The Customer Is Not Always Right!
Karl Shlagel joined me from the cab of a tractor while spraying pumpkins on his family’s fourth-generation farm near Waldorf, Maryland. The connection occasionally fought us, the tractor kept moving, and the conversation zigged and zagged—which made it feel right at home on the Patio.
Karl’s family grows fruits and vegetables that they sell wholesale, at farmers markets, through an on-farm store, and directly to consumers. While much of agriculture talks about what consumers want, Karl meets them face-to-face, and he has learned that we cannot assume we know what they value, what they can afford, or what they are willing to buy.
We talk about growing the farm business so another generation can return, why profitable farms are the best form of farmland preservation, and the institutional knowledge that can disappear when succession planning comes too late. Karl also explains why Southern Maryland’s attachment to tobacco may have prevented agriculture from adapting sooner.
The conversation moves into food safety, wildlife pressure, direct marketing, Farm Bureau leadership, and the difficult balance between respecting those who built an organization and creating room for new people and new ideas.
Karl is candid, opinionated, and willing to challenge one of the most dangerous phrases in any business: “This is what we’ve always done.”
This is a raw conversation recorded in the middle of a working day; exactly the kind of conversation the Patio was built for.
Be Safe Out There.
If you’d rather not chase these conversations on social media, I’ll send them your way.