This is our farms presentation on some of the tech innovations that have helped our small certified organic farm grow profitably. laughingstockfarms@gmail.com

1. Presented By: Josh Hardin
Laughing Stock Farm
Sheridan, AR
SSAWG 2015
Doing it on The Fly: Creative Usages of
Electronic Devices on the Farm

2.  What do we do at Laughing Stock Farm?
◦ Farmers Markets, Restaurants, Retailers
 What types of technology make us profitable?
◦ The Phone as a farm implement
◦ Social Media
◦ Crop Planning Tools
◦ There IS an app for that
 Conversation
 Questions?
Introduction

3. The Phone as a Farm Implement
 Easy, quick communication with Chefs, Market
Managers, and Social Media
 Every market & customer differs, so be sensitive
with frequency and intensity
 Most chefs prefer short direct
texts once they know your
products and trust your quality.
 Establish relationships directly
and send availability lists
weekly before texting

4. Social Media
Boost post vs. Boost
Page
 Reaching your target
customer doesn’t
cost much
 Connect your post
with a sale to
maximize the $$$
 Boosting page gets
more overall fans for
your page

5. -Don’t
 Blow up the newsfeed 15
times a day
 Post things unrelated to
farm-consumer relationship
 Tag your entire friends list.
 Create long dissertations on
complex farmology
 Use your Farm’s Social
Media to vent frustration
about…anything.
Social Media Do’s & Dont’s
-Do
 Post Regularly
 Share pictures of production
practices and products as
well as customers and
workers
 Tag people to increase the
organic visibility
 Create short demo videos of
production practices

8. Some Farm Posts…

9.  Ability to completely
customize your farm plan
 Cost free with a suggested
donation if it becomes
useful to your farm
 http://code.google.com/
p/cropplanning/
 Mail to Clayton:
cropplanning@gmail.com
Open Source Crop Planning

16. There’s an app for that but will it make
you money or waste your time?

17. Farm Monitoring
 Acurite.com
 Software-Free Online
Based
 Sensors-12.99-89.99
 Internet Bridge 79.99-
requires phone line
 Available for most
devices (Tablets,
iPhone, Android)

18. Create Your Own Almanac
 Live Feed From up to 15
Sensors
 Hang sensors at plant
level in hoophouses and
greenhouses
 Records are stored on
the cloud

24. Quick Books Online Version
 Subscription service
 Allows you to link device
and computer
constantly
 Invoice customers from
the phone
 Provides lots of options
for viewing and tracking
financial information

25. The Most Important App
 Accept credit cards
anywhere
 Can be used with many
different phones
 Track sales easily through
the program
 2% Per transaction fee
 Take cards over the phone
for add’l 2%
 Can operate multiple units
at once on same bank
account securely.

26. Discussion
 What has worked and not
worked on your small farm?
 Are their barriers to
technology that exist in
your food community?
 How do we make low cost
technology more available
to fellow growers and
aspiring producers?

27. Questions?
 Thank you and have a
great season in 2015!
 Josh Hardin
 laughingstockfarms@gm
ail.com
 870-866-3753 cell

28.  Session Resources
 Social Media
 http://farmsocially.com/
 http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/7-secrets-to-successful-social-
media-farming/
 Open Source Crop Planning
 http://code.google.com/p/cropplanning/
 Mail to Clayton: cropplanning@gmail.com
 Farm Apps
 www.agweb.com/article/10_handy_farm_apps/
 www.farms.com/agriculture-apps/
 Contact Info
 Josh Hardin
 laughingstockfarms@gmail.com
 870-866-3753
 Weather Monitoring
 http://www.acurite.com/