LandAndFarm.com Newsletter  |
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Convention-al Counties in CO, MN
2. Land-Use Categories: Vegetable Farms
3. Buzz Over the Bees Gets Louder
4. Thirsty? Try Some Free Natural Spring Water
5. Reduced Rural Prices Mean Bargain Buying
6. Timber: Buybacks, Burns and Bugs
7. Recent Properties
With all eyes on the political convention cities of Denver, CO and St. Paul, MN, we thought it wise to take a look at rural counties, for our monthly counties feature, within three hours of the sites of the Democratic and Republican conclaves. This month, we look at Pine County, MN and Routt County, CO.
You might think its famous ski-town (and county seat), Steamboat Springs, would make Routt an expensive place to live, but you would be wrong. Although land and housing are not cheap, Routt has maintained some measure of affordability when compared with the more famous ski towns, such as Aspen, Vail and Breckinridge, farther south along the I-80 corridor, in Eagle and Pitkin counties. With numerous state parks and national forest land, the Continental Divide Trail, hot springs and skiing, Routt, 170 miles from Denver, is synonymous with outdoor recreation. On the market are a 1-plus acre property, a 41-acre recreational property, a 5-acre property in Oak Creek, and 75-acre row crops tract in Yampa, among many others.
Pine County sits in the North Country less than 100 miles from the Twin Cities, along the federally-protected St. Croix River; the waterway is a central recreation focus, along with its tributary, the Snake River. County seat Pine City, along the Snake, has begun to grow as a weekend getaway destination for the metro area to the south, with easy access to I-35 and affordable land and homes in and around the area, which is also home to a portion of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation. With a vibrant downtown, Pine City also hosts one of the largest weekly flea markets in MN. Fishing, camping, hiking and boating are major activities. The Rural School Museum and St. Croix State Park are among the attractions. A 165-acre farm is on the market near Hinckley. A 40-acre Sandstone tract is marketed for hunting, camping or a homesite. In Finlayson, a 24-acre property comes with a lake.
With food prices heading upward, maybe it's time to start planting that patch of green with some edibles, eh? Our vegetable farms category is one of the oldest of our land-use divisions. We distinguish between this and the larger row crops category, because most folks technically consider some of the bigger row crops, such as wheat and corn, to be grains, and soybeans to be something you might not serve at your dinner-table (except requests for Japanese edamame, of course).
Vegetable farms listed on landandfarm.com have grown a variety of produce, depending upon region and season - farms listed sell everything from heirloom tomatoes to bok choy to leeks and pumpkins. Not to mention squash, peas, lettuce, onions, carrots, turnips, parsnips, radishes, and a great variety of other greens. And, unlike row crop farms, vegetable farm properties range from very small - 2 acres - to several hundred. Some sellers use both row crop and vegetable farm categories interchangeably, but we think the latter deserves a mention.
It's been about two years since the red flags went up on bee colony collapses nationwide and around the Americas, and in Europe. A number of culprits have been suspected including pesticide use - whether proper or improper application, mites, parasites and bacterial infections. Wildflower plantings are being urged on farmers and individuals from Maine to Hawaii, to bolster wild bee populations, as trucked bees continue to suffer CCD. At issue is the annual $15 billion agricultural crop dependent upon bee pollination.
The U.S. Agriculture Department's Bee Research Laboratory, while studying the problem, has developed MegaBee at their Tucson, AZ facility; the supplement provides a convenient source of proteins and vitamins when natural pollen sources are weak, or it gets too cold to leave the hive.
And while a federal task-force continues to direct investigation and research, a number of fights are brewing. The Natural Resources Defense Council has sued the federal Environmental Protection Agency over releasing information on what the NRDC claims are risks to bees associated with certain pesticides; the EPA asserts the NRDC is mistaken. Meanwhile, another group, Coalition Against Bayer Dangers, is taking on pesticide manufacturer Bayer AG over what it asserts are problems its products allegedly cause honeybees, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Bayer says its products are safe with correct use, and have been submitted to EPA testing.
