Shows
Surviving Hard TimesThriving on High-Quality, Ethical Foods from Seven Sons Farms-Blaine Hitzfield Shares the What, How, and Why“All life begins in the soil, and it translates all the way to human life and human health,” said the soil agronomist whose nutrition advice helped Blaine Hitzfield’s mother find life-changing relief from crippling arthritis. Farmers have a significant role to play in the health of society, and as the CEO of distributions at Seven Sons Farms (and one of the seven sons!), Hitzfield understands this well. He’s come to appreciate the value of healthy soil in growing healthy food, which has become his mission. Tune in to explore: What’s produced by and offered...2025-03-2838 min
Tools For Today's FarmersSeven Sons Farm InterviewBlaine Hitzfield is the CEO of Seven Sons, a five-hundred acre regenerative farm he operates and cofounded with his parents and six brothers. Blaine’s entrepreneurial spirit ignited early, helping transformSeven Sons from a struggling family farm into a thriving business that serves 20,000 families annuallywith regenerative foods. Beyond Seven Sons, Blaine co-founded GrazeCart, an e-commerce platform thatempowered over 400 farms to direct-market $70 million in regenerative foods annually. In late 2023,Blaine and his partner successfully sold and exited this bootstrapped business.Blaine’s expertise in regenerative agriculture has led him to deliver keynote addresses at numerousagriculture conferences. He’s co-host of the Fo...2025-02-2436 min
Business – America Out Loud NewsRegenerative farming: the key to healthier food in AmericaThe Dean’s List with Host Dean Bowen – Blaine Hitzfield, CEO of Seven Sons, champions regenerative farming to restore soil health and improve America's food quality. Unlike conventional and organic systems, regenerative practices rebuild the land, aligning with Biblical principles and rotational grazing. Seven Sons is on a mission to transform food production for healthier communities and ecosystems.2024-10-3056 minEnvironment – America Out Loud NewsRegenerative farming: the key to healthier food in AmericaThe Dean’s List with Host Dean Bowen – Blaine Hitzfield, CEO of Seven Sons, champions regenerative farming to restore soil health and improve America's food quality. Unlike conventional and organic systems, regenerative practices rebuild the land, aligning with Biblical principles and rotational grazing. Seven Sons is on a mission to transform food production for healthier communities and ecosystems.2024-10-3056 min
Food Chain WarsCan paid ads skyrocket your growth?In this episode, Blaine and Brooks share their experience acquiring new customers by advertising on platforms like Facebook and Google. With their brand Seven Sons, the brothers are acquiring hundreds of new customers every week, with paid advertising being the key strategy to produce those results. But will their strategy work for you? The key is having the right business model in place before you start writing checks to the big tech giants. What does that model look like? Listen to learn more!2024-06-0630 minFood Chain Wars5 ways to increase margins (without adding to your workload) In this episode, you'll hear us (Blaine and Brooks) break down their top strategies for high leverage ways to increase your product margin. We're talking about solutions you can implement once, and retain more 💰 with every order you receive, or every animal you process. Regardless of how long you've been in direct marketing, I'm confident there's a new idea in this episode that you can take action on this week! 2024-05-1626 min
ReGen Brands Podcast#67 - Blaine & Brooks Hitzfield @ Seven Sons - Scaling Regen Meat To 75,000 DTC Orders A YearOn this episode, we have Blaine & Brooks Hitzfield from Seven Sons. Blaine is the CEO while Brooks serves as the COO.
Seven Sons is supporting regenerative agriculture with its direct-to-consumer meat business that sells regeneratively raised beef, bison, pork, and chicken as well as seafood and other snack items.
Seven Sons sources their regeneratively raised meat products from their own 550-acre farm in Roanoke, Indiana, and from other regenerative farmers around the Midwest.
