable. Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Ch...

In this episode, author and educator Peter McCoy of Mycologos breaks down fungi and the carbon they hold.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:   Carrot Cashflow   F...

Jill Duncan generates $65,000 annually from just 1/8 acre - smaller than most suburban backyards. With no employees, no electricity on site, no wash station, and working just 40 hours per week during peak season, she's redefined what profitable farming looks like.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, an...

A caterpillar tunnel costs $1,400. One harvest of lettuce at $6/lb produces 400–425 pounds — $2,400 in revenue. The tunnel pays for itself in a single harvest. From that point on, it's free infrastructure. Click here to learn more about farmer Elliot and Fair Share Farm. Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming...

In this episode, compost specialist and owner of Living Roots Compost Tea Troy Hinke explains why compost that have sat longer are generally better quality than newer composts.    Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to ot...

In this episode, Diego breaks down the exact tactics, systems, and numbers behind Megan Neubauers's pick-your-own operation over in Texas. Learn how she averages $4,700 per day with 240 customers spending $47 each - all while maintaining 65% gross margins.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplie...

What if one crop could pay your bills 40 to 50 weeks a year? Elliot Seldner at Fair Share Farm in North Carolina built his entire operation around lettuce as a cash flywheel — one crop that funds everything else. Click here to learn more about farmer Elliot and Fair Share Farm. Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market f...

Biochar expert Kelpie Wilson of Wilson Biochar breaks down how to make good biochar: what feedstock to use and how to char them.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network...

In this episode, Diego interviews Megan Neubauer, who transformed her struggling market farm into a $151,000 you-pick operation working just 8 weeks per year by ditching farmers markets and transitioning into a seasonal you-pick farm.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Fo...

The amount you spend starting a farm has almost no correlation with how successful it becomes. Some of the worst outcomes I've seen came from people with the most money to spend. Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Growe...

In this episode, microbiologist and co-creator of the Johnson-Su bioreactor, Dr. David Johnson, introduces the Johnson-Su Bioreactor, what it does, and who it's for.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to other podcasts...

In this video, I break down how Jacki Hinchey of Blue Dog Farm created her signature "Really Fancy Salad" that commands $20/pound (double the normal price) and has become the cornerstone of her farm's success.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Ins...

Can 10 beds in a backyard generate $10,000? Diego did the math using real numbers from farmers he has interviewed over the past decade. Farmer Jill Duncan makes $65,000 on ⅛ acre in Ferguson, Missouri. Broxon Berry Farm does $80,000 on ⅖ acre in Indiana. The limiting factor isn't land...it's actually market access and systems. Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.  Subscribe...

Soil specialist and consultant Dr. Jim Hoorman of Hoorman Soil discusses a holistic way to build the soil...minus commercial fertilizers.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Follow Modern Grower:   Instagram   Instagram Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcas...