Freedom from the expense of mowing. Possibly a tax deferral for using land for agricultural purposes.
Everyone had some good points here. You need a professional to go over the contract and loop holes. If certain clauses were not written on the contract then the owner could break the contract at anytime. I worked in Medicine and if there is a lawsuit and the chart is not complete then I am screwed, āNot chart then not doneā.
Tony
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Great Idea! Is there anyone in the Wichita Kansas area that might be interested in a free (except labor) co-op on an orchard of a couple acres? I also picked up a few beehives that I know nothing about. I would be interested in sharing these also.
Skies, I recommend that you check out the forums on Beesource.com to get good information about prepping those hives for winter in your area. It will improve your chances for having live and productive hives come spring.
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Nothing could piss me off worst than an expensive bargain! Been there, done that. Not with orchard but real estates!
Just make sure you read all the fine prints and even those that are not in prints!
Tom
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Skies,
Are you sure about that? Orchards need to be sprayed. Are you OK with someone coming on your property and spraying the orchard with herbicides, insecticides, fungicides?
This year is rained almost every day in May. It was so wet I cut tractor ruts in my orchard which were 2ā deep. Even if someone didnāt use a tractor on your property, they would probably cut ruts with their vehicle. They have to get in there to harvest, prune, etc.
There is naturally a lot of fruit which drops on the ground. We couldnāt keep up picking it all up with everything else going on. Lots of rotting fruit on the ground. It attracted more voles than Iāve every seen (tunnels everywhere). This winter I will have to put out lots of vole bait, which has the possibility of killing some non-target animals (even when used according to label). Youāre OK with all that?
I spray at night because the winds are calmer. A tractor pulling a sprayer is loud. If your house is close, you would hear the tractor. Itās also possible you could get some drift of the spray (itās impossible to get zero drift because the very physical nature of vapor is that it dissipates and moves to some degree (even when sprayed under low wind conditions).
There are a lot of issues with an orchard on your property. I wouldnāt consider letting someone plant an orchard on my property without some form of compensation.
I got a little excited! We have been considering adding a few acres of apples for years now. We already have a pecan orchard, between that and my full time job we are just so stretched for time!
Skies- Might be interesting project to find someone who wants to plant a no spray or low spray organic hard cider orchard on your land. Select varieties with disease resistance. Cider is booming now as you probaby know. If I were younger and lived closer Iād do it.
Hambone- You nailed it, that is my plan with apples and diversified group of orchard and vinyard fruit.
Anyone out there doing a lease to orchard situation with success these days?
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