Location
Stephen F Austin State University, Baker Pattillo Student Center, Twilight and Grand Ballrooms
Start Date
14-4-2015 4:00 PM
End Date
14-4-2015 8:30 PM
Description
East Texas has predominantly been categorized historically as a forestry and timber management region. The nearest region to expectedly encounter viewing a large number of properties containing the growth of nut-bearing tree plantations, better known as orchards, is the Hill Country or South Texas Regions. During 2012, I witnessed a rural real estate transaction between an East Texas timber landowner and successful almond orchard farmer. The almond farmer had no previous experience with the practice and management of Texas loblolly pine plantations; however, he had interest in diversifying his real estate investment portfolio to include a pine plantation offering a different soil type than he was used to cultivating for his almond farms. The more than two-thousand acre Neches River property of his choice, was in fact a practical timberland investment, with a desirable projected return-on-investment. As a result, the almond farmer can now learn the principles associated with growing, managing, and harvesting pine timber in East Texas, in addition to examining the new soil type and preparing it for his experimental East Texas almond orchard farm. Due to the almond farmers unorthodox endeavor, the experience enlightened me and generated the basis of the following study; does the East Texas region host lands that are practical, or even potentially possible, to develop large acreage into nut-bearing orchards.
Agricultural Assessment: Pecan Orchard Feasibility Study
Stephen F Austin State University, Baker Pattillo Student Center, Twilight and Grand Ballrooms
East Texas has predominantly been categorized historically as a forestry and timber management region. The nearest region to expectedly encounter viewing a large number of properties containing the growth of nut-bearing tree plantations, better known as orchards, is the Hill Country or South Texas Regions. During 2012, I witnessed a rural real estate transaction between an East Texas timber landowner and successful almond orchard farmer. The almond farmer had no previous experience with the practice and management of Texas loblolly pine plantations; however, he had interest in diversifying his real estate investment portfolio to include a pine plantation offering a different soil type than he was used to cultivating for his almond farms. The more than two-thousand acre Neches River property of his choice, was in fact a practical timberland investment, with a desirable projected return-on-investment. As a result, the almond farmer can now learn the principles associated with growing, managing, and harvesting pine timber in East Texas, in addition to examining the new soil type and preparing it for his experimental East Texas almond orchard farm. Due to the almond farmers unorthodox endeavor, the experience enlightened me and generated the basis of the following study; does the East Texas region host lands that are practical, or even potentially possible, to develop large acreage into nut-bearing orchards.
