Chile Forum

@mcmc - I am no expert in this matter, I just happen to know a bit about Chile. My impression is that the good fertile soil begings around Temuco and south. It would include all the land around the lake region and it would extend all the way to Puerto Montt.
For example, Los Angeles' soil, about 150 kilometres north of Temuco is only suitable for forestry. Hope this helps.

Check again on Los Angeles' soil. My friend has a large fruit farm there and it is in country surrounded by other similar farms.

yea, the big international fruit farms and such love the 6th to 8th regions, because of the balance between soil and sun. They do have water issues, and most of the land is really expensive, depending on what part. Up near the mountains, you will find fairly decent all around soil. Still it does seem to tend towards being a bit more sandy, than further south.

The problem with 9th region south is that the big agricultural industry tends to be dairy, rather than growing (not totally, but in part). I really know of no reason why other things could not be grown there. The soil is excellent, just I think up to recently it was really cheap by the hectare grazing land relatively well connected to major markets. Now it is not so cheap anymore. You got to go more off the beaten path, or at least less connected path, down in to the Patagonia to find big, cheap hectares. Still, the hectares for a small hobby farm are within reach south of the Bio Bio river.

My inclination for my personal garden was to go high tech (greenhouses, hydro, and so on), and max out relatively few square meters like they do in northern Europe, even though I do have the space for traditional outdoor garden. Plants might like it outdoors in the South, but I hate gardening in the rain and cold.

@passport You are right. I should have said 'mostly' or 'better suited' for forestry. I know what you mean. One of my best friends lives in Los Angeles and I visit him often. Some of the largest pulp and forest factories are located around Los Angeles.

On the seed front, why not breed your own heirloom seeds in Chile (or your own F1, as needed). You have tweak them to the local climate anyway. Just don't tell Monsanto, or they might send around their men in black.

Chris wrote:Here is a good question:

Is there any farmer and lumber Co-Ops in Chile for small to medium farmers? This is something that I'm really interested in and may try to start one up after getting to Chile.

Whatever became of "farmer chris"? He was running a todo trapo as "Chile or Bust" and now where is he, and his planning progress?

And how about "the mad texan" family and their endearing paean to self-sufficiency in the Chilean campo?

patagoniax wrote:

Chris wrote:Here is a good question:

Is there any farmer and lumber Co-Ops in Chile for small to medium farmers? This is something that I'm really interested in and may try to start one up after getting to Chile.

Whatever became of "farmer chris"? He was running a todo trapo as "Chile or Bust" and now where is he, and his planning progress?

And how about "the mad texan" family and their endearing paean to self-sufficiency in the Chilean campo?

Cheap land in the good old US of A???

patagoniax wrote:Whatever became of "farmer chris"?

When I emailed him a couple of weeks ago, he said he was overwhelmed with air conditioning work due to the US heatwave; he does HVAC. I don't know why he has not returned since I wrote. I emailed him a minute ago to ask.