In this episode, we hear how the family farm transitioned from a conventional hog oper...2024-04-121h 19Food Chain WarsGrazeCart POSNationA full episode to break down the acquisition announcement of GrazeCart by specialty retail point-of-sale provider, POS Nation. On this episode Blaine and I unpack common questions like: Why did we decide to sell GrazeCart? Who is POS Nation? (you'll hear from their team) What will our involvement be going forward? What did we learn through this process? and what we’re most excited about for GrazeCart’s future! As passionate founders, we're thrilled to have found a partner who is excited about the future of GrazeCart and has the expertise to expand its' position in th...2024-02-2131 min
Food Chain WarsFrom Zero to $600M: The Incredible Rise of ButcherBox!According to a few recent interviews from CEO Mike Salguero, ButcherBox has scaled beyond $600m in revenue. In this episode, Blaine and I share our reactions to ButcherBox's remarkable growth, a breakdown of the strategies they leveraged, as well as what their market position means for the everyday farm-to-fork producer. 2023-06-2931 min
Food Chain WarsDon't Screw Up: YOUR LOGOIt's something rarely talked about, but your brand name and logo does have an impact on the future of your business. Fun fact, Steve Jobs paid the renown designer Paul Rand, $100k to create the logo for NeXT, Inc. Now, I'm not saying you need to drop a large % of your startup capital on your logo, especially in the freelance-art world we live in today. However, it is important that you get the basics right because a bad name and/or logo, can be a ball and chain for a new farm-to-fork startup...2023-02-2820 min
Food Chain WarsDon't Screw Up: CASH FLOWA common killer of healthy businesses is poor cash flow. This is like a predator that always strikes when you're not expecting it. It doesn't matter if you have a great product, happy customers, or even healthy profit margins... It only takes one bad cash crisis to cause it all to fall apart. The good thing is that you can protect yourself from this fate! In this episode, Blaine and I break-down the most common mistakes that create cash flow disasters and how to avoid them.2023-02-2423 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?2022 Farm Life RecapIt was quite the year here at our Roanoke, Indiana Farm. Enjoy the footage and the discussion with Blake and Blaine when you watch this episode. 2023-02-1324 min
Food Chain WarsShipping vs Pickup: Which is better for you in 2023?To ship, or not to ship? 8 years ago, that's the big question Blaine and were battling with at Seven Sons... Up to that point, we had built a very successful buying club model, delivering to 50+ pickup locations throughout our region. Shipping always felt WAY too expensive, and a bad value proposition for our customers. Fast-forward to today, and we've closed all 50+ pickup locations and now exclusively ship door-to-door. What changed, and is a buying club program something you should even consider today? Those are the question we answer in today's episode: Shipping vs Curb...2023-02-0930 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?Did You Know - Farm Life Show (Ep 13)In today's episode, Blake and Blaine Hitzfield provide some REAL talk about the food system, the opportunity for farmers and consumers to impact the food system, and begin to unpack the question "Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?" We're not waiting on the government to do anything. We're taking action in our community, where we can deliver in the USA and providing education to other farms.2023-02-0719 min
Food Chain WarsDon't Screw Up: PRICINGAre your priced stay profitable in 2023? According to the USDA, consumers paid 12.4% more at the grocery store in Oct, 2022, vs Oct, 2021. As we continue through a season of unpredictable inflation, the consequences for neglecting price corrections has never been higher. At best-case, unsustainable pricing suffocates your ability to invest in growth. Maybe that's how you feel now... We've all been there. The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way. In today's episode of Food Chain Wars, Blaine and I unpack the thinking & systems we use stay on top of...2022-12-2819 min
Finding Genius PodcastProviding Ethical And Transparent Pasture-Raised Meats And Groceries With Blaine Hitzfield Of Seven Sons FarmsWhat we put in our bodies greatly affects our overall health and wellness. With the industrialization of food production, healthy food has become harder and harder to come by. Fortunately, people like Blaine Hitzfield and his family are bringing humane and nutritious farming values to the world when it seems to need them most… Blaine oversees daily marketing and distribution activities at Seven Sons Farms, a farm started by his parents in the late 1980s. What began as a strictly conventional agricultural operation turned into a regenerative pasture-based farm – with an emphasis on nutrient-dense and ethically raised food...2022-12-0938 min
