Re: Certification

[Gil Robertson]

Hi! Allan, There is much to be considered, in buying any land intended for agriculture or horticulture. I would suggest it is well worth spending some hard cash on a suitable consultant to give you a written report. Are you in Australia? If so what part? There may be some one on the list who knows a good consultant in your area. The fee may seem considerable, but they should be bringing many years of knowledge and should save you many times your cost. An example I know of was a vineyard in my area that was barely paying expenses and producing wines that were interesting to be polite. In two years, production went up more than three fold for little more cost and in about the third year they won their first medal. Having intended to only use her one year, they now keep her on an annual retainer to supervise the operation. The things to consider include:- Intended crops/ stock - all the rest must suit these. Soil type, pH, condition; past use of land; past/ current/ expected future use of adjoining land; weather and prevailing winds; current vegetation/ weeds; health of soil biota; past chemical history of this and adjoining land; fire potential; aspect of land in relationship to sun/ drainage/ vehicular access/ proximity to power/ phone etc; type and quality of fencing and other infrastructure; water supply/ quality/ cost; Planning Zone; access to market(s); access to service town; suitability for intended use of any house/ buildings plant included in sale. Often it is better to pay more for a property that is most suited to the intended need, than replace much of that which you have paid for, but can not use. There is a rule of thumb. The cost of land should only be twenty or thirty percent for the capital investment. If you are putting out seventy or eighty percent of your capital on land, you do not have the means to build a viable project. It may be better to look at a much smaller area of really good land and do something intensive. A couple of hectares under vegetables and chickens for eggs, will provide all the work one or two people can do. A Permaculture with BD operation, minimises imputes and produces little waste. While I would personally, would look toward BD certification, I am not that fussed, as one can get Organic Certification and still do BD within it. I see the big advantage of BD is that your soil biota will be or at least should be better under BD. Your compost should also be markedly better. One of course can do organic/ BD without certification and sell on quality, but you miss out on having a more experienced person looking over your shoulder and seeing you get it right. I think the inspection fees are cheap, when you consider the amount of expertise that comes in the gate with it. One thing that is sometimes overlooked in both Organic and BD is the need to have a proper mineral balance. Peter Bennetts points out many cases where happy folk have created a situation which is too high in Organic material and not a functional amount of minerals available. This can be a serious situation in some poorly managed Organic situation and for example can lead to dangerous nitrogen toxicity. Following the work of Dr Phil Callahan, good quality rock dusts from igneous rocks are becoming available at prices affordable from intensive situations. I can give you a contact for NSW and Vic, who has done a lot of field work and is packaging in small bags as well as 40 tonne rail truck loads and one tonne dumper bags. Regards Gil Port Lincoln SA [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: David:Thanks for the advice.Yes I will be contacting a certifying body however which one?.Are they all much of a muchness?. I have spoken to the neighbours and they have said the place has had only horses and cattle on it for the last 7 odd yrs.Before that there was a small dairy. I intend to grow a range of vegetables and citrus which leads me to another question.Should I start contacting agents / merchants for the produce?. Allan Emerton