Moving to Chattanooga Area & Looking for Farmland to Lease (for sale, real estate)

[dvang]

Hi ,

My husband and I are planning to move to the Chattanooga area from Milwaukee, Wisconsin next year. We are currently looking for at least 20 acres of farmland to lease. We are visiting the area sometime this June and would like to lease any farmland we are interested in for the remainder of this year and all next year.

I've been trying to search for any farmland available for leasing and have not come across any advertised (except for the very few on agriseek.com and on forfarmers.com). We are intending to farm fresh flowers and are very interested in the Chattanooga area.

If anyone knows of how I am to approach this search of farmland, please help me out. Or, if you or anyone you know have any available farmland available to lease/rent, please let me know. I appreciate your time in reading this and your thoughtfulness in your responses.

Thank you,
D.Vang

[peppermint]

Wow. Would a real estate agent be helpful for this? I just have no clue.

[SPLIT]

I would guess the only open area of 20 acres would be UP on the Plateau north west of the city . There are some strawberry farms , etc in this region.
Also known for good soil.

. Your best lead would be to check with the River Gorge Trust people for creative land usage. There have been some natural farming started on Williams island , just west of the city . Tennessee River Gorge Trust

. Again welcome to the forum ,& keep us posted. There is quite a active Master Gardner program here in Hamilton co & big display , with flowers at the Sept county fair. Some of our church friends are members. . The 20 acre request is sort of unique , but could be a win - win idea .! My friend is in charge of the city Food Bank , program & they have new greenhouse, for plant sales, etc.

[MountainAire]

You need to know the land first. I'd suggest you contact the county Agricultural Extension Office to see where the flowers you want to plant will actually grow. Location would be important to you. Some flowers will not grow in the mountains as well as others, and yet some do much better in the valley. Here on the mountain we had a brief April frost that destroyed our grapevines and some flowering trees for the whole year now. Don't forget, we're on a lot of rock both valley and mountain. And a lot of the valley is wetland.
Once you get location figured out, you need a realtor to ensure you know you aren't renting someone's property that doesn't even belong to them! Good luck.

[dvang]

Thanks to all of you for all of your comments and suggestions!! I really appreciate it!! Definitely, some very great leads and tips, all of which I will look into.

My husband used to sell fresh cut flowers/bouquets in Seattle's Pike Place Market for several years but moved to Wisconsin so I could finish my degree... we are very excited to get his flower farming back in business and are very interested in the Chattanooga area. All the flowers that we will be selling will be locally grown and sold locally.

I appreciate any and all help/advice/tips/suggestions you may have. Thank you so much for your time!

[An Einnseanair]

There are two local credit unions that specialize in farm/rural loans. We went with Farm Credit when we financed our house lot out in the county. There's also Chattanooga Ag Credit. I think Farm Credit only does loans and insurance (crop failure, etc.), but Ag Credit also has farmland for sale listed on their site. You might be able to contact them for rental information. Even if they don't list rentals themselves they might be able to point you in the right direction; maybe they can give recommendations for real-estate agents who specialize in farmland.

And you DEFINITELY want a real-estate agent for something like this. The fee they'll charge will be money very well spent.