$17 Million for 331-acre Strawberry farm in Salinas, California

Dec 19, 2014

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 1^st 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.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.