How To Find and Finance a Farm
(Page 3 of 8)
Third, avoid paying for prime farmland in locations known
as "fruit belts". Unless you intend to specialize in
certain fruit crops there is little reason to purchase land
in such regions. Available orchards and vineyards in my
area (40 miles east of Cleveland) are priced absurdly high
regardless of their condition or age. Even the nearby farms
that have no orchards or grapes are unreasonably expensive
due to local conditions that are favorable for growing
those fruits. A new interstate highway through our area
directly into Cleveland has also boosted land costs.
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Fourth, you will soon discover that "wild land", overgrown
with weeds and unused for years, can be much richer and,
probably, less expensive than land which is currently in
production. Even when crops are properly rotated, they must
be hyped with chemical fertilizers to meet today's demands
for record yields. As far as the land is concerned, this
pushing does little more than further deplete the soil.
Corn crops especially rob the earth of many precious
nutrients which are riot readily restored. Wild land which
has not been drained by cash crops and which-to boot-is
probably less expensive can, therefore, be a double
bargain. It may well contain more nutrients than
"developed" soil and subsequent plantings by proper organic
methods can maintain and even increase this natural wealth.
Don't pass up rolling countryside or hillside acreage.
Those Appalachian farmsteads are not only beautifully
scenic and remote . . . the land is generally excellent for
gardening. Most of this soil has been avoided by commercial
and large farming operations, is quite rich and-as long as
there is any heavy wild annual growth to prevent
erosion-you can garden in strips across the slope. Hillside
farms have other advantages: They often sell for as little
as $20 an acre; excess water never gets a chance to stand
around long enough to rot crops; frost problems are less
serious because currents flowing down the slopes on cold
nights prevent the development of pockets of stable cold
air. Besides, who ever found a hillside to be an obstacle
for goats?
Finally, the cost of labor and materials being what it is
today (not even considering inferior workmanship), one is
well advised to purchase a farm with existing buildings . .
. even if some repairs are needed. If you take the time to
look, you're almost sure to find a tract of reasonably
priced land with a house and some decent buildings thrown
in "for free".
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