127. Lindsey Lusher Shute on Growing Online Sales in a Digital World Using the Co-op Model

How is the farming world adapting to, utilizing, and merging with the digital world? We’re joined today by CEO and founder of the Farm Generations Cooperative and Co-founder of the National Young Farmers Coalition, Lindsey Lusher Shute. Lindsey is a fellow farm podcaster as well, hosting the Young Farmers Podcast! She is also the founder of the GrownBy app, a farmer-designed, farmer-owned app created for selling farm products directly to consumers. An Ohio native, Lindsey first developed her love of farming on her grandfather’s land in the rolling hills of Appalachia. As Executive Director of Young Farmers, Lindsey grew the organization from a few volunteer farmers to a nationwide network with 40 chapters in 39 states and a grassroots base of over 120,000. Tune in to learn all about how she does it!   You’ll hear: How Lindsey got into the farmer space 1:29 How GrownBy charges for their services 11:31 How the Grown By app helps farmers get sales 19:58 What’s being currently developed on GrownBy 28:20 Lindsey plans to bring on new partners for the business 32:11 Where you can learn more about GrownBy 32:54   About the Guest: Lindsey Lusher Shute is CEO and founder of the Farm Generations Cooperative and co-owner of Hearty Roots Farm in Clermont, NY. Prior to Farm Generations, Lindsey co-founded the National Young Farmers Coalition and led the organization as executive director for 10 years. At Young Farmers, Lindsey built a network of 150,000 farmers and activists to support grassroots campaigns on the issues of land affordability, conservation, credit, student loans, and farmer training. Resources:Website - farmgenerations.coop, grownby.app Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lushershute Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/farmgenerationscoop/, https://www.instagram.com/heartyroots/   Steward Resources: Steward is transforming agriculture by equipping regenerative farms with the capital they need to grow. As a financial partner, we offer private commercial loans and the expert support services that sustainable farmers, ranchers, fishers, and producers need to expand and sustain their businesses. Through Steward’s user-friendly online platform, responsible lenders are able to join us in fueling this growth and participate directly in these loans, deepening their connection to agriculture while providing critical funds needed by farmers. Certified B Corporation. Get started at gosteward.com Website: gosteward.com Online Loan Application: https://lets.gosteward.com/farm-loan Newsletter: https://lets.gosteward.com/join-our-community