Farmer To Farmer With Chris Blanchard

Hans and Katie Bishop raise fifteen acres of certified organic vegetables at PrairiErth Farm in central Illinois, marketing about $250,000 worth of produce through a farmers market, CSA, and wholesale outlets. With about fifty percent of their sales going through one farmers market in a mid-sized city, Katie and Hans had a lot to say about how they make that work, from the details of their display and market stand setup, their digital checkout system and the value its data brings to their farming operation, and their farmers market magic sauce – the passion Katie has to connect with their customers. Katie digs into the nuts and bolts of how she connects with customers at farmers market and through social media. Hans started growing vegetables at his family’s operation in 2009, while he and Katie both lived in the city; over several years, Hans made the transition to full-time farming, and then Katie followed, and then they moved out to the farm. Hans and Katie share how they knew it was time to make the vario