Looking for advice purchasing a farm

Howdy folks,

I am currently looking at plots of land to purchase and start a farm.

Climate comparable to California, clean ground water available (can drill a well on properties that don't have one yet).

The soil.... I haven't touched it yet and been there yet but from afar/pictures it looks like loam top soil with clay or loam/clay below.
So it should more or less be ideal and the area has been cultivated heavily for more than hundreds of years. Mostly fruits and vegetables but also tobacco and the like.


Now my question:
I have never grown outdoor and have never owned a farm. I do know I want to continue growing organically and doing so outdoors on a farm will grant me better success in that regard, I am sure. (I find that most issues with organic soil I had so far had a lot to do with small pot sizes).

What do I look for when I buy a farm with the intend to grow organic cannabis on it? What should I avoid like the plague?


Regarding the soil, I suppose I won't get around a soil analysis before signing a contract. Will have to see where I can do that or if it isn't possible locally, have to bring my own test kit somehow.
But what do I look for aside from overfertilization with chemical nutes in the form of salt buildups? Heavy metals? Anything else?

Like I said, ANY pointers or suggestions are welcome. Another thing that I was wondering about was whether it would be better to grow cannabis in the valley near sea level or halfway up the mountain at like 420 ft. or really up the mountain at like 1000 ft. ?
From what feedback I got so far, it seems everyone seems to prefer the valley for cannabis cultivation due to its earlier spring/later autumn as well as higher temps throughout the season and less wind and temp drops.


What I am most afraid of is basically buying a farm, then creating my organic soil mix, working it into the fields, growing for a season in the fresh mix and then having all kinds of issues once I start the second round because the fresh batch of organic soil is mostly used up and the soil below is basically clay devoid of any nutrients or microbial life and laden with salt deposits from decades of overfertilization with chemical nutes...

Another thing to possibly consider might be that some of the fields are used to cultivate rice.
On the one hand I think that is great news as I will probably be able to source rice hulls for my soil mix locally and for cheap. On the other hand: Shouldn't I avoid fields that have been used for rice cultivation in the past?
As those fields are flooded and chosen for their poor drainage, no?

go back to home page, hit Forums, then Cannabis Growing Outdoors...there is where you need to ask, everyone on here will help you, but thats where i would start...man i wish i was buying a farm, i envy you a lil..DJXX

Howdy,

thanks for the feedback. Did that though.
I am also in the process of reading up on books content about outdoor gardening etc.

But I find a lot if not most of the information is geared towards guerilla outdoor growing and the like. Not actual farming.

Haven't seen a thread yet for example that talks about terracing and drainage and the like, as well as how to identify if the farm holds good soil for planting.

I read that the history of the field should be taken into account i.e. what has been grown there the last few years and how. But that involves talking to the owners of the land who will indubitably tell you that they grew 100% organic yadiyada while they might have actually drenched the field in pesticides and chemical nutes ...

Sandy loam, you should be good, but dig down a foot.
Look at your slopes and where water will run. Can you contour plow to take advantage?
Terracing is good, but it will take you down to subsoil and bedrock. It can take a lot of work to recover.
Northern slopes can delay the season. Good for fruit trees when you don't want early bloom..
Southern slopes get the most sun.
Visit at different parts of the day to see where the shade is. Any hills to the east and west.
Try to find the history. Look for current and past use of surrounding properties.
Check in with your local USDA. Google can find soil reports for most areas.
Look for average rainfall etc.
Remember that it is just a plant. Look at everything else growing in the area.

Hey man, thanks for the feedback!

If I go in the valley, slopes won't be a topic. It's all even there for miles and miles.

The whole valley faces east/south east with the mountains in its back to the west/north west. Sounds pretty ideal to me and like I said, fruits (mainly peaches) and veggies (a lot of tomato and the like) have been cultivated there for thousands of years.

Slopes would only become a factor if I opted for the higher mountain areas (1000 ft and above) or halfway up the mountain at 420ft where there is a city/village.
Which doesn't seem like I will since everyone that gave me feedback on ideal elevation has suggested to stay in the valley for the slightly longer seasons, more sun, higher temps, less temp swings, less wind.

Sorry for being such a farm noob but what does contour plow mean?

I think, from what I know historically of the area and my desk research, that most of those fields in the valley will have close to no slope and thus runoff for water. The area gets very dry in the summer and there are very few creeks to get water from and most will use wells or those creeks to water their crops.
But rain is more or less a non-factor especially during summer and I would bet pretty much nobody there is concerned with run-off as they rather struggle with keeping their fields irrigated.
Also the rice fields make me think that they are not concerned with runoff but rather the opposite: How to retain more water.
Maybe I shouldn't worry too much about runoff either then ...


Regarding the look at everything else growing in the area:
Pretty much anything will grow there. It is that fertile of land. The comparison to California is not far fetched both with the climate and the fertility of the land.
They grow a shit ton of peach trees, apple trees, watermelons, tomatoes, cucumbers, salads all kinds of things of that nature and I was told that Heinz made its Ketchup for decades using tomatoes from that area.
Weirdly enough not a lot of citrus fruits there though. At least no fields. I think they go further south for that.


The only thing I am really worried about is that I can all but guarantee that no one in that valley grows organically. Organic produce is not something of concern to that region, yields and resistance to pests etc. is and therefore I am all but convinced that pretty much all fields will have been subject to heavy fertilization with chemical nutes.
But I guess I will know about that once I get a soil sample analyzed. Unfortunately they are not big on central databases and the like over there, I doubt I can find any info on the soil online. But I will search for it some more.

I think doing a complete soil analysis is a must since you plan on farming the land. Other criteria would be water availability. Keep in mind that fruit trees are not a good indicator of soil fertility for cannabis. High nute eaters like tomatoes and other related plants would be the ones to look for.
Good luck.

Sounds like Costa Rico.
Apples and no citrus, you'll may have a short season. Apples need x number of hours below freezing to produce blossoms. Cold weather can be detrimental to citrus.

The other crops are often planted in areas where can come in before the market for the best prices. Used for export to the states. Fertility is provided artificially.

Check your ground water. Flow from local wells. Call the well guy. Ask him how deep he has to drill. Is the water table maintainable? How much $ to pump.

Where is your market? What's your competition?
Can you find the things you need or do you have to travel?

Most importantly...
Do you love it there? Cause you'll never leave. It will demand your attention at all times. There is a lot you can do to fix the soil and to create microclimates, if you love where you're at, you'll do it. It's in the blood, not the soil.




"Contour plowing" follows the contour of the land. Instead of a straight line, you stay at the same elevation and follow the slope. I do this between rows to catch runoff.

exploziv said:

I think doing a complete soil analysis is a must since you plan on farming the land. Other criteria would be water availability. Keep in mind that fruit trees are not a good indicator of soil fertility for cannabis. High nute eaters like tomatoes and other related plants would be the ones to look for.
Good luck.

Click to expand...

Good info.

Question though:
If I look for a strip of land that has been used for tomato cultivation for say 10 years. That would be an indicator that cannabis will do well there as well. Makes sense.
But wouldn't the fact that tomatoes were cultivated there for 10 years mean that the fields are depleted of nutrients and likely have a lot of salt buildups due to heavy fertilization that likely occurred to compensate?

In that line of thinking, wouldn't it be more advisable to go for a field where tomatoes were cultivated 20 years ago and the last 10 years they grew peaches? My thought would be that the peaches would have allowed the soil to recuperate with regard to nutrients for tomatoes and other heavy feeders.

Catch my drift? Thoughts?

h.h. said:

Sounds like Costa Rico.
Apples and no citrus, you'll may have a short season. Apples need x number of hours below freezing to produce blossoms. Cold weather can be detrimental to citrus.

The other crops are often planted in areas where can come in before the market for the best prices. Used for export to the states. Fertility is provided artificially.

Check your ground water. Flow from local wells. Call the well guy. Ask him how deep he has to drill. Is the water table maintainable? How much $ to pump.

Where is your market? What's your competition?
Can you find the things you need or do you have to travel?

Most importantly...
Do you love it there? Cause you'll never leave. It will demand your attention at all times. There is a lot you can do to fix the soil and to create microclimates, if you love where you're at, you'll do it. It's in the blood, not the soil.




"Contour plowing" follows the contour of the land. Instead of a straight line, you stay at the same elevation and follow the slope. I do this between rows to catch runoff.

Click to expand...

Very good considerations that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere, thank you for that!

Yes I love it there.
Cold climate is only of concern in the few months of winter, say november to february, there is some cold but rarely frost, especially in the valley. Temps drop to around 10 °C, maybe slightly below but really rarely ever to 0. I have personally experienced "winters" in the area where they had 27 °C and warm sunny weather in late November. I couldn't wear a hoody, had to take it off and walk around in a T-Shirt. Granted, that was not your average November either but it gives an idea.

My grandfather used to dig wells in that area when he lived in a village in the valley. Very easy to do with minimal gear and tech (they did it mostly by hand/with manual tools around 50/60 years ago).
Great quality apparently as people used it as drinking water as well. The whole area, particularly the small town up the mountain, is known for its great water quality. The tap water they have in that small town is excellent as it comes from mountain wells. Not quite glacier water but close.

The market and competition etc. still has to shake out. I am still waiting for a copy of the law which was apparently already passed a few days ago. Going to contact my government guy in a minute and ask what's up. I believe I will only be able to sell to pharmacies/dispensaries for the time being but it could also be that they follow the "club model" that they have in Spain. Have to wait a few more days to know all this.

get those purple autos out.if temps are concern.

I think I will have to make a special winter crop that finishes flower between December/January in the Greenhouses and drop the temps artificially. Or use a sealed, air conditioned room that I will have as a staging area and for mums etc. and artificially reduce temps there via a/c in order to get anything to purple.

But autos? On a farm? Really? I mean sure, if I have a farm I will get some fem and auto seeds and play with them since I will have the space and no limitations of plant count etc.
But to actually farm them in the fields? Why would I do that??

Maybe as a rough visualisation/idea of what I have in mind:
Check out brownguy420 on youtube. I know he just left there and people say he "failed" and stuff but as a general conceptualization/layout of the farm, that is more or less what I had in mind. Smaller scale though.
A sealed, air conditioned room or two in the house (or build a special shed for that or sth) that I use as a staging area for seedlings and clones, as well as keeping mums and doing some indoor growing/experimentation/seed making.
A large Greenhouse to use as the vegging area. That will be semi-controlled environment with air intake and outflow being regulated with fans etc. and heating elements in place to bridge the november-february time where temps could drop.
One or two Greenhouses for flowering and then a large field for the outdoor crop that gets transplanted outdoors in the spring.

I am not sure if I should use large fabric pots/raised beds or plant directly into the fields yet. I think the soil analysis will give the final verdict here.

Another great benefit is that solar is cheap there and I will be able to run the whole farm from solar power and be autonomous in that regard. Even in the winter there will be enough sun to power everything (most likely, I still have to run those calculations).

bigbadbiddy said:

Good info.

Question though:
If I look for a strip of land that has been used for tomato cultivation for say 10 years. That would be an indicator that cannabis will do well there as well. Makes sense.
But wouldn't the fact that tomatoes were cultivated there for 10 years mean that the fields are depleted of nutrients and likely have a lot of salt buildups due to heavy fertilization that likely occurred to compensate?

In that line of thinking, wouldn't it be more advisable to go for a field where tomatoes were cultivated 20 years ago and the last 10 years they grew peaches? My thought would be that the peaches would have allowed the soil to recuperate with regard to nutrients for tomatoes and other heavy feeders.

Catch my drift? Thoughts?

Click to expand...

I was talking more about what's growing in the area than to what is growing on the exact piece of land. You can find out from the soil test if you got enaugh nutes to grow weed and a good ph and you can then know what you got to add to make it better.
Also, keep in mind that you buy a piece of land that has been used for regularar farming, with chem pesticides and mineral nutes, there ia a time period that you need to wait for before you can consider your crop to be organical. Especially with cannabis that is a bioacumulator and will absorb many things from the soil. Best bet wold be to work on the farm soil while you grow in soil mix and beds for a while. Hemp would be a nice crop to use to try to clean some of the pesticides and heavy metals from the soil. Then another soiltest, and you add organic matter and ammendaments and you start growing weed.

Nice exploziv, great feedback.

The valley grows a lot of peaches and apples aye but also a lot of tomatoes etc. etc.

If I don't mix up something here, I was told that they farm peach trees whenever possible as that is apparently the cash crop in the area. They grow/harvest them for 7 year intervals and then remove them from their fields (shallow rooters) and plant tomatoes and the like for a while and then after a few years plant another field of peach trees. Or so I was told.

But there are definitely peach fields next to rice, tomato etc. fields. and then they swap around..


The hint with raised beds was great and I had considered that before and it could be a great way around my worry of the soil being burdened by mineral/chemical nutes and overfertilization for a long time.
Just use raised beds with my soil mix and work some cover crops and the like into the fields, then till them after a year or so and work my soil mix in there and then plant into that soil in season 2 or 3. Sounds like a good plan to me and this way I don't have to worry too much about the soil itself aside from heavy metal pollution and the like.

I'd take an old peach/apple orchard.
Deeper roots mining minerals.
Wood.
Leaf mulch.

Tomatoes are famous for nematodes. Apples and peaches can suffer as well.You may look for a less nematode friendly cover crop. Put down some clear plastic and sun bake them.

With the short winter, you could veg plants inside, then depending, put them out until around May so they finish flower before the summer solstice.

Are you going to use the same plot year after year or can you rotate?
Security. Local kids can be like mice.

Spend the night. There may be a hidden dog kennel next door.

If I had tropical land and could have a free for all grow method. I would not do indoor at all. I would work on breeding tropical and stable varieties. There is not a whole lot of tropical strains on the market. There is to start but why not extend that collection?

Hopefully Slownickel will chime in. If not shoot him a pm. This question is right in his wheelhouse.

When I bought my farm it was from my family so I knew the land. Easy for me.



For sure a complete soil and water test is a must.

Thanks Lester, I will shoot slownickel a PM, great help!

@hh

I will likely be able to rotate between two fields. It'll be about an acre of land, a bit more. So that should afford enough space for everything including a 2 field rotation.

Currently favoring the idea of having raised beds or large fabric pots for the first year, while I treat the barren field with cover crops, till it and then work my soil mix into it the second year and plant in that soil, in the meantime treat field 1 the same way and rotate the following year. Sound good?

I have avoided looking at peach orchards so far because I wouldn't want to bother with removing all those trees from my field. That sounds like a lot of extra work and cost for no (to me) discernable benefit.
Same reason why I look at plots that already have an asphalt road and don't really like the ones that only have dirt road.
If I can skip road construction costs, I think that will be very good. Plus the fields with already existing asphalt road connection are not more expensive than the ones with dirt roads at all.

Regarding security, I was considering a full fence around my property (wall is likely too expensive) with cameras along the fence line and then a large post around the middle of the property with cameras that watch the other cameras. Then some guard dogs patrolling the property. Sounds right?

@Easy7
I only want to do the mums, seedlings, clones thing indoors but figured if I already make a room for that, I might as well make a second to play in. I like the ability to completely control the environment and believe that it allows for better testing of methods and the like than outdoors where other factors play a role. Also I imagine it is much easier to make seeds and be sure which plant pollinates which, indoors. If for example I want to test several males for future breeding stock, I figured the best way would be to take say 5 select female keepers and then say 3 select males for testing and dust each of the females with pollen from each of the males (individual branches dusted and labeled).

This way I would be able to directly compare the progeny of each female and male combination the upcoming season outdoors (or in greenhouse) and believe this would give me a good idea about which of the males did best.

I don't know how I would do all of this outdoors without a controlled environment, wind and bees and stuff....

Fence is better than a wall. Kids in my old neighborhood used to walk the walls. Once they find out, they don't quit.

Guard dogs? If some kid gets mauled over marijuana plants, I guarantee trouble. I have big dogs, but they'll only lick them to death.

What quality of soil is available for raised beds/fabric pots?

If heat is an issue, a hoop house covered with carpenters cloth, window screen, or even very light shade cloth, MAY be beneficial.

...

Thanks for all the infos guys, good stuff.

Got the book and gonna start reading in a bit.

I also found a place that does soil and water analysis after all. They even offer consultation for the soil, i.e. advice on how to ammend etc.

The soil ingredients available should be great.
Peat moss you have to import anyways and they have it too.
I will have easy and cheap access to rice hulls and crab meal, fish meal and the like.

EWC might be a bit tricky but only important for the first mix anyway as I will have my own worm farm.
Generally a lot of good ingredients are available in good quality and for very cheap.


I also have a plot of land already scoped out and in mind.
It would be next to a government facility and a large DIY store. That should make security an afterthought