What if you could reclaim hours of your time each week—just by documenting and automating the simple tasks you’re already doing?
In this episode, I sit down with Glen Young of Cold Springs Organics, a Farm Marketing School member and automation-building wizard, to talk about how he’s using Zapier + AI to automate processes in his farm business—from order management to email marketing, lead tagging, customer onboarding, and even abandoned cart follow-ups.
Glen shares how he went from juggling everything manually to building smart, scalable workflows that save him time and create a better customer experience. He walks us through his "white belt to black belt" automation philosophy, shares the tools he’s using (and loving), and explains how he's using ChatGPT to document and coach his systems into existence.
🎧 If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything yourself (and it’s too much), this episode will change how you think about building systems in your farm biz—one Zap at a time.
Podcast Guest: Glen Young
Glen is the owner of Cold Springs Organic Farm in Campbellcroft, Ontario. He has a background in engineering and worked for 15 years in information technology. During that time, he built enough of a real estate portfolio to semi-retire and spend a lot of time with his young boys. In 2016, he and his wife Amy welcomed a new baby girl into the family. Baby Grace’s birth really opened Glen’s eyes to the risks of climate change and problems with the industrial food system, so Glen found a friend and investor to help him form a joint-venture, buy some farmland and start farming carbon.
His goals are to make the farm an example for sustainability and to accomplish this, he’s been racing to make it financially sustainable. Glen lives with his amazing wife Amy and three children just east of Toronto, Canada and always loves to connect with other small-scale farmers or aspiring farmers in the area so don’t hesitate to reach out to him!
Glen’s website: coldspringsorganics.com
See Glen's first appearance on the My Digital Farmer podcast, Episode 203: A 2-Year Roadmap for New CSA Farmers - Interview with Glen Young of Cold Spring Organics
Podcast Sponsors:
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Marketing doesn’t have to feel overwhelming! Farm Marketing School is my step-by-step system for building a profitable farm marketing plan. Inside, you'll get access to bite-sized marketing projects like:
- 📆 Creating a promotion calendar that drives consistent sales
- 🛠️ Setting up & optimizing your Google Business Profile
- 📧 Writing high-converting emails (nurture, promotions, onboarding)
- 🗣️ Collecting & using customer testimonials effectively
- 🔍 Auditing & improving your sales funnel
- 💬 Monthly live coaching calls for answers to your burning questions
Each project includes a workshop and step-by-step plan so you can take action and see results without the overwhelm. Join here:
👉 www.mydigitalfarmer.com/fms (Cancel anytime!)
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