1. Obtain some land
with the right soil and climate characteristics. See the
Free Classifieds
for land for sale or orchards to lease. Expect to pay $5,000 to $50,000
per acre of established orchards in California, depending on the region.
Or buy raw land and level, deep till, fumigate, and install an
irrigation system. Get help for irrigation needs by contacting
Farming
Suppliers. To get enough olives to bother milling, buy
at least 2 acres. You will probably want to plant 5 acres or more if you
are thinking of making a commercial venture of it and from 100 to 500
acres to support a family (upwards of 5000 trees). For planting schemes
visit this site:
Antonio
2. Plant olive trees
from rooted cuttings - usually around $8.00 for young trees with about
50 to 300 trees per acre, see nursery listings under
Nuseries.
See Olive Varietals to find one
suitable for your climate, endemic pests, etc.
Read about frost prevention.
Be sure to ask your
agricultural
extension expert what varieties will do best where you live, and
when to prune and spray and water. Irrigation will increase yield -
figure on 10 gallons of water per tree per week from June through
October. Pests
can be anticipated.
Irrigate as
needed. In the Sacramento Valley in California the Dept of Water
Resources generally uses 1.3 Acre Feet per Acre (16 inches of water).
Your trees will start production somewhere between 5 to 7 years later.
| land cost per
acre |
$1,000
to $50,000 in California |
| tree cost |
$8.00 on up depending on
size, variety |
| trees per acre |
40 to 300 depending on
terrain, pruning |
| cost to
prepare land, plant trees |
very variable - average
$7,500 |
| cost to
maintain 1 acre of orchard per year |
$500 -
$2000 |
| Cost to
harvest per ton |
$260 - $320 |
| Pounds of olive per
tree |
80 lbs
- dependent on variety, pruning |
| Tons per acre
- mature trees |
2 - 5 |
|
Average sales price per ton of olives |
$500 |
|
Gallons of oil per ton |
12 - 50 |
|
Retail price of oil - 500 ml premium |
$7 -
$30 |
|
Many of these statistics
come from the
Olive Production Manual published by the
University of California - Louise Ferguson,
Steve Sibbett and George Martin.Also see the
Cost of Production study for
Olive oil making and
Olives |
3. Picking
olives is usually done by hand, although machine picking will probably
be common soon. Watch our newsletter for farms for sale. Expect 3 tons per acre yield
from mature trees or 80 pounds per tree.
Get your friends to do it in return for some free olive oil or pay farm
labor. A good laborer can harvest 200 - 500 pounds of olives a day
depending on variety, terrain, tree size, etc. Expect harvest to account
for 45-65% of the total production cost for olives or $200 to
$300 per ton. Machine picking requires forethought as the trees
must be the right variety, must be planted with proper spacing and must
be pruned appropriately.
4.
Make olive oil
