2660 Land Maintenance

I think most people say get friendly with the locals - you can get a tenant farmer - as long as they can get the produce - but I am sure there are some experts - not many chat in this bit of the forum - maybe its just got forgotten about

Hi
We are based around Bologna - so we do not have any contacts in your area. But we have alot of land with our house so we are currently talking with the local farmers union to rent it out. We will not get rich on the rent but at least the land will be kept clean and be of use to someone. It is very important that you have a proper agreement otherwise you could run into problems later over ownership/rights to your own land.

Best wishes.

Hi Tony,
I imagine you might be able to get a contadino to help you - you`ll either have to pay for his services or allow him to take the produce in exchange for the work. I guess you might have to get an expert in if you need terracing doing. The best thing is to ask around locally, talk to the neighbours etc. Is your house/trullo on the land or is it completely separate? Which direction from Ostuni are you? By the way, can anybody explain the different measurements of land - I`ve no idea what a hectare is and, is it the same (measurement) as an Italian ettaro? :confused:

My advice is this.The starting point is to find out who farmed the land before you bought it (unless it was the seller personally).Assuming it wasnt the seller find the person & talk to him & see if you get on with him.If you do,either do the deal with him direct if your Italian & knowledge of rental values are up to it or get advice from an agronomo or geometra.Having said that yuo wont get much for the land so dont get carried away.If you do it direct you can set it up wrongly & end up creating a tenancy without rent reviews that lasts for much longer than you want so take care.Then go to the local farmers union and ask them to draw it up.Our tenant farmer paid their costs and gave us the stamped agreement later but this may not happen everywhere.
Alternatively I think the farmers union may help you do the deal-I'm not sure if they are independent though.
If you dont want to rent it to the previous farmer ask neighbours if they know if anyone is interested.They will know the local farmers.Obviously a local man is more likely to be interested than one from another area.

[QUOTE=tony]Hi all!

New to the forum - would like to talk about how best to maintain the two hectares of land just acquired near Ostuni, Puglia. Consists mainly of olives (about 350 trees), plus some nut trees, pomegranates, figs etc, and a large veggie patch. Is on a gentle hillside, so terracing is important. We'll be resident for part of the year, so local reliable contacts important to ensure land is properly looked after when not around. Olive management, harvesting and oil production is the most important aspect. Can anyone help or just chat about their experiences?

thanks for listening!

Tony[/QUOTE]
Most of the replies concerning some kind of official rent out of your land are probably the best line to take,unless you intend spending most/all of your time on the land.To get "casual labour" for a day costs between Euro 50,00 -Euro 80,00 per day (thats central italy) for olive pruning by competent people could be as much as Euro 80,00 -100,00 per day x person and could take up to and indeed over a week (10 days+) for so many trees depending also how many people/tree size/land dispostion etc so not a small expense which would not include taking away the tons of cuttings or the cutting of the grass under the trees.If the trees are in good shape you could get quite a crop of olives butagain there are the costs of harvesting and paying the press (by weight)The resulting oil would whilst being quite a bit would not in itself pay for the upkeep or at best would just about cover the direct costs of the olives but not the rest.worth thinking about it carefully to avoid a situation of trees "going wild" no oil and using your spare time at the house to hard agricultural work all the time you're there.

Hi Tony

If you are still struggling I know some of the locals that would probably work the land for you although I havent approached them and posed the question.

I know they go around Masserias and prune the olive and almond trees, they would probably know who to get hold of to help with the terracing.

Tony

I live in Umbria and have no extra land with my property. What I do know about is earth moving, as my neighbour is a specialist and I've have a lot done in my garden, even removing small trees & shrubs. That's what you'll need for the terracing work, so ask around if anyone knows someone good with a scavatori (earthmover). They can be expensive, but get thru the work quickly & efficiently.

Good luck, you will do well with all of those olive trees & the others. If you hire someone to look after your olive trees, it can be done for a share of the oil, it doesn't have to be for the whole amount, or you can sell much of the oil to a co-operative to pay for any wages you might have to pay. Ask if anyone knows what sort of yield the trees have given in the past, as if they haven't been well tended, the yield might not be so good. It could also mean that you must expect some heavy costs to begin with.

Good luck

Lavender