Surviving Hard TimesThriving on High-Quality, Ethical Foods from Seven Sons Farms -- Blaine Hitzfield Shares the What, How, and Why“All life begins in the soil, and it translates all the way to human life and human health,” said the soil agronomist whose nutrition advice helped Blaine Hitzfield’s mother find life-changing relief from crippling arthritis. Farmers have a significant role to play in the health of society, and as the CEO of distributions at Seven Sons Farms (and one of the seven sons!), Hitzfield understands this well. He’s come to appreciate the value of healthy soil in growing healthy food, which has become his mission. Tune in to explore: What’s produced by and offered...2022-12-0838 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?Farm Fest 2022Eat with confidence while you enjoy pasture-raised meats delivered to your door direct from our Indiana farm. https://sevensons.net/ 🚚 Welcome to the Seven Sons Farm Life Show. In this episode we sit down with Blaine and Blake Hitzfield for an on-farm update including pictures and video of these items: - A recap of our annual Farm Fest to welcomed 2,200 people to our farm - Launching Fresh Egg Co, a new Egg Delivery Service - 13 New Puppies are here - Our Winter Hen house is Repaired - Another Successful Farm Tour Season has...2022-11-1812 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?Seven Sons Team ValuesEat with confidence while you enjoy pasture-raised meats delivered to your door direct from our Indiana farm. https://sevensons.net/ 🚚 Whether you are trying to create a positive culture within a community, business, family, etc., we can all agree that it takes consistent and intentional effort to establish and maintain. At Seven Sons, we believe creating a positive culture starts with clear core values that all staff and our family believe in and incorporate into their daily lives. In return, our customers will have positive experiences and also build trust with our company, their farmer, and the peo...2022-10-2814 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?Battlefields to Fertile FieldsIn late August we were fortunate to host Army Captain Gil De Leon for a week-long visit to our farm. Capt. De Leon is a 17-year Army Veteran, husband, father to 6 kids....and an aspiring regenerative farmer. In this video, we share how he's transitioning from wearing combat gear to a cowboy hat and boots... Blake and Blaine sat down to interview him for a soon-to-be-released podcast where he outlined a new Army Certified transitional program called Battle Fields to Fertile Fields. 2022-10-1928 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?Daily Life of the Seven BrothersHitzfield Brothers: Seven SonsEat with confidence while you enjoy pasture-raised meats delivered to your door direct from our Indiana farm. https://sevensons.net/ 🚚 In this episode we will take an inside look into the lives of all seven brothers (yes, there really are 7 brothers) and their roles on the farm! The Hitzfield brothers have adopted Michael Hyatt’s (Founder of Michael Hyatt & Co / leadership speaker and book author) philosophy on how to identify one’s unique strengths, weaknesses, passions, and drudgery zones, and how to incorporate those characteristics into a fulfilling career to match each in...2022-08-0820 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?2022 Summer Farm UpdateFarm Update: Eat with confidence while you enjoy pasture-raised meats delivered to your door direct from our Indiana farm. https://sevensons.net/ 🚚 After a busy few months on the farm, we are back into the office and have created a 2022 Summer update on what we have been doing and where we plan to go in the upcoming months! Summary: Added 1,300 sheep on our farm! Public summer farm tours! Bison harvest Storm / wind damage on hoop houses (98mph winds) New baby! (Blaine and his wife welcomed their 6th in Feb) Coming Soon:...2022-07-1221 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?Tips for Wintering Pastured Laying HensLaying Hens: At Seven Sons, we believe in creating healthy environments for our animals so that they can live happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives. In today’s episode, Bruce (the 6th son) will share his experience with raising laying hens during the harsh Indiana winters and what the transition from season to season looks like. Tips: #1 Make their environment as familiar as possible to avoid stress. #2 Allow at least 3sq ft. per bird in a winterized greenhouse to encourage a higher lay rate during the colder months (75-80%). #3 Incorporate a...2022-04-0315 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?FAQ About Our Cattle OperationEat with confidence while you enjoy pasture-raised meats delivered to your door direct from our Indiana farm. https://sevensons.net/ 🚚 Welcome to the Seven Sons Farm Life Show. In this episode, Blaine and Blake go out on pasture to share to talk specifics about how we raise our Grassfed Beef without Antibiotics, chemical fertilizers and more, including our process for Humane harvesting. They also debunk some myths about the perceived environmental and ethical claims made by "Fake Meat." Show Notes: https://sevensons.net/blog/farm-life-...2022-04-0212 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?Regenerative