Poor land? What does it take to fix it?

In addition to what others said, start studying cover cropping. Depending on your area, something can be used to help stop erosion, and improve tilth and restore fertility.

http://www.sare.org/publications/cov...covercrops.pdf

My cousin's place has a "hollow hill". Can't get any equipment in there, but he's managed to get grass growing in it, and the animals have no problem harvesting it. They use it for shelter in windy weather too. Unusual terrain isn't all bad if you can get something growing there.

What region are you in? That can help us make some recommendations on cover crops and the dryer climates may be tougher to repair.

I've been watching a local road project where they cut the banks back to raw clay. They seeded with grain rye in some places (maybe drilled?) and hydroseeded others with what I assume is rye grass and a chopped straw. Both areas showed good growth despite heavy rains. The few stubborn areas that washed out received a treatment of the mats made out of chopped hay. I was very impressed with the results.

If I was presented with the property you showed around here I would probably try drilling in grain rye, rye grass, white/red clover, fescue, and orchard grass (not sure if you can run them through all together or not). Covering it with straw/hay and pray for frequent gentle rains. Once it came up, I would mow it occasionally and apply manure until I had a thick turf, keeping stock off of it until was WELL established. Then, keep an eye out for any damage, and if any found, removing the stock and repairing the area ASAP.

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http://www.lindsayfarmonsilvercreek.blogspot.com/

Here are some better ( ? ) pictures of the land that Lexa posted .
LandsofSouthCarolina.com - Land for sale by Newberry, South Carolina - Newberry County - 37.5 acres - 1023785

I own timber land in SC that doesn't have all the issues seen in the sat view. That 37.5 acre property with its erosion would do good to bring $1450 per acre with the buildings thrown in. What was the placed used for to create such problems?

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

Compost and more compost. Anything organic that you can get your grubby little paws on. For instance pick up grass clippings spring through fall. Then get leaves in the fall.

Bandit, I posted those specific pictures because they show the worst areas that make me stop and think. I understand that there is no perfect place, it is what you make out of it, but in some places it is more difficult than others.

How do you figure out the price for land?

This farm seems to be a part of Sumter National Forest which in 1930s consisted from eroded farm fields like this one, I guess.
According to USDA soil survey map (thank you Geo in mi) most of the Newberry county has soils rated from moderate to severe for erosion risk. People who own it, have horses on that hill, you can see them on satalite and the shed and barn is on there as well. I guess they did not plan well and did not consider what it would do to the hill.

This is in Midlands area of South Carolina, which cover crops can be grown in this area?

Lexa, I wouldn't waste my time even looking at land like that. As Agman says, what was the place used for to create such problems. You will never retrieve it in your lifetime.

Cheers,
Ronnie

What are you planning to do with it once you get it? On a big scale, I would say forget it. Like the fools we were, we bought some land with some issues. Okay, one eroded area, that used to be an access road to a lower pasture and four feet deep, we filled with piles of branches. Nothing grew there before. Nothing worthwhile for me is growing there now, but lots of bushes and wild flowers, and the turkey hen built a nest there and birds like it. One eroded area I turned into a garden by laying up a retaining wall out of tires, filled with soil at the lower end. Then back filled with rotten logs, old wood, stuff lying around in the woods, piles of branches and a load of wood chips from the power company. It is basically a Huegelbeet in reverse. We covered it with soil, nothing great, hauled a few loads of manure, it is now a nice garden. Eight beds, each about 3 by 15. You would never guess it was an eroded place by looking at it now. I have a nother one in progress, piled in good for nothing logs, I got a load of leaves we picked up this morning, to cover the last end of the spot with and then dump dirt on it. I aim to grow watermelons on it this year. The manure is there already. I did that with the other gardens I made this way too. The first year just have a few hills that have been fertilized with compost and manure. It will be a while until the whole area is in good shape. I can tell when I am working in there that the ground is at times a bit bouncy. A pasture that we have that was washing , we layed swathes of logs and branches to catch the leaves that blow in the fall and to stop the washing. I watched in nature, whereever there is a branch or something lying around, in no time leaves collect there, provide mulch and before you know it, things grow there. It looks a bit untidy with all the branches, but heck, nobody is giving me any money for it. I have some area now where the branches have all broken into pieces and there is now grass growin in the area. It used to be pitiful looking, while the branches were doing their thing it looked messy. For home gardening and keeping small life stock like a few goats and sheep, this works fine. If you want to farm and drive heavy equipment, I have no idea how you would heal that. My guess is you would not. I see land like that around here, overgrazed and eroded. Enough to make you cry.

Is that a high tension line over the middle of it? If so, that would make the property a "no" for me.

A lot of soil problems can be fixed, but it is expensive and takes a lot of time.

lexa
How do you figure out the price for land?

When buying property I always look for a feature. I consider a "feature" to be something that will cause the property to appreciate beyond that of the nearby properties. I like water, view, trees, neat neighbors, etc. The property below does not possess a highly desirable feature but it does have commercial potential and county water plus it is extremely level with agriculture surrounding the property with plenty of wildlife. The purpose of the pic is to demonstrate that you can buy property that is affordable if you are patient and persistent. This parcel does have a problem. Roughly 1/2 is covered with kudzu. I will probably fence the property and let cattle graze the kudzu into oblivion. With the kudzu issue the property sold for 1/3 or less the going price for comparable land in the area. To answer your question as to how do I determine the price I compare the asking price to what I think the property would bring without the stigma. Then I attempt to determine what it will cost me to rid the property of its problem and if the risks are not overly high and I can make a profit I purchase the acreage. I usually do something to further enhance the value such as planting grass or trees. Often I combine small fields or build a small pond.

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

Agmantoo, I agree with you in principle, but the OP is just out of college, paying off student loans, and is looking for land to live on permanently. What you are doing needs venture capital, some equipment, and an investment in your time to eventually sell it for a profit.

On the Google map from Post #24, by travelling around a bit, you will see that this is the only place in the area that shows such erosion, and I think you asked what use caused that. My opinion would be horses and possibly even four wheelers...... My opinion also is that this place is being marketed for yet another user of the same lifestyle as before. Someone from Columbia--thirty minutes away via commute on the interstate, who has some good income to blow, lots of kids, and very little care for the land, except it makes a really good place to play and run around helter-skelter on the weekends. A person would regard the price of $135,000 as of no consequence.......

I would put this place pretty low on my list for permanant living, building a house, and actual homesteading, because the previous owners have exploited all the value from the soil, and it is beyond recovery by most standards and incomes.....

For the OP, another item that should be on your checklist is to take a good look around in about a mile or so radius from the land in question to see if there could be any undesireable features that could ruin your use of the property. With the Google map on the same post, I found four rather large sized confinement farm operations to the west of the property--either hog or chicken..... That would be a BIG red flag for me until I could make a drive-by and take a whiff or two....

Personally, I would pass on this "opportunity"

geo

Thanks.
I noticed chicken farms and a power line too. They are a big no to us, too.

Get a cow.

Where are you buying the composted leaves from?