We've been hearing that the next big resources battle will be centered on - no, not oil - water. You heard right. H2O. With that in mind, this item may ring a few bells for those of you that value access to wet stuff for drinking purposes.
Out beyond "city water" is a vast place where landowners dig wells for potable water...or, nature delivers it to them in the form of fresh-water springs. We've been watching sellers quietly list - and sell - tracts with free, fresh water for years. Quite a few properties listed on landandfarm.com offer one or more natural springs - sometimes it feeds a pond or lake, and sometimes it's there to be tapped for drinking water. With toilet-to-tap proposals making their way into the big cities, and the cost of filtering water - and then delivering it to your door - growing ever higher, a property with potable spring-water starts to look down-right appealing.
A quick search on "springs," "natural springs," and "free water" produced the following: the inland Pacific Northwest is home to glaciers...and Elk Springs Ranch; the seller note several springs on Spokane-area property. One hour east of Music City, this TN 100-plus acre farm offers multiple springs, as well. A KY cattle ranch near Mammoth Cave yields two freshwater springs. This rural MO property has its own springhouse and creek, along with several springs.
"Reduced."
Ah, the word sounds so pleasant to the ears. It means your basis in the property is going to be lower than it otherwise would have been. You get a better price, and the seller no longer has to worry about the property being the market. And everyone walks away happy. Several hundred properties at LandandFarm.com now sport this moniker, meaning a bargain may be in the offing. We think these properties deserve special attention - many feature lush acreage, water elements or homes that have been recently renovated in the hopes of a sale.
At LandAndFarm.com, we don't break out properties that have been reduced or re-priced. But you can still search for these special listings. "Reduced" and "New Price," will work fine as phrases in our search engine. Or, try "new pricing." The National Association of Realtors, which does not split out rural results, says home sales increased in July - tempered by increasing inventory and prices that continue to move in a southerly direction. "Reduced" prices bring buyers, so take a look at the properties below - and search for your own among the hundreds we have listed.
Examples of reduced prices on property include: a Virginia horse farm awaits equestrians, a small Kansas ranch wants cattle or horses, and an historic farm outside Charleston, WV offers 300-plus acres of hills and hollows. A WI cabin in the woods has dropped in price, as has 40 acres on California's Central Coast.
Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc. is contributing nearly a half million acres of timberland throughout the south and in Oklahoma to a joint venture with Campbell Group LLC, based in Portland, OR. For that contribution, Plum Creak expects to get $783 million for debt repayment and share buybacks, reports said. Joint venture lands of roughly 454,000 acres are located in Arkansas, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
Meanwhile, forest fires in Southern California have brought spending on tree-clearing, roadwork and campground upgrades to a virtual halt, forest officials said. The U.S. Forest Service has ordered a halt to non-essential spending through a number of forests, including the San Bernardino National Forest and the Cleveland National Forest. Both forests encompass several million acres of mountain timberlands.
In other forest news, the USFS said its Stop The Spread program has slowed the European gypsy moth rate of movement from 12-plus miles to just above 7 miles per year on its southward march. Battles against the Asian gypsy moth on the west coast are reported to be more successful, with infestations stopped in their tracks, officials said.
| |  | NC Estate Recalls Hunts and Parties by LandAndFarm.com Staff
With its carefully designed out-buildings, and French-influenced country estate architecture, the Everett House harks back to an era of garden-parties, wooden golf clubs and fox hunts. Here in North Carolina's Piedmont, the textile industry took root and spread throughout much of the area in the early 20th century, before falling into decline after World War II. And, it was here that a textile executive built his dream home with his wife, only to be denied full enjoyment of it when the war claimed his life in submarine conflict.
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Sample of Recent Properties
Real Estate Auction (commercial land) 70 acres.
North Carolina
Farm House On 23 Acres (horse farm) 23 acres.
Wagener, South Carolina
Absolute Perry County Land (hunting property) 105 acres.
Mt Perry, Ohio
Thriving Small Town Restaurant (commercial land)
Lewisburg, Kentucky
Nice Home In A Small Ky Town (residential land)
Lewisburg, Kentucky
Brick Home On The Golf Course (residential land) 1 acre.
