Item 2. Properties
Item 2. Properties
Real Estate
We own our corporate headquarters in Santa Paula, California. We own approximately 4,300 acres of farm land in California, 1,300 acres in Yuma, Arizona, 3,500 acres in La Serena, Chile and 1,200 acres in Jujuy, Argentina. We also lease approximately 100 acres of land and have an interest in a partnership that owns approximately 200 acres of land. The land used for agricultural plantings consists of approximately 3,500 acres of lemons, approximately 1,200 acres of avocados, approximately 100 acres of oranges and approximately 400 acres of other crops. We believe that our properties are generally suitable to meet our production needs for the foreseeable future. Our agribusiness land holdings are summarized below as of October 31, 2023 ($ in thousands):
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
Windfall Farms 700 16,162 2009 $ 23,089
Associated Citrus Packers 1,300 14,500 2013 $ 11,154
Pan de Azucar 200 2,395 2017 $ 11,975
San Pablo 3,300 5,837 2018 $ 1,769
Santa Clara 1,200 8,600 2019 $ 7,167
Other agribusiness land 600 574 various $ 957
Total agribusiness land holdings 10,600 $ 55,732
The book value of our agribusiness land holdings of approximately $55.7 million differs from the land balance of $56.0 million included in property, plant and equipment in the notes to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report as the table above excludes land holdings related to our other operations.
We own our packing facilities located in Santa Paula, California and Yuma, Arizona, where we process and pack our lemons as well as lemons for other growers. We have a 5.5 acre, one-megawatt ground-based photovoltaic solar generator and one-megawatt roof array, which provides the majority of the power to operate our packing facility.
We own and maintain 238 residential units in Ventura County 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 and have equity investments in real estate development property in Ventura County, California. These properties are in various stages of development for up to approximately 800 residential units.
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 (aquifer). Our Windfall Farms property located in San Luis Obispo County, California obtains water from wells that derive water from the Paso Robles Basin (aquifer). 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 use ground water provided by wells and surface water for our PDA and San Pablo farming operations in La Serena, Chile and our Trapani Fresh farming operations in Argentina.
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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 and membership is governed by the Association's Bylaws.
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 various 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.