As a landowner in central Montana, I appreciate the amount of work and effort it takes to keep fields maintained and healthy. Farming and ranching includes more than taking care of crops and livestock if you want to keep the value of your property. With a market as hot as this one, you need the edge over other properties, and you want to get full market value for your home and land as well. Having an improved lawn and landscape is one of the most cost effect ways to increase property value.
If you are hoping to sell your property quickly, go stand on the front steps and appeal to your five senses for some direction. Are there tree branches scraping at the roof or your home and growing unruly? Can you smell fresh cut grass? Are there bright flowers perfectly placed to add color? Is the landscaping rough and unattractive? Are the weeds taking over the lawn? It is easy to forget all of the maintenance needed to keep up the home site in addition to the tending of the crops, fields or livestock. If you drive up to a property with an over-grown lawn and weeds lining the driveway, how would it speak to you in comparison to a property with a nicely groomed lawn without a weed in sight? The latter may suggest to a potential buyer that you pay attention to detail and meticulously care for your land and soil. Green is a beautiful color for winter wheat, grass, the environment and the pocketbook! Real estate professionals and buyers alike recognize that an attractive property can increase property values by as much as twenty percent. Money doesn’t grow on trees in a literal sense but growing a green landscape increases value and saves you money.
Noxious weeds are described as non-native plants that are introduced to an area by people or through people’s actions and are a real headache for landowners. These weeds are highly destructive as a result of their lack of natural enemies and their aggressive growth method. Consequently, noxious weeds are extremely tough to control by environmental or chemical practices. Noxious weeds display turmoil by reducing crop yields, destroying other native plant life and affecting local animal habitat, clogging waterways, decreasing property value, poisoning humans and livestock and creating fire hazards. If selling your land is part of your imminent future, it can be helpful to seek advice from a Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) or a Certified Agronomist (CPAg) such as myself to help market your property. I can help you best decide an efficient plan of action to gain weed control. There are different techniques and practices that I can share with you and help you decide which fits best. For example, noxious weeds can be controlled by chemical (spraying herbicides); biological (releasing insects); mechanical (tillage, pulling and mowing); and cultural means (planting desirable vegetation, fertilization, over seeding and using goats or livestock). Managing weeds is a viable component on my cattle ranch. Managing noxious weeds can improve forage availability thereby increasing my land’s livestock carrying capacity. The same is true on the farming side; soil productivity potential is a big factor when wanting to gain high yields. Taking care of the land and leaving it in better condition than when I found it is a passion of mine. I am happy to help you learn of ways to increase the value of your property if you are ready to sell or even if you are just seeking more efficient methods to strengthen your farming or ranching operation.