Home GardenEat with confidence while you enjoy pasture-raised meats delivered to your door direct from our Indiana farm. https://sevensons.net/ 🚚 Welcome to the Seven Sons Farm Life Show. In this episode, Blaine and Blake Hitzfield share 5 principles we learned from our friend Gabe Brown (author of the Amazon Best Selling Book Dirt to Soil, that you can apply to your home garden. These are the very principles we use to regenerate our pastures and produce food that we deliver to 10,000+ families across the USA. The 5 Principles we dive into in this episode are: #1 Minimal Dis...2022-04-0118 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?Migrating 10,000 Pigs / Hogs / Cattle Out to Spring PasturesEat with confidence while you enjoy pasture-raised meats delivered to your door direct from our Indiana farm. https://sevensons.net/ 🚚 Welcome to the Seven Sons Farm Life Show. In this episode Blaine and Blake Hitzfield share an on-farm update for June 2021 including pictures and video of these items: - How we migrate our Laying Hens, Hogs and Cattle on the farm - A "What Cut is this" contest. (Can you identify this steak?) - Farm Tour and Farm Fest Update Show Notes: https://sevensons.net/blog/farm-life-...2022-03-3113 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?New Puppies on the FarmEat with confidence while you enjoy pasture-raised meats delivered to your door direct from our Indiana farm. https://sevensons.net/ 🚚 Welcome to the Seven Sons Farm Life Show. In this episode Blaine and Blake Hitzfield share an on-farm update for May 2021 including pictures and video of these items: - A new litter of pups (our future chicken guard dogs) have arrived. Help us Name them!! - The story behind our BIG Spring Cleaning project - Footage of Bruce and Alyssa's Gender Reveal party that took place on the farm. Show Notes: https://sevensons.net/blo...2022-03-3008 min
Can We Feed the World with Regenerative Farming?Spring Time at Seven Sons FarmsEat with confidence while you enjoy pasture-raised meats delivered to your door direct from our Indiana farm. https://sevensons.net/ 🚚 Welcome to the Seven Sons Farm Life Show. In this "pilot" episode we sit down with Blaine and Blake Hitzfield for an on-farm update including pictures and video of these items: - Spring piglet news and details about our furrowing operation - The story behind the biggest construction project we've ever undertaken - The ways we brothers spend time together, include video footage of a near shark bite experience on a recent trip to...2022-03-2909 min
Food Chain WarsMastering Video to Build Customer RelationshipsWith any business, it is vital that your customers know and trust your operation which helps build a long-term customer relationship. In this episode, listen as Blaine and I discuss the importance of mastering video to build trust with your customers!2022-01-2722 min
Ag Emerge Podcast073 AgEmerge Year End Edition: Thought Leaders, Growers, Entrepreneurs and ResearchersAg Solutions Network entered the soil health game with biologicals almost two decades ago. We’ve seen farmers and our dealer network successfully impact more and more acreage with a soil health first approach. In 2019, AgEmerge began as an event idea where we gathered awesome speakers along with a dynamic group of growers to really challenge old paradigms and have conversations that resulted in system changes. Since the AgEmerge events, we expanded learning opportunities to our AgEmerge podcast. You can find podcast episodes and all the previous AgEmerge event speakers on our Ag Solutions Network YouTube channel, linked in the sh...2021-12-2134 min
Food Chain WarsThree Questions to Ask Before You HireIn today's episode, Blaine and I discuss the three critical questions to ask before expanding your workforce! 2021-11-0416 min
Ranching Returns Podcast30: Blaine Hitzfield - Building a Food Marketing BrandIn part 2 of our conversation with Seven Sons we talk to Blaine Hitzfield, CEO of Distribution for Seven Sons. He goes into depth on the transition from commodity production and marketing farm to a direct, diverse and profitable farm! He shares practical tips for people just starting down the path of direct to consumer marketing and for people who are well into their marketing journey!
Resources Mentioned:
https://www.statsamerica.org/radius/big.aspx
Story Brand - Donald Miller
Ranching for Profit
Grazecast Podcast
2021-08-3056 min
Ag Emerge Podcast062 AgEmerge Podcast Blaine Hitzfield Seven Sons FarmsWelcome our guest Blaine Hitzfield, a second generation farmer and business entrepreneur with a passion for regenerative agriculture. Blaine carved out an early life career by helping his family of seven brothers establish a farm-to-consumer food business that thousands of consumers know as Seven Sons Farms.
We discuss the success of the Seven Sons brand and how he and his family transitioned from conventional farming practices to regenerative pasture-based farming models. Monte and Blaine cover everything from disruption of the food system, impact on local communities, customer trust, and loyalty, and utilizing technology to make it all happen.
