Gladstone Land Corporation wins farm at public auction
By Diego Flammini, Farms.com
How much does a 331-acre strawberry farm go for on the open market? As Pubilius Syrus wrote in the 1st century BC, “everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.”
In this case, Gladstone Land Corporation out of Mclean, Virginia decided the farm, located in a prime agricultural section of Monterey County in Salinas, California, is worth approximately $17 million.
The farm is equipped with four wells, ample water, and great soil. Its current tenant is one of America’s leading strawberry shippers and the deal is expected to close early in the new year.
"We were very pleased to win the auction to buy this farm," said David Gladstone, Chairman of Gladstone Land Corp. "With the continued growth of our portfolio and increase in borrowing facilities, we are able to take on larger transactions, as evidenced by this acquisition potentially marking the third farm purchase greater than $13 million that we will have closed in the past four months.
California is the leading state when it comes to strawberry production in the United States. In 2013, upwards of 2 billion pounds of strawberries were harvested, amounting to nearly 88% of the country’s strawberry yield.
California’s strawberry market is valued at $2.6 billion, and the state’s Department of Food and Agriculture says it’s the sixth most valuable crop produced in the state.