Thriving Farmer Case Study: Our Local Farm

We understood farming, but we needed to learn marketing!

Kimmie and her husband, Phil do pretty much everything on their Raleigh, NC area farm..with the “help” of their three children. Originally from Mattawamkeag, Maine, Phil moved to North Carolina nearly twenty years ago. Though trained as a master automotive technician he became interested in regenerative farming after becoming friends with several Polyface Farm associates. Phil’s desire to farm grew as he researched and studied more about our food and farming systems in America.

Kimmie grew up on a diverse farm in Augusta County, Virginia just several miles away from Polyface. So she kind of has regenerative agriculture and farming in her DNA.

“After attending NC State for my undergraduate and graduate studies I worked in the Raleigh/Durham area,” Kimmie said. “Since becoming a mother I have made my family and the farm my main job. Now we have three junior farmers. The oldest two, Olivia and Elisah, are responsible for collecting eggs and helping feed and water the animals.”

Phil and Kimmie named the farm “Our Local Farm” because they wanted their local community to connect with them, and they wanted to be as essential to their community as farmers were just a few generations ago. Their farm serves Raleigh and the bustling RTP area of North Carolina. 

But, while they studied regenerative agriculture and farming extensively, they found (as most farmers do) that marketing and technology required a whole new set of skills.

“Prior to joining Small Farm Nation Academy, we just felt like we did not know what the heck we were doing in any area of our business,” Kimmie said. But Small Farm Nation has been a great resource because we get help whenever we need it in many areas of our farm business, especially website assistance.”

Marketing and technology is a critical challenge that almost all small business owners struggle with, but none more than farmers. Farming demands so much, day in and day out, that it’s difficult to know what the marketing priorities should be, what to do and when to do it. Most farmers struggle to clearly focus on the important priorities that can propel their sales and profits.

“Joining Small Farm Nation Academy helped focus us. It is really comforting to know we have someone to turn to when we have a farm business or marketing question.”