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Why could you not structure the land purchase so that CBM gets their 8 acres and the balance of the land go to another party that the Seller also knows? Based on the above, it sounds like that the Seller of the land could find a Buyer who would continue to farm the land.
I agree with notlist3d (or perhaps I am extending his idea) that the mining and farmland should be separate entities.
I suspect there are many here who would like to take a look at your mining opportunity. If you make it a "clean" business offer, that would likely interest more investors.
* Transparency matters. *
They answered half of the questions so I will ask it again below. I suspect renter is either friend of old landowner or someone in the project. I want to know who came up with terms. With spending a ton on land sharecropping is way to go. This flat rate long term is a sweetheart deal for someone. They get all benefits of landownership without buying it.
I think we are in agreement there is a reason they want to buy all the land not just some. Even paying a premium for a small part is MUCH cheaper then buying whole thing. And you can mix different buisnesses but I feel they are going down wrong path. I think there is a reason they want all the land. Who ever the renter is get's one very sweet deal, which makes me think this provision was made by friend either old owner or this CBM added it for a friend.
It is not a surprise he is not leaving equipment it's hard to say but it could be as much as the land. With it the deal is much more attractive.
There are a few red flags on it first is long term lease. With owning the land when sharecropping you are normally responsible for land upkeep, maybe they pay 1/3 at most but at least 2/3 if not all is on landowner. With long term lease there is no computation your chances are giving it to the previous owners buddy. You need to at least do it as a bid and have more then 1 farmer bidding on what they will pay. But since it's your land upkeep or improvement make sense landowner benefits from.
Also normally it is not a flat fee if just flat fee if your just getting flat fee your getting screwed with owning the land. Normally you get a percentage of the crops. 2/3 land owner and 1/3 sharecropper is very common.
I think you a little over your head on the farming and land ownership. I HIGHLY suggest getting someone who knows industry to consult before going with deal. I think it's a pretty sweet deal for sharecropper getting it at flat rate. But as land owner getting just a flat rate is not normal at all. You want a share of what is produced.
Did previous owner come up with these terms with sell? Sounds like something someone would do for a friend he want's to farm it that does not have cash for land. To get a flat fee at a rate low enough to pay for all upkeep out of sharecroppers hand you know you are getting much lower then you could. Look at it renter is getting all the benefits of landownership without cost with your longterm lease. Don't sign current deal, trust me on getting a consultant.
Columbia Basin Mining (“CBM”) co-founder is from an well established third generation of farmers, so understanding how agronomics work is nothing new. The following is his position as an active farmer and businessman of 28 years.
Sharecropping is not heard of in our area (Pacific Northwest).
We have many established farmers that will submit bids on rental rates. CBM is promoting rental rate as $500/acre conservatively in our pro forma as an amount to count on. Currently the industry is not on the top or even climbing in profitability margin. This was a lean year and next year doesn’t show much signs of improving. Farmers do not win consistently every year.
Sharecroping with a potato grower who has $4000/acre into his crop and then loses $1000/acre due to extreme weather conditions does not create a stable environment for our investors.
A long term lease (4 years) has two benefits, by:
• Allowing the farmer to run their rotation and be invested in the health of the soil for the next year.
• Allows CBM to receive its cash rent at the beginning of each year as it is not in the business to “farm” but produce lucrative returns for its investors.
There are pros and cons to every lease scenario.
We are focused on the bigger picture of Bitcoin Mining.
Sharecropping is actually a very good system for landowner. It is far from unheard of, a flat pay you lose all benefits of land ownership. Trust me your losing a lot of potential profit. Your signing a deal where someone gets all benefits of owning land without buying.
I don't believe you are active on farming... or you would have farmed it yourself. So somethings do not make sense. You have to see that. A sweet deal for renter. And you say you have third generation farmers.... but they don't want to farm this land? Makes no sense unless that is who is the renter if hes's part of your project. If so it is structured heavily tword renter from a insider.
Did old owner come up with terms? Did you come up with terms? Also is farmer a friend of who did? Is the renter family relation to someone in CBM? It just is nothing like normal on the deal. Someone is trying to give the sharecropper/renter a sweet deal for them.
*Edit your also forgetting about insurance on bad crop's or weather. If you were truly in the industry and for some reason your crops are being killed by weather or other factors you can get insurance on it. It is not cheap but if you think it's that bad of farming most would insure it. And if the weather is that extreme always likely you are buying a crappy spot for farmland.