Morgantown, Kentucky
110 acres w/ River Frontage (hunting property) 110 acres.
Centertown, Kentucky
Chancery Court Auction (pasture) 497 acres.
Muddy Pond Community, Tennessee
122 Ac W Home Timber Farm (row crops) 122 acres.
Blakely, Georgia
Pony Gulch Hunting (hunting property) 140 acres.
Harvey, North Dakota
Muskingum County Land Auction (hunting property) 154 acres.
Adamsville, Ohio
2 Perry County Farms (row crops) 203 acres.
Junction City, Ohio
Vanhorne Auction (residential land) 12 acres.
Carrollton, Ohio
Cabin And 69 Acres For Sale (hunting property) 69 acres.
Scottsville, Kentucky
The Buck Stops Here (recreational property) 80 acres.
Willow Springs, Missouri
3 Lots In Kentucky Lakes (recreational property) 1 acre.
Murray, Kentucky
201 Acres (hunting property) 201 acres.
Cairo, West Virginia
Terrell Co. 100 Acres (hunting property) 100 acres.
Shellman, Georgia
5 Ac SW Albuquerque NM (recreational property) 5 acres.
Magdalena, New Mexico
4 Acres, Open, Wooded Land (residential land) 4 acres.
Temple, Georgia
Nw Ga Mtns 11.54 Ac (residential land) 12 acres.
Summmerville, Georgia
21.48 Acres In Douglas County (recreational property) 21 acres.
Douglasville, Georgia
Whitfield Road Tract 54 Acre (hunting property) 54 acres.
Georgia
Peaceful Living on 1.20 Acres (residential land) 1 acres.
Buchanan, Georgia
The Emshoff Ranch (undeveloped land) 24 acres.
Welcome, Texas
Building Or Hunting (residential land) 49 acres.
Ethridge, Tennessee
Country Getaway With Style (residential land) 76 acres.
Pulaski, Tennessee
Large Land Auction (residential land) 323 acres.
Clio, South Carolina
1089 Ac Bording Natchez Trace (hunting property) 1,089 acres.
Westport, Tennessee
Ga. Farm Land 77.6 Acres (pasture) 78 acres.
Ashburn, Georgia
Country cottage on 1 acre (residential land) 1 acre.
Burkesville, Kentucky
Great Ohio Deer Land (forest - natural) 18 acres.
Reedsville, Ohio
Lewis Co River Front Property (residential land) 199 acres.
Hohenwald, Tennessee
Beddingfield 46 Acres (recreational property) 46 acres.
Georgia
248 Acres North Morgan Co (undeveloped land) 248 acres.
Madison, Georgia
River Front Getaway (pasture) 7 acres.
Elizabeth, West Virginia
West Ky Farm Land (hunting property) 157 acres.
Princeton, Kentucky
Business Opportunity Bremen (commercial land)
Bremen, Georgia
Nice Brick Home 7 Acres (residential land) 7 acres.
Gandeeville, West Virginia
Brick On Basemt With Lakeview (waterfront)
Temple, Georgia
943 Acres Whites Creek (undeveloped land) 943 acres.
Huntsville, Texas
2428 Acres Pino Grande (undeveloped land) 2,428 acres.
Dayton, Texas
10 Acres with 1930s House (residential land) 10 acres.
Bennettsville, South Carolina
Cabin Well Electric 4.9 Ac. (residential land) 5 acres.
Winona, Missouri
Limestone Creek Tract 46 Ac (recreational property) 46 acres.
Georgia
Bank Short Sale Horse Farm (horse farm) 13 acres.
Kingston, Georgia
135 Acres (forest - natural) 135 acres.
Asheboro, North Carolina
Wilson Road Tract 12 Acres (hunting property) 12 acres.
Georgia
Deepstep Road Tract 18 Acres (hunting property) 18 acres.
Sandersville, Georgia
250 Lots Near Lake (residential land)
Runaway Bay, Texas
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