“Let Them Give It Their Best Shot”–Words of Wisdom from the “Radio Organic” Podcast

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Written by Meaghan Donovan on Monday, October 11, 2021

The CCOF Foundation is pleased to partner with Community Alliance with Family Farmers and “The Farmers Beet” to launch our new podcast “Radio Organic: Sound Bites from the Organic Community.” 

In our four-part pilot series, we’ll chat briefly each week with long-time organic farmers about marketing techniques that have helped them run successful, resilient organic businesses. As a part of each interview, we ask our guest farmers what recommendations they have for newer farmers on managing resilient organic farms, as well as advice for farmers switching from wholesale to direct-to-consumer marketing.

In our fourth and final episode in this series, we chatted with Bertha Magaña of Magaña Farm and Tania Zuñiga of Kitchen Table Advisors about how selling directly to consumers strengthened Magaña Farm’s business and community. 

As Magaña’s farm business advisor, Zuñiga assisted Magaña Farm in diversifying its marketing strategies to include direct-to-consumer and retail sales, in addition to their traditional wholesale outlets. 

Selling directly to consumers brought new opportunities and new challenges for Magaña. When asked what advice she had for farmers who are just starting to sell direct to consumers, Magaña offered the following.

“Well, let them give it their best shot. It's not easy, but it's not impossible either. And they should seek help from organizations.”

Zuñiga emphasized the importance of a community network in running a successful farm business.

“I think that one of the keys to being successful when you run your own business is to be connected—connected to your community, connected to other farmers, connected to others, to buyers, connected to organizations as well.”

Want to hear more of our conversation with Magaña and Zuñiga, including recommendations on resources and organizations that support small, organic farms in California? Download the episode from “The Farmers Beet” podcast on iTunes and Spotify, or listen directly via CCOF’s YouTube Channel. The episode is available in both English and Spanish.

We’d want to hear from you! While this is the final episode in our pilot podcast series, we’d love to hear your ideas for future broadcasts. Send us your speaker suggestions via this feedback link.

Acknowledgments: This pilot podcast series is part of the CCOF Foundation’s Farmers’ Marketing: Tools for Success series, providing tips and tools for farmers to strengthen their sales and income at farmers’ markets and other direct to consumer outlets. Funding for the series was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant AM180100XXXXG055.