Item 2. Properties
Item 2. Properties
Real Estate
We own our corporate headquarters in Santa Paula, California. We own approximately 8,300 acres of farm land in California, with approximately 4,000 acres located in Ventura County, approximately 3,600 acres located in Tulare County in the San Joaquin Valley and approximately 700 acres in San Luis Obispo County. Additionally, we own approximately 1,300 acres located in Yuma, Arizona, 3,500 acres in La Serena, Chile and 1,200 acres in Jujuy, Argentina. In California, we lease approximately 30 acres of land located in Ventura County, approximately 80 acres in Tulare County and approximately 800 acres in San Bernardino County, and in Arizona, we lease approximately 65 acres of land located in Yuma County. We also have an interest in a partnership that owns approximately 200 acres of land in Ventura County. The land used for agricultural plantings consists of approximately 6,000 acres of lemons, approximately 900 acres of avocados, approximately 1,400 acres of oranges and approximately 900 acres of specialty citrus and other crops. Our agribusiness land holdings are summarized below as of October 31, 2020 (in thousands, except per acre amounts):
Ranch Name Acres Book Value Acquisition Date Book Value
per Acre
Limoneira/Olivelands Ranch 1,700 $ 767 1907, 1913, 1920 $ 451
La Campana Ranch 300 758 1964 $ 2,527
Orchard Farm Ranch 1,100 3,240 1990 $ 2,945
Rancho La Cuesta Ranch 200 2,899 1994 $ 14,495
Porterville Ranch 700 6,427 1997 $ 9,181
Ducor Ranch 900 6,064 1997 $ 6,738
Jencks Ranch 100 846 2007 $ 8,460
Windfall Farms 700 16,162 2009 $ 23,089
Stage Coach Ranch 100 603 2012 $ 6,030
Martinez Ranch 200 1,363 2012 $ 6,815
Associated Citrus Packers 1,300 15,035 2013 $ 11,565
Lemons 400 800 5,180 2013 $ 6,475
Sheldon Ranches 600 9,618 2016 $ 15,678
Pan de Azucar 200 2,421 2017 $ 12,105
San Pablo 3,300 8,208 2018 $ 2,487
Santa Clara 1,200 8,600 2019 $ 7,167
Other agribusiness land 400 1,296 various $ 3,240
13,800 $ 89,487
The book value of our agribusiness land holdings of approximately $89.5 million differs from the land balance of $96.3 million included in property, plant and equipment in the notes to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The table above presents our current land holdings in farming agribusiness operations and, therefore, excludes Oxnard Lemon land, rental and real estate development land.
We own our packing facilities located in Santa Paula and Oxnard, California and Yuma, Arizona, where we process and pack our lemons as well as lemons for other growers. We commissioned a new lemon packing facility in 2016 to increase capacity and efficiency of our lemon packing operations. We have a 5.5 acre, one-megawatt ground-based photovoltaic solar generator, which provides the majority of the power to operate our packing facility. We also have a one-megawatt solar array that provides us with a majority of the electricity required to operate four deep water well pumps at one of our ranches in the San Joaquin Valley.
We own 256 residential units in Ventura and Tulare Counties that we lease to our employees, former employees and outside tenants and we own several commercial office buildings and properties that are leased to various tenants.
We own real estate development property in the California counties of Santa Barbara and Ventura. These properties are in various stages of development for up to approximately 1,500 residential units and approximately 811,000 square feet of commercial space.
29
Water and Mineral Rights
Our water resources include water rights, usage rights and pumping rights to the water in aquifers under, and canals that run through, the land we own. We believe we have adequate supplies of water for our agribusiness segments as well as our rental and real estate development activities. Water for our farming operations located in Ventura County, California is sourced from the existing water resources associated with our land, which includes approximately 8,600 acre-feet of adjudicated water rights in the Santa Paula Basin (aquifer) and the un-adjudicated Fillmore Basin. We use a combination of ground water provided by wells that derive water from the San Joaquin Valley Basin and water from various water districts and irrigation districts in Tulare County, California, which is in the agriculturally productive San Joaquin Valley. We use ground water provided by wells that derive water from the Cadiz Valley Basin at the Cadiz Ranch in San Bernardino County, California. Our Windfall Farms property located in San Luis Obispo County, California obtains water from wells that derive water from the Paso Robles Basin. Our Associated farming operations in Yuma, Arizona source water from the Colorado River through the YMIDD, where we have access to approximately 11,700 acre feet of Class 3 Colorado River water rights. We also have acquired water rights in Chile from our acquisitions of PDA and San Pablo.
Our rights to extract groundwater from the Santa Paula Basin are governed by the Santa Paula Basin Judgment (the “Judgment”). The Judgment was entered into in 1996 by stipulation among the United Water Conservation District, the City of Ventura and various members of the Santa Paula Basin Pumpers Association (the “Association”). The Association is a not-for-profit, mutual benefit corporation, which represents the interests of all overlying landowners with rights to extract groundwater from the Santa Paula Basin and the City of Santa Paula. We are a member of the Association. Membership in the Association is governed by the Association's Bylaws.
The Judgment adjudicated and allocated water rights in the Santa Paula Basin among the Association's members and the City of Ventura. The water rights are established and governed by a seven-year moving average (i.e., production can rise or fall in any particular year so long as the seven-year average is not exceeded). Under California law, the water rights are considered "property". A perpetual right to water, evidenced by the Judgment, can be exchanged for interests in real property under IRS Code Section 1031 and if condemned by a public agency, just compensation must be paid to the rightful owner. Our rights under the Judgment are perpetual and considered very firm and reliable which reflects favorably upon their fair market value.
For ease of administration, the Association is appointed by the Judgment as the trustee of its members’ water rights and is responsible for coordinating and promoting the interests of its members. The Judgment includes provisions for staged reductions in production rights should shortage conditions develop. It also allows the adjudicated water rights to be leased or sold among the parties. The Judgment established a Technical Advisory Committee composed of the United Water Conservation District, the City of Ventura and the Association to assist the Superior Court of the State of California, Ventura County (the “Court”), with the technical aspects of Santa Paula Basin management. Finally, the Judgment reserves continuing jurisdiction to the Court to hear motions for enforcement or modification of the Judgment as necessary.
Our California water resources include approximately 17,000 acre-feet of water affiliated with our owned properties, of which approximately 8,600 acre-feet are adjudicated. Our Yuma, Arizona water resources include approximately 11,700 acre-feet of water sourced from the Colorado River. We own shares in five not-for-profit mutual benefit water companies. Our investments in these water companies provide us with the right to receive a proportionate share of water from each of the water companies.
We believe water is a natural resource that is critical to economic growth in the western United States and firm, reliable water rights are essential to our sustainable business practices. Consequently, we have long been a private steward and advocate of prudent and efficient water management. We have made substantial investments in securing water and water rights in quantities that are sufficient to support and, we believe will exceed, our long-term business objectives. We strive to follow best management practices for the diversion, conveyance, distribution and use of water. In the future, we intend to continue to provide leadership in the area of, and seek innovation opportunities that promote increased water use efficiency and the development of new sources of supply for our neighboring communities.