Property Selection And Approval Process For Organic Aquaponic Farms:
Why are you telling us this? Can’t we just buy a farm and get going? NO, DON’T DO IT! Here’s why:
If you just buy or lease any old farm, it may be IMPOSSIBLE to get it organically certified. Only you’ve already spent your money. Now you have a farm that can only earn you half as much, but will forever have the same expenses as one that produces higher-value organic vegetables. You need to know what you’re doing when you go shopping for your farm, or you’re liable to step in some conventionally-farmed waste products and waste your money and time.
(Below) USDA Organically Certified produce is usually worth twice as much at the wholesale level, and always at least 50% more. For growing the same vegetable. Now isn’t THAT a no-brainer?
We’re going on the following assumptions here:
1. You are investing what is a serious amount of money to you, and need a commercial aquaponics project that is finished and produces positive cash flow at that scale.
2. You may want to expand the project in the future to some as yet unknown size.
3. You agree that building your project in increments, with each increment beginning to generate cash flow within a reasonable time of finishing its construction, is a good idea.
4. You want a project that can be run by someone else, if possible: someone who already knows aquaponic farm operation, so it doesn’t take all of your time, or require you to learn the technology or handle all the day-to-day operations yourself.
To accomplish these goals, you need a property that meets as many of the following criteria as possible:
A. 30-60 miles distance by refrigerated truck from a large population center (500,000 plus pop. would be nice, 150,000 a minimum).
B. A minimum of 1 acre of usable and reasonably level space, not including buildings, and preferably gravel or dirt; although a reasonably flat asphalt parking lot will work. You do not need fertile soil or what’s normally considered “farmland”!
C. A standard 200 amp, single phase 240 volt electrical service either already on the property or available within reason (Ex: 20 poles away from the main transmission line at $3,000 per pole is not what I call reasonable). This is for aquaponics, processing, refrigeration, and building uses. If you plan on using artificial lighting to any great extent, you may need up to a 3-phase 750 kva service. This would be really expensive!
D. A city or county potable water service on the property or available. If the city or county allows you to use well water for the water in a “commercial kitchen”, that would also be okay. Just make sure of this, otherwise you may not be able to do value-added processing because your local Health Department doesn’t allow you to use your non-potable water for this purpose.
E. Pluses to keep an eye out for: existing greenhouses (of course!); additional acreage, even if just dirt, for you can do other agricultural projects there; existing warehouse or other steel structure with reasonably high ceiling inside (12 foot min); walkin refrigerator or freezer; office(s); bathroom(s); other usable buildings or facilities that will fit in with your proposed operation. DON’T spend more money for these things unless they’re PERFECT for what you plan; the additional outlay will have to be paid for somehow, and unless they save you money building these things, it’s not a good idea to pay for more than what you need.
F. Minuses to keep a REAL eye out for: any kind of fuel or chemical tanks or indications that there were fuel or chemical tanks on the property, big brown areas in the grass, obvious chemical or oil spills on the ground surface (either inside or outside buildings). Pulp mills, explosives factories, etc, nearby may be deal-breakers for the certification agencies. Make sure you get it in writing from your certification agency before signing escrow!
If USDA Organic Certification is a necessary part of your business plan, you must be aware that the certification agency can impose up to a 250-foot “buffer zone” into your property from any and all neighboring properties it determines are under non-organic regimens. This usually means from neighboring farms that might be spraying chemical fertilizers or pesticides. However, we have no idea what they would do if you are directly downwind from a pulp mill or something of the like; in this case, they may not even consider certifying you. You get the idea; watch for auto painting shops and chemical factories upwind or nearby, etc.
If you have any questions about your proposed “farm”, it’s a good idea to begin the certification process with the certifying agency (this usually just means paying them your application fee), then after getting a preliminary determination from them, a good idea is to pay to get them out to the property and give you a determination in writing whether or not they can certify it, before signing the lease or buying the property. This will only cost $1,500 or so in most parts of the US, which is way cheaper than trying to get rid of an uncertifiable property after you’ve purchased it. Questions?
Aloha Sean
We had a student in one of our live 5-day trainings who had just bought an old nursery with three greenhouses with dirt floors. The greenhouses had had all kinds of non-organic stuff used on the plants in there, but when he proposed that he simply cover the dirt with a couple of layers of 6-mil black construction plastic to “seal all that nasty stuff in”, then some sand, and put his troughs and fish tanks on top of that, the organic certification agency said “OK”.
It was logical: inside a covered greenhouse that wouldn’t flood or get rained on, there was no path for contamination from the potentially toxic ground underneath to the organic plants up above in the troughs, IF the ground was sealed with a plastic membrane.
Now, this was either Oregon Tilth or Organic Certifiers, I can’t give out the name. I can’t give out the student’s name either, because sooner or later someone who reads this will approach that certification agency and say: “Hey, you certified so-and-so in this situation, now you HAVE TO certify me!”. They don’t like being bullied; no one does. But they did certify this guy with this arrangement.
How it works is that the certification agency is God as far as your organic certification goes. If you are considering a big move such as leasing or buying an old nursery property, spend a little more money and do the following: fill out and send in the organic certification application form (it’s in the materials that come with our Commercial Aquaponics DIY package here: http://old.friendlyaquaponics.com/commercial-system/), and send it in with your application fee to the certification agency of your choice.
Then ask your certification agency to come out and do a written “what-if” assessment of your proposed properties. They will charge travel expenses and a fee for this; they are for-profit companies. But the little extra you will spend to know you have a property that WILL be certifiable (instead of MAY be certifiable) is really worth it!
This post discusses Organic Certification for aquaponics in much more depth.
This post discusses property selection for your aquaponics farm, so you can make sure it IS certifiable, in much more depth.
Aloha, Tim………….
Thank you, Tim. Great info I will definitely use. Also, a great big thank you for your wonderful web site. Are there any live trainings coming to the mainland; southeast region?
We don’t have an affiliate in that area at this time. We’d like to, but it requires one of our students operating a real commercial aquaponics farm using our technology; then we partner with them to offer trainings in that area.
Right now we’ve got the Pennsylvania, Cincinnati, and California trainings to choose from.
Aloha, Tim…………
There are a lot of old ornamental nurseries in my area. Most have been out of operation for at least a few years. Is this a problem property type, for organic certification?