Carrot Cashflow

Hosted by The Modern Grower Podcast Network

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Episodes

113

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

Carrot Cashflow is the first 100% business-focused podcast for small-scale farmers and market gardeners. Learn how to market your farm products better, increase sales, and get more customers. This show is for anyone who wants to run a farm business profitably. Each episode explores a farm business topic. Some episodes feature guests where we talk with a beginning or experienced farmer, diving deep into their story to determine what makes their farm successful. I focus on farming challenges and struggles, sales and marketing, social media marketing, farm startup, market selection, and work-life balance. Hosted and produced by Diego Footer's Modern Grower Podcast Network. Diego is also the co-author of the book Ready Farmer One.

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60 recent

June 12, 202613 min

$130K/Year Selling Lettuce & Still Turns Down Customers

Michael Russo spent 20 years as a chef working 80-hour weeks, sometimes 100. 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 with groundhog damage, he pushed $1,000. He spent $30,000 on equipment in year one...all cash from his previous career, no debt. Watch the video on our YouTube Channel! Interested in watching the series? Hop on over to 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 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 The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

June 12, 202613 min

$130K/Year Selling Lettuce & Still Turns Down Customers

June 5, 20261 hr 14 min

Chef Mikey Russo on Building a Farm Brand, Not Just a Farm (CC58)

Chef Mikey Russo left a 20-year kitchen career to start a market garden in Tennessee. We first talked in 2023 during his first full-time season. Now he's in year four with no job, running $130,000 in annual revenue across 80 fifty-foot beds on two properties, selling to roughly eight restaurants, and paying himself $30,000 after $40,000 in labor costs. Click here to learn more about Chef Mikey and Chef's Harvest! Watch the episode here! Interested in watching the series? Hop on over to 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 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 The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

May 29, 202615 min

Carrots: The Most Underrated Profit Crop in Market Gardening

After 10 years of analyzing crop economics, one crop keeps scoring a perfect five out of five on every profitability metric I track. It's not lettuce. It's not microgreens. It's carrots. Watch the video on our YouTube Channel! Interested in watching the series? Hop on over to 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 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 The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

May 22, 202626 min

What a Factory Floor Can Teach You About Running Your Farm

Neil Robinson spent 20 years designing dishwashers and ovens for factory assembly lines. Then he quit and started a market garden. When I asked what transferred, he didn't say growing skills. He said: the way factories think about movement, waste, and process. Click here to learn more about Neil and Garden to Market. Watch the episode here! Interested in watching the series? Hop on over to 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 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 The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

May 15, 202613 min

35% Profit Margin and Still Can't Pay the Bills (The Profit Trap)

35% profit margin. Your accountant says bravo. Your spouse says we're not losing money. But 35% of not enough is not enough. This is the profit margin trap — and it catches more farm businesses than bad weather ever will. Click here to learn more about Neil and Garden to Market. Watch the episode here! Interested in watching the series? Hop on over to 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 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 The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

May 8, 202619 min

From $400 Days to $800 Days: What Changed at the Farmer's Market

$400 a day. That's where Neil Robinson started his first year at a farmer's market in New Zealand. The vendor two stalls down selling nearly identical product had a line out the front. Neil was standing there, wondering what was wrong with his carrots. Nothing was wrong with his carrots. The other vendor's carrots were familiar. Click here to learn more about Neil and Garden to Market. Watch the episode here! Interested in watching the series? Hop on over to 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 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 The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

May 1, 20261 hr 17 min

Year One of Market Farming at 55 (CC57)

He spent 30+ years in product design and manufacturing. Then at 55, Neil Robinson left his desk job in New Zealand and started a market garden from scratch. This interview covers the unfiltered first-year reality: 15 weeks of showing up to a farmer's market before sales felt consistent. $400 was a good day in those early weeks — now a good week is over $800, pushing past $1,000 with the right product mix. Profit margin around 35% (with his own labor coming out of that 35%, not counted as a cost). Click here to learn more about Neil and Garden to Market. Watch the episode here! Interested in watching the series? Hop on over to 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 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 The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

April 24, 202611 min

How One Bed of Lettuce Can Generate $746 in Profit

Salanova is the most common lettuce crop in market gardening. But how many growers actually know their profit margin on it? Most are guessing. This episode breaks down the real economics using production data from Ray Tyler's book The Farmer's Guide to Growing Organic Lettuce — numbers from a working farm in Tennessee, not theory. The scenario: 100-foot bed, 30 inches wide, landscape fabric, 4×6 inch spacing, labor at $25/hr. Watch the video on our YouTube Channel! Interested in watching the series? Hop on over to 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 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 The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

April 17, 202619 min

$112K Profit You-Pick Farm Model

A parking lot, a tent, a pack of scissors. That's the entire retail infrastructure for a farm that grossed $158,500 last year. Watch the video on our YouTube Channel! Click here to check out Megan's book, Pick Your Own Farming by Megan Neubauer (Acres USA). Online course + monthly live calls: purelandorganic.com Click here to learn more about Pure Land Organic Farm. Check out their TikTok, too! Interested in watching the series? Hop on over to 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 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 The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.