What should I check before buying a lavender farm?

A lavender farm looks simple from the road. Behind the rows there is a plant with a life span, a season measured in weeks, a product line that has to be made and sold, and usually an owner who does most of it. Your checks should follow the money through those pieces, one at a time, and keep the land apart from the business.

The plantings and the replanting cycle

Lavender plants do not last forever. Ask when each block was planted, which blocks are young, which are tiring and which have been lost to winter or disease. Ask who plans replanting, what it involves and when the next round is due. Walk the rows with a grower you trust. A farm with ageing plants needs money and years before it produces as it does now.

How much rides on the bloom

Ask what share of the year’s income arrives in the short bloom season, and how a poor summer would affect the rest of the year. Weather, a late frost or a smoky sky can change a season. Compare what visitors, events and weddings bring with what the product line and online sales bring on quieter days, and ask for the records behind each.

Products, equipment and people

Ask what is made on site, what is sold, and where. Check the distillation equipment, its condition and who knows how to run it, along with the drying, packaging and storage space. Ask who works the farm. If the owner does the planting, harvest, distilling, selling and hosting, a large part of what you are buying is their time, and you will need to plan how to replace it.

The business and the land

Clarify in writing what is sold: the land, the buildings, the brand, the website, the customer list, the equipment and the stock. Your lawyer and accountant can explain how the pieces are best bought, and your lender will set its own terms. Our page on what to check before buying a Christmas tree farm covers another seasonal farm.