Invest In Green Gold
In my opinion, there is no better asset to own during any kind of financial crisis than good agricultural or undeveloped farmland.

Good Undeveloped land -
As long as it is in the path of growth and development, undeveloped land is an excellent choice for various reasons. 

First –  and key to successful investing in undeveloped land today is timing.  Buying land with market conditions of today represents a hold for a couple of years in a lot of cases.  If you buy in the path of growth, buy the land  right, and proceed with all necessary studies up to master plan and permits, this will take 2 years. You would have to build this time frame into the project in any event.  The net result is that you can buy at today’s reduced prices and be ready to go when the market appears again and with the right product.

Second, – A most important  aspect is the assessment of the change in product required for today’s economy and Baby Boomer profile.  One must design to build according to what is now going to sell easily.

Third -  With undeveloped land you are not paying for the pre studies and plans to make a master plan ready for approvals that may or not be what you wish to develop.  When you make your own it will be timed and designed exactly to the market.

Agriculture
In some ways, land is even better than gold or silver.  At least farmland is an intrinsically useful.  A tangible yield is provided in the form of good things from the earth. We all have to eat. As consumers trim their budgets, they‘ll give up a lot before they give up their calorie intake. Worldwide, the per capita calorie intake is likely to rise, as quality soil  becomes a scarce commodity. Altogether, I see many big reasons why agriculture investments are as good as gold…   Here is a sample of an Agriculture farm in Costa Rica that is ripe as it has been deeply discounted already and probably will go for less than asking.   It has water, a year round lake, home, barns and more.  This farm was valued by a Bank at $1,500,000 not long ago.  You have to look to find this quality in a deal like this but with patience you can find them.

GRAIN  It is a fact that Grain inventories are falling to their lowest levels in more than 40 years It is impossible to continue dipping into inventories. The natural response you would expect to see is rising prices for grains and for the farmland that produces them. Global grain inventories, drought pending, are expected to rise this year, but will still remain well below historical level.

 Mark McLornan made this comparison of the current agricultural opportunity in the May issue of Marc Faber’s Gloom Boom & Doom Report:  “Investing in agriculture today will be like investing in the oil sector in 2001-2002.”  (If you’ll remember, that’s when oil raced up to $143 a barrel from its $30 low.) 
 
Does this translate to Costa Rica land opportunities?
“If the United States sneezes, Costa Rica get a cold.” is never more prevalent here.  Here is some background.  According to Javier Flores Galarza, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), the resources aim to increase the local rice production by almost 50%. Currently, Costa Rica produces only 48% of the rice consumed by its population. The plan aims to produce 80% of the rice needed locally within the next two years. Furthermore, the local bean and white corn production will go from meeting 25% of the local needs to 70% within the next three years. As we know, a high percentage of Costa Rica food is made with one of these three basic grains (rice, beans and white corn for tortillas

With recent increases in food prices Costa Rican officials and the general public has become concerned about the cost and availability of our food imports.  Costa Rica is mainly self-sufficient in vegetable and fruits, meat and fish, and dairy products. This is far from the case with the basic staples of the population’s diet, rice and beans. Domestic production accounts for less than half national consumption of these staples. Corn and other grains are almost entirely imported. There is ample land for mechanized cultivation of these crops, especially in Costa Rica’s Northern Zone. For more information contact Heinz at 1 888 581 1786.

Bio Diesel
Costa Ric’s objective is to produce ethanol and biodiesel on a large enough scale to eventually reduce or even replace petroleum fuel.  Recope, the nations Refinery, is constructing a large processing plant. The government is about to release a plan for the  development of the industry. The Institute for Agrarian Development, is engaged in research projects for certain products to convert to biofuels. At present, ethanol is produced from sugar cane and to a lesser extent from yuca (cassava), a root crop. There is some production of bio-diesel from African Palm oil.

The next in this series of  Green Gold will be published shortly. 

If you have a specific requirement in Costa Rica Land, contact us at 1 888 581 1786 and ask for Robert or Heinz.