After graduating...2021-07-2059 min
Dr. Shawn Baker PodcastCarnivore Community Meeting with Blake & Blaine HitzfieldSeven Sons is a pasture-based family farm in northeast Indiana. Their mission is simple: To strive to produce nutrient-dense foods in a way that heals and nourishes our land and the people who eat of its bounty. Blake, (1st son) is the Chief Ranch Officer of Seven Sons and primarily oversees our cattle and hog operations. He is responsible for the careful planning and management of livestock grazing rotations, winter stockpile reserves, forage rotations as well as animal health and genetic improvement and provides consulting to producers venturing into pasture-based livestock production. Blaine, (2nd son) is the of CEO...2021-06-1859 minFood Chain WarsThree Tips for Scaling Curbside PickupIn this episode of GrazeCast, Brooks and Blaine will answer three major questions for anyone looking to scale their curbside pickup.2021-05-2026 minFood Chain WarsThree Tips for Keeping Pickup Day Stress-FreeIn this episode of GrazeCart, Brooks and Blaine reminisce about some of their biggest pickup day goof-ups and reveal three systems they developed that helped curbside-pickup run smoothly.2021-05-0624 minFood Chain WarsThree Tips for Operating a Self-Service StorefrontIn this episode of GrazeCast, Brooks and Blaine unpack what made the Seven Sons farm-store such a success and help you identify if this model is a good fit for you!2021-04-2216 minFood Chain WarsThree Keys to Rock Perishable ShippingIn this episode, Brooks and Blaine will share the three most important lessons they've learned during their 4-year journey of transforming into a farm delivery business.2021-04-0825 min
The Business of Agriculture Podcast182 - Creating & Marketing Profitable Opportunities On PastureBrice and Blaine Hitzfield are two of the seven sons who make up Seven Sons Farms — a pasture-based operation in growth mode. The family operation produces beef, pork, and eggs, and has grown into a processor and direct marketer of their products. The brothers also operate Graze Cart — an online platform for direct-to-consumer sales, and Hen Gear — a manufacturer of chicken coops and nesting boxes for pasture poultry operations. The Hitzfield brothers join me to share business lessons and share entrepreneurial outlook for niche Agriculture. Sponsored by Harvest Profit harvestprofit.com2021-03-2947 minFood Chain WarsIntroduction to I.C.E.In this episode of GrazeCast, Brooks and Blaine unfold a simple framework to help you prioritize where you should be spending your time.2021-03-2513 minFood Chain WarsThree Tips to Amaze Every CustomerIn this episode, you'll hear Blaine and Brooks provide their take on Shep Hyken's book Amaze Every Customer, Every Time. They'll unpack their biggest breakthroughs and ways the book has changed their approach to customer service.2021-03-1130 minFood Chain WarsTop 3 Marketing Metrics (to know if you're going in the right direction)In this episode of GrazeCast, Blaine and Brooks reveal the top marketing metrics they watch at Seven Sons.2021-02-1917 minFood Chain WarsBuilding an Effective TripwireIn this episode, you'll hear Blaine and Brooks unpack their experience using Tripwire Offers, as well as an overview of: How the customer decision-making process works Why the Tripwire makes it easy for them to say YES The 7 attributes of an irresistible Tripwire Offer What products your Tripwire Offer must include. 2021-01-0920 minFood Chain WarsThe Most Overlooked Way to Grow RevenueIn this episode of GrazeCart, Brooks and Blaine encourage listeners to spend LESS time focusing on acquiring new customers, so that you can spend more time focusing on the most overlooked revenue expansion strategy.2020-11-1328 minFood Chain WarsTop 3 Most Important Things You Should Include on Your HomepageThe team at Seven Sons has been refining their homepage since 2005. Why spend so much time focusing on a homepage? Your homepage is your first impression, and it's often the gatekeeper between a brief online visitor and a loyal customer. In this episode of GrazeCast, Brooks and Blaine will share three key attributes to make an engaging homepage.2020-09-3024 minFood Chain WarsTop 3 Email CampaignsWhether you're a startup or simply new to marketing, you may feel overwhelmed with a torrent of tools you can use to promote your business. It can be difficult to know where to focus your energy. In this episode, we'll explain why email is king at Seven Sons, even in today's world of social media and influencers. Brooks and Blaine will each share their three favorite emails they use at Seven Sons, and they'll talk about the impact these emails can have on your customers. 2020-09-1633 min