This issue covers updates to Shopify, GrazeCart, Drip, Google Ads, Google Shopping, plus a few farm grant opportunities, resources, and a call out for regenerative farms to be featured in a new magazine. What topics would you like us to cover in future newsletters? Just reply and drop me a line — I’d love to know!
— Sarah
I got to spend a few days with some amazing folks last month at the National Farm Viability Conference and came home feeling energized and inspired.
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Farm Platform Updates
Drip
Built-in SMS texting on Drip, once thought lost forever, is back and now available to all US-based customers! You can now send text broadcasts and automated text messages to SMS subscribers directly from the Drip platform.
Google Ads
Google Ads is rolling out three updates expanding options that give advertisers more control over who sees their ads: brand-new shoppers, past customers, or both. It’s like telling Google, “Show my ads more to new people who’ll spend the most, and also to past customers who’ve drifted away,” with more precise dials for how much extra each type of customer is worth to you. (They also released channel prioritization to give you more control over the breakdown of spend across channels, but we don’t recommend using that because letting your ads run on all the default channels in the first place is typically a waste of money!)
Google Merchant Center (Google Shopping)
Customers are shopping more with AI, and the Merchant Center backend now has AI performance insights. This includes info on how your farm compares to competitors, as well as popular search terms and search intent that you can use to be discovered by shoppers. (Search intent tells you what’s motivating customers — buying local, prioritizing health, following a specific diet, saving money by buying in bulk, etc.)
GrazeCart
A new product reviews feature to collect, approve, and publish product reviews from customers is now in beta. Reach out to GrazeCart Support to get set up.
GrazeCart POS now supports partial tenders, so customers checkout out in stores can pay using more than one payment method. It also now has guards in place to help prevent accidental duplicate charges.
Shopify
Just in time for the holidays, Shopify has added the ability to fulfill orders in batches! Group up to 250 orders using criteria you select, then generate a pick list, buy and print shipping labels and packing slips, and pack them together. (Perfect for packing those holiday shipping orders quickly and efficiently!)
Need a hand with Drip, Google, GrazeCart, or Shopify for your farm? We’d be happy to help! Get in touch.
Resources
Local Food Marketplace recently released a toolkit for farms and food hubs selling into institutional markets. The guide includes practical background on understanding buying needs, becoming a vendor, and keeping accounts, plus ten questions to bring to your first real conversation with a buyer and a calculator to determine margins.
If you’re setting aside time this winter to work on your farm’s marketing, you might enjoy some of our resources:
Is your farm vagueposting? (This one is a big opportunity to increase ROI on the time you’re already spending on social media!)
Grants for Farms
Grant season is here!
Farm to Stay Grant Program for stays & experiences (opening in Nov.; webinar Nov. 13)
North Central SARE Farmer Rancher Grant (due Dec. 3)
Northeast SARE Farmer Grant (due Dec. 8)
Next Generation Farmer Fund (due Dec. 1)
Southern SARE Producer Grant (due Nov. 6) and On-Farm Research Grant (due Nov. 13)
Western SARE has a few grants that just closed, but you can subscribe to be notified when the next round opens.
VAPGs were awarded last month. These are a game changer for many farms we’ve worked with! Now is the time to get a headstart on your farm’s 2027 grant application by reaching out to a consultant. Check out our directory of farm consultants and resources (and let us know if you know someone who should be on the list!). It also includes accountants and business consultants to support with other work you might be doing this winter.
State & local grants: Be sure to check your state’s department of agriculture and search other local/regional farm grants. (Here are just a few: California, Illinois, Montana, New York, and Wisconsin, most of which recur.)
Contribute to Farm Out Loud
Jordan reached out to us about Farm Out Loud, a new print publication for farms. The magazine is looking for regenerative direct-to-consumer farms who want to be featured and share experiments, numbers, lessons, operating changes, etc. Get in touch with them.
What we’ve been up to
Earlier this year we collaborated with Essex Farm to develop a website and advertising as well as support their email marketing and Google profile.
“On our side, advertising results have been excellent. We sold much more than expected in CSA memberships and I believe they were all directly from the open house event. Can you believe it? I'm still smiling. We had a discussion at our team meeting this morning about cutting off new full diet memberships because we may be approaching our capacity. That's the best news! I am going to look at projections today and we will make that call. Thank you Sarah for all your help.”
“We couldn’t be happier with the work Grapevine has done for us and the results speak for themselves.”
— Kristin Kimball, Essex Farm
Should we save a spot for you?
Our winter schedule is filling up but we do have some room for website projects, Google, social media, and graphic design. Let us know if you’d like us to hold a spot for your project! You can reach out to your Grapevine contact or contact us.
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