A local farmer in Bozeman is looking for a new piece of land to expand onto in the Bozeman area but with land prices so high, the search is proving difficult. Ben Deulingis the owner of SporeAttic, a mushroom farm. He says land prices and the availability of land in the Bozeman area are the main issues when it comes to finding a suitable place to grow.
A quick search of real estate sites for farms and ranchland in the Bozeman area shows several hundred-acre pieces of property selling for several million dollars. That is more land than SporeAttic needs, and it is out of the budget.
Ideally, Deuling saysSporeAtticneeds20 acres of developed agricultural land. At a minimum, he needs 1 to 2 acres. He has been working with realtors for months to find and permanent location to set up, and finding anything for less than half a million dollars feels impossible, he said. SporeAttic is an indoor operation, so it requires a lot less space compared to traditional farms. Since the farm started, they have been leasing land at Three Hearts Farm. Dealing says they are now ready to find a permanent home and continue getting established in the Bozeman community.
SporeAttic does not grow grocery store variety buttons and portobello mushrooms – they grow gourmet varieties like oysters, lion’s mane, or black pearls. And the harvest is delivered to restaurants in Bozeman and Big Sky, often within the same day. To maintain this business model, Deuling said they need to stay close to Bozeman. “I'm not looking to go a million miles away from Bozeman either. The community that we work with is here, the restaurants are here.All of ourbrand ishere.Just due to the nature of the business, we have to be relatively close to Bozeman,” he said.
Source: Kulr8