Above are some of the photos I took of the new Red Lake Venture site about 20 miles north of Kingman. Recently there have been a lot of dust complaints due to the fact that the site had three square miles of dirt scraped and the natural vegetation (weeds) no longer held it down. This is an area where there is little vegetation, not much of a habitat for any kind of animals, or anything really to speak of. However it is a push forward to something our town has never had. Farming. This land has been overgrazed for years by the local ranchers with their cows. However Red Lake Ventures is a hedge fund from back east that is actively purchasing land in the area to use for growing cotton. Right now the photos in this blog are of water systems they are putting in that will use drip irrigation to water the cotton fields.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding this as there are studies on the amount of water available but it doesn't change the fact that we are in the desert and get 11 inches of rain per year on average. The water usage studies already say that we are using more than what is being replenished.
I think with the extended drought in California we will see more and more farming activity come this way. Right now we do sell to final end users of the farms, it is just a matter of time before speculation buying comes into effect with more activity that will then again push land prices up.
With drought conditions prevailing farming with the help of artificial irrigation system seems like a good idea. I hope that your project is a success and you get a great yield from your crops.
ReplyDeleteIts nice to utilize waste land for agriculture purposes. But in desert we usually lack water so only few crops can be harvested best in these areas.
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