Positive Future #438 (Feature photo – Pistachios on the Tree – CCA SA 3.0 Unported)
While it is a small trend mostly out of the mainstream news, owning orchards of nuts, fruits and avocados is a serious trend among non-farming investors. Stabilizing world population is not an option, so competition for food – in a world with relatively decreasing resources – makes a good bet.
Gladstone Land, with a record of careful and steady farm purchases, just announced it had purchased 852 acres of planted pistachio trees that are just reaching their peak production. Cost of the pistachio orchard in Chowchilla, California was approximately $28.6 million – or roughly $33,570 per acre. Gladstone Land will lease the farm to Specialty Crop Company, Inc. – one of the top nut growers in the world. Should Investors own food orchards? Considering that Gladstone Land and its tenants appreciate the value of pistachios, for example, may be a good thing. A community that would appreciate and care for pistachios might also be a good thing.
Why are pistachio trees so valuable? It takes nearly 10 years before a new tree reaches significant production and pistachio trees have been known to live for 300 years.
You can visit the Gladstone website to get a glimpse of their farmland portfolio at the link below. It is interesting to see what kind of farms are.
