Tropical Fruit > Tropical Fruit Discussion
Land purchasing and search discussion
Gone tropo:
--- Quote from: driftwood on August 04, 2021, 12:21:47 AM ---
--- Quote from: Gone tropo on August 03, 2021, 11:58:28 PM ---Driftwood great topic i find it quite fascinating myself. I come from a family with near 100 years of sugar cane farming here in australia. Land here is extremely expensive the prices i see mentioned here $4000 an acre is outrageously cheap. I myself only have 2.5 acres i often wonder if someone could make a living off a block my size with fruits but i think the answer might be a min of 5 acres. 5 acres of a high value crop such as durian might be liveable. I have a mate who has 5 acres with around 130 mangosteen trees who makes a part living off them, he is planting out durian at the moment as well.
The other important question here is how much acreage can one person manage on their own?? its one thing to have 50 acres but when it requires a whole bunch of staff to run thats a whole different ball game to someone trying to run a single man operation. i dont know what the answer is but i know my mate needs labour during harvest time with the mangosteens and thats only 5 acres.
Look forward to seeing some of the answers you get.
--- End quote ---
Appreciate that man. I am with you on 4000$ per acre sounding cheap. Perspective is funny. Thing is the places where land is expensive, people also pay more for fruits
From my little experience with working the land, I know I am looking to end up with somewhere between 1-20 acres. around 1 acre of nursery and greenhouse and medicinal plants, and a couple hundred trees. Maybe some yuca fields or ginger -- Starting small obviously. 50 acres is not in my vision. I also build houses and tiny homes so I was considering AirBNB and hospitality as well.
Soursop and sugar apple are one of the more expensive fruits here. not sure what the most profitable though. There's not a big market for durian. TBH ive never had durian as I want my first to be fresh and not store bought. Who knows, maybe I will fall in love with the durian and move to Asia
--- End quote ---
Yep you are spot on in that people who live in the areas with high land prices are willing to pay the big prices (ie the cities). Here in australia all the top stuff grown in my area (which is the exotic fruit mecca of australia) gets sent to the cities brisbane, sydney, melbourne etc. There is HUGE money in durian here the people in the cities pay a mega bucks for them. To give you an idea durian of known cultivars fetches AU$40/kg AT THE FARM (Works out at $13.45 US a POUND at the farm) so you can imagine what they pay retail down in the cities. Mangosteens also fetch big money but not even close to durian
brian:
I have been looking for land nearby (SE Pennsylvania) to build more greenhouses, best I have seen so far is about 15-20k/acre for flat fields 5-15acres nearby. It seems that by far the most important factor is zoning. Anything that could become a housing subdivision is priced far, far higher.
TheGivingTree:
Awesome post. My only advice would be to not wait on buying. Get your plan, figure out your budget and get it going. If not purchasing outright, owner financing is still a thing but harder to find.
Land (in So FLo) is only going to get more expensive in my opinion. Feel free to PM me if youre looking in FL. Good luck bro!
K-Rimes:
I've had my eyes out around Central California to find something affordable with good water, but it's a real challenge to find something that is reasonably priced, is in a quality micro climate for tropicals, and importantly has enough water to irrigate as many trees as I'd like to plant. I did look deeply into Puerto Rico and have visited the island many times, but there are water issues there sometimes there too (if using city water, which frequently doesn't work day on day off). It does rain a lot though so you'd likely not have much to worry about unless you were near Ponce, the southern side is much more arid and hot. Up above Ponce in the mountains is where they grow a lot of coffee, but it was decimated by hurricanes last I heard. The hurricanes and the severity of them increasing with global warming has turned me off of PR for now - you could invest a decade or two and then get totally wiped out.
Costa Rica is promising, and I've always had a soft spot for Brazil but the flight times that far really make it a place you can't freely go to and fro from. Costa Rica / Mexico is pretty much ideal for accessibility and pricing.
My experience tending to my garden here which is only a scant 1.2 acre is that you'd really have trouble keeping track of anything larger than 5 acres. It's not so much the trees themselves, it's irrigation and piping problems which are always breaking or getting plugged up, keeping the well running, having back up power for the well or heating needs in winter and so on. Even the best laid plans can completely crumble under an unforeseen circumstance. The ideal location, imo, is one where the plants you grow are so well suited for the climate that they don't need that much additional help - zone-pushing as a farming career sounds daunting.
driftwood:
--- Quote from: brian on August 04, 2021, 11:35:14 AM ---I have been looking for land nearby (SE Pennsylvania) to build more greenhouses, best I have seen so far is about 15-20k/acre for flat fields 5-15acres nearby. It seems that by far the most important factor is zoning. Anything that could become a housing subdivision is priced far, far higher.
--- End quote ---
yup rural and agriculture zoning is key especially for business and farm stand and such. My thinking is that there arent a lot of 1-20 acre plots available right now. But as more and more of these multi thousand acre old farm parcels get divided there will be more in the future. I wouldnt be interested in trying PA, I grew up in Ohio. The great lakes dump snow and there is almost 300 cloudy days a year.
--- Quote from: K-Rimes on August 04, 2021, 01:34:44 PM ---I've had my eyes out around Central California to find something affordable with good water, but it's a real challenge to find something that is reasonably priced, is in a quality micro climate for tropicals, and importantly has enough water to irrigate as many trees as I'd like to plant. I did look deeply into Puerto Rico and have visited the island many times, but there are water issues there sometimes there too (if using city water, which frequently doesn't work day on day off). It does rain a lot though so you'd likely not have much to worry about unless you were near Ponce, the southern side is much more arid and hot. Up above Ponce in the mountains is where they grow a lot of coffee, but it was decimated by hurricanes last I heard. The hurricanes and the severity of them increasing with global warming has turned me off of PR for now - you could invest a decade or two and then get totally wiped out.
Costa Rica is promising, and I've always had a soft spot for Brazil but the flight times that far really make it a place you can't freely go to and fro from. Costa Rica / Mexico is pretty much ideal for accessibility and pricing.
My experience tending to my garden here which is only a scant 1.2 acre is that you'd really have trouble keeping track of anything larger than 5 acres. It's not so much the trees themselves, it's irrigation and piping problems which are always breaking or getting plugged up, keeping the well running, having back up power for the well or heating needs in winter and so on. Even the best laid plans can completely crumble under an unforeseen circumstance. The ideal location, imo, is one where the plants you grow are so well suited for the climate that they don't need that much additional help - zone-pushing as a farming career sounds daunting.
--- End quote ---
It's a good thing I have worked in irrigation and landscaping and designed large drip systems. I feel like that and my ability to take care of baby plants lends itself well to this trade. In addition, I am a graphic designer and copywriter for internet marketing, which will help drive sales. Zone pushing with fruit trees sounds horrible as, one greenhouse malfunction could lead to destruction of all the trees. (a sprinkler at night in central florida would be a little different).
If I were you I would reconsider central California. As I am sure you are aware of the horrible water politics going on in the central valley. I would rather take my chances with a hurricane, as I am pretty sure the central valley of CA might turn into a hellscape desert very soon. At least San Diego has Mt. Palomar.
Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico are high contenders. But I feel like I could make more money in florida with a nursery business (stiffer competition though)
I repaired homes in Puerto Rico the year after hurricane maria. You are right about city water, I am familiar with the micro climates of the island though and there are lots of farms who take advantage of rain and river water. I would not be relying on the island for utilities. Utuado and Las Marias are amazing places and there are some semi-abandoned coffee, cacao, plantain farms that would be amazing to bring back to life. As for the Hurricane, I know many trees were damaged but now almost 4 years later its pretty much back to Pre-Maria conditions. The problem for PR was that the infrastructure and houses were so neglected prior to the hurricane hitting. I repaired peoples roofs and some of them told me they hadnt patched or coated their roof in 20 years.
My sights on are on the tropics. At this point I won't accept anything less than subtropical. I can deal with not having soursops and durian but I need to have guava, citrus, papaya, cherimoya.
--- Quote from: TheGivingTree on August 04, 2021, 11:47:06 AM ---Awesome post. My only advice would be to not wait on buying. Get your plan, figure out your budget and get it going. If not purchasing outright, owner financing is still a thing but harder to find.
Land (in So FLo) is only going to get more expensive in my opinion. Feel free to PM me if youre looking in FL. Good luck bro!
--- End quote ---
thanks man!! Where are you located? You got facebook or instagram? So far ive checked out Naples, Punta Gorda, Pine Island/Bokeelia, Homestead/Miami. Ive been a few times this year but havent seen anything I loved that wasnt ridiculously overpriced in my humble opinion.
Honestly my budget is a pretty big range. As in the US I would qualify for financing and possibly a USDA loan if the property is eligible. In Puerto Rico or Costa Rica I would need cash or funding.
In the US my budget for a property 1-10 acre with a 1 or 2 bedroom house is $500,000.
In Puerto Rico or Costa Rica I would be looking below $200,000 with a house. or Below $100,000 for just land. Ive considered doing both eventually and keeping a genetic library in a place like puerto rico and flying between FL and PR.
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