From Row Crops to Peaches: Building a Farm Around the Customer
What if, instead of deciding what you wanted to grow and then figuring out how to sell it, you asked customers what they wanted first?
That’s the approach Tom Brown, owner of Meadowlark Farm Orchard and Cidery near Wichita, Kansas, took when he decided to build a farm of his own.
And it led him down a path from an 80-acre row crop farm to peaches, apples, strawberries, pumpkins, agritourism, and hard cider.
A Different Road Into Agriculture
Tom didn’t grow up farming.
After studying anthropology and horticulture at Kansas State, he spent roughly 15 years living and working in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His work exposed him to agribusiness development, seed production, horticulture, and the challenges farmers face when trying to build sustainable operations.
When he eventually returned to the United States, one thing hadn’t changed: he still wanted a farm of his own.
But instead of immediately looking for land and deciding what he wanted to grow, Tom started with the market.
He asked potential customers what they wanted.
One answer kept coming up: fresh, pick-your-own peaches.
Starting With the Customer
Knowing that customers would be central to the business shaped Tom’s land search from the beginning.
He intentionally looked for property within roughly a 30-minute drive of Wichita, giving Meadowlark access to a large population while still providing the space needed to build an agricultural operation.
In 2010, he purchased 80 acres for $225,000.
Today, Meadowlark has grown into a diversified operation that includes approximately:
18 acres of peaches
17–18 acres of apples
2 acres of strawberries
2 acres of pumpkins
Hard cider production
On-farm agritourism experiences
Rather than relying on one crop or one source of income, Meadowlark has developed multiple revenue streams around the same farm and customer base.
Agritourism Changes the Farm
When customers are coming directly to the farm, production is only part of the equation.
Tom explains that agritourism forces farmers to think differently about nearly every decision.
Where should trees be planted?
Where will people park?
How will customers move around the farm?
Which crops create reasons for families to return at different times of the year?
What makes someone want to come back next season?
Those questions helped shape Meadowlark’s growth.
Customer feedback, for example, played an important role in the farm's expansion into apples. Families visiting for peaches wanted additional experiences and products, giving Tom another opportunity to extend the season and diversify the business.
Turning Waste Into Another Revenue Stream
Growing fruit also creates a challenge: not everything harvested is going to make it into a customer's basket.
Fruit falls.
Fruit gets damaged.
Some simply doesn't meet the standards for fresh-market sales.
Instead of viewing all of that fruit as waste, Meadowlark found another opportunity: hard cider.
Cider created a way to capture additional value from the orchard while also adding another product and experience for customers.
It’s another example of looking beyond production and asking a different question:
How many ways can the farm create value from what it already has?
Knowing the Numbers Behind a Complicated Farm
Of course, adding enterprises also makes the financial side of the operation more complicated.
Peaches don't have the same costs as apples. Strawberries don't have the same costs as pumpkins. Cider introduces an entirely different set of expenses.
Tom uses Ambrook to help track Meadowlark's finances, including the direct costs associated with the farm's different enterprises.
Understanding those numbers becomes especially important when deciding where the next dollar, acre, or hour of labor should go.
For farmers considering diversification, that's an important reminder: more revenue streams don't automatically mean more profit.
Each enterprise has to make sense on its own and as part of the larger operation.
What Happens When You Run Out of Acres?
Meadowlark is also approaching another challenge many successful businesses eventually face: physical limitations.
There is only so much land.
There are only so many trees that can be planted.
There is only so much fruit the existing acreage can produce.
That means Meadowlark's next stage of growth may not come primarily from producing more.
Instead, Tom sees significant opportunity in cider sales and expanded on-farm experiences.
Those areas could allow the business to generate substantially more revenue without needing to dramatically increase the farm's physical footprint.
It's a different way of thinking about farm growth.
Sometimes growth means more acres.
Sometimes it means creating more value from the acres you already have.
Every Lesson Takes a Year
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Tom's story applies to nearly every type of agriculture.
Farming moves slowly.
A decision made today might not show its full impact until next season—or several seasons from now.
That's especially true in an orchard, where mistakes can be expensive and correcting them isn't as simple as changing plans next week.
As Tom puts it:
“Every lesson takes a year.”
Whether you're growing peaches, corn, cattle, or a direct-to-consumer business, there's something familiar in that statement.
Agriculture rewards patience, experimentation, and the willingness to learn.
Tom's story also shows what can happen when farmers start with the customer, pay attention to what the market is asking for, and continue finding new ways to create value from the farm.
Sometimes the opportunity isn't simply growing more.
It's doing more with what you're already growing.
Want Farm4Profit Merch?
Custom order your favorite Farm4Profit items today!
https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/
Don’t forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review wherever you listen!
Website: www.Farm4Profit.com
Shareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.com
Email address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.com
Call/Text: 515.207.9640
Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5Xqw
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc
Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/
Farm4Profit Media is not a financial, legal, or tax advisor. Content is provided for informational purposes only, and we serve solely as a platform for third-party opinions. Any actions taken based on this content are at your own risk.
