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+--- Thread: public records of sellers to buyers of private vineyards (/thread-3143.html)
- vineyardvixen - 02-13-2002
I own a small vineyard in sonoma and contract it out to someone who does all the maintence and picking, then he either keeps the crop or sells to larger vineyards. My question is this: Is there any way to find out who he sells it to, and for how much and finally, how much crop he picked? He has never given us documentation, and I feel we might be getting ripped off.
- winoweenie - 02-13-2002
Hi there VV and welcome to the board. I'll volunteer to help you keep your checkbook in order. Just send me ALL your income and I'll let you know when you've run out of money. SHEESH!!! No accounting at all? You need to have a long sit-down and lay out the parameters. Last I heard, tenent farming was a 50/50 prop. Mite be in your case closer to 25%-owner, 75% tenent. WW
- hotwine - 02-13-2002
I think most share-cropping is 50/50. It certainly is with our hay crop; we allow use of a field for hay production, and the contractor does all the work for half the number of bales produced. Of course, it's easy enough to walk out in the field and count the number of bales on the ground at the end of the cut; if there's less than half remaining, after he's pulled out all of his equipment, he owes us the market price of the missing bales, or we can have the sheriff pay him a visit.
VV, if you indeed have a written contract with this fellