Renting land to asparagus growers

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manvsmoustache
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Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby manvsmoustache » Wed Jul 20, 2022 7:13 pm

Hi, I have around one acre of land sitting empty and a local farmer has asked to use it to plant asparagus. He is willing to pay rent or give me a % of the profits from the crop.

I’d prefer to stay hands off, let him use the land and take a % of the yield. I know with olives this can be as much as 40%, but I’m wondering if anyone knows the going rate for asparagus?

I don’t want to give away rights to the land for free but at the same time want it to be fair since I will be doing none of the work myself. I also plan to have a contract drawn up to make it official and avoid any disputes down the line.

Any info very much appreciated, thanks!

ashtondav
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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby ashtondav » Thu Jul 21, 2022 12:31 pm

I thought of doing this but as there was no separate water supply separate from my garden I couldn’t figure out how to allocate it. Make sure the contract is watertight as there WILL BE disputes down the line.

Pamela1
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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby Pamela1 » Thu Jul 21, 2022 2:22 pm

I'd be more than happy to give out my land for free, especialy if i never used it, that way it's being looked after rather than sitting there growing weeds.

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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby jhonie99 » Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:51 am

manvsmoustache wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 7:13 pm Hi, I have around one acre of land sitting empty and a local farmer has asked to use it to plant asparagus. He is willing to pay rent or give me a % of the profits from the crop.

I’d prefer to stay hands off, let him use the land and take a % of the yield. I know with olives this can be as much as 40%, but I’m wondering if anyone knows the going rate for asparagus?

I don’t want to give away rights to the land for free but at the same time want it to be fair since I will be doing none of the work myself. I also plan to have a contract drawn up to make it official and avoid any disputes down the line.

Any info very much appreciated, thanks!
His intention is probably to buy the land or take it from you!!

My view would be keep it for yourself, it acts as a buffer zone between you and the enemy, which makes it v valuable.

Asparagus will turn into something else. Then you'll be waiting 10 years for a court case, to remove him.

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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby Wicksey » Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:44 am

Yes, I must admit I would be cautious.

We and our immediate German neighbour buy our water supply from a neighbouring landowner. We both have contracts for the water and Paco always said that the water tank was soley for our use. Over the years that has changed and it now supplies his mango plantation. As he never used to refill the tank, that was always our job, he ended up draining it quite often so we ran out of water. Thankfully he has started to refill it for us, but now with the current water shortages we are annoyed that the tank no longer just serves our two small houses. The tank would last both us a year, but in the past he had drained it in 5 weeks.

So, all in all, contract or not, things change and situations change, and then you have a fight on your hands. I'm sure there is a rule, in the UK as well as here, that you can claim a right to land that you have been using, although I think it is a long time .... 20 years? Not sure, but personally I would rather our land lay fallow. There have been other instances of neighbours cutting a driveway through our land, and that also happened to a friend's house ("they weren't using it so why can't I have access through it?") so I'm afraid I don't really trust anyone when it comes to land ownership.

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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby Cádiz » Sat Jul 23, 2022 9:09 am

manvsmoustache wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 7:13 pm Hi, I have around one acre of land sitting empty and a local farmer has asked to use it to plant asparagus. He is willing to pay rent or give me a % of the profits from the crop.

I’d prefer to stay hands off, let him use the land and take a % of the yield. I know with olives this can be as much as 40%, but I’m wondering if anyone knows the going rate for asparagus?

I don’t want to give away rights to the land for free but at the same time want it to be fair since I will be doing none of the work myself. I also plan to have a contract drawn up to make it official and avoid any disputes down the line.

Any info very much appreciated, thanks!
Where is the water for the said project? this is the first question as this is key.
There is no way i would stay hands-off as that way you lose control of the property, the money isn't the big issue. If you involved you have control of your land.

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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby olive » Sat Jul 23, 2022 1:13 pm

Commercial aparagus is not irrigated so shouldn’t be an issue here.

Exit clause? Will you have to give notice? With a mature productive crop a hectare will be worth perhaps 50k. An unscrupulous landowner might be tempted to hire in labour…..

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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby Pamela1 » Sat Jul 23, 2022 3:03 pm

So what else are you using it for except weeds! i know what that is like, poisioned land!.Sometimes we over think! What if this or that...Greed gets in the way of everything, as long as the water costs are covered then all that is to worry about is the what ifs and if you are going to worry about that then do nothing..As simple as that.

Cádiz
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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby Cádiz » Sat Jul 23, 2022 5:26 pm

olive wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 1:13 pm Commercial aparagus is not irrigated so shouldn’t be an issue here.

Exit clause? Will you have to give notice? With a mature productive crop a hectare will be worth perhaps 50k. An unscrupulous landowner might be tempted to hire in labour…..
I expect there is irrigation as the season be too short in Andalucia without small amount of added water.

olive
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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby olive » Sun Jul 24, 2022 1:22 am

Still the answer is asparagus is not irrigated.

If you shop at Mercadona, their asparagus comes from the Poniente. Although the season officially closes around mid June ( to allow the plants to develop ) they do harvest later and supply Metcadona. I have seen spears in the dead of winter. None is irrigated.

Cádiz
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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby Cádiz » Sun Jul 24, 2022 8:59 am

olive wrote: Sun Jul 24, 2022 1:22 am Still the answer is asparagus is not irrigated.

If you shop at Mercadona, their asparagus comes from the Poniente. Although the season officially closes around mid June ( to allow the plants to develop ) they do harvest later and supply Metcadona. I have seen spears in the dead of winter. None is irrigated.
So you are basically saying asparagus can grow without water. Of course its irrigated but drip to create natural mimik natural enviornment conditions as too much will rot the plant root. it may be that the contitions in Ponient is suitable for growing asparagus through the year. I have only seen wild asparagus between about March and May. I have picked some myself.
.

olive
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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby olive » Tue Jul 26, 2022 8:13 am

Cadiz. I owe you an apology or a correction.

Yesterday I was in lovely Antequera and saw not one but two fields of asparagus with surface drip feed of water. They are the first I have ever seen and I have seen or been in lots.

Of course it is another sign that the world has gone mad. The whole point of growing almonds, asparagus and olives is that they are superbly adapted to hot arid conditions.

manvsmoustache
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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby manvsmoustache » Tue Jul 26, 2022 8:28 am

Thanks for the comments everyone. The original question still remains though.. how much rent should I charge or what % of yield should I be asking for?

Irrigation, fertiliser, equipment and any other associated costs would be the responsibility of the person working the land and that would have to be written into the agreement, along with the term and associated notice periods etc.

This approach is very common locally for olive growing, so I don’t see why it shouldn’t work for other crops, the question is how do you value the land for a crop that has a much shorter lifecycle than olives?

The other option of course is to just sell it!

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Re: Renting land to asparagus growers

Postby Cádiz » Tue Jul 26, 2022 9:39 pm

olive wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 8:13 am Cadiz. I owe you an apology or a correction.

Yesterday I was in lovely Antequera and saw not one but two fields of asparagus with surface drip feed of water. They are the first I have ever seen and I have seen or been in lots.

Of course it is another sign that the world has gone mad. The whole point of growing almonds, asparagus and olives is that they are superbly adapted to hot arid conditions.
You absolutely do not owe me either apology or a correction, i always say about me... "if everyone i differed with stopped talking to me no-one be talking to me at all" I like comparing as thats why i part of conversation.
All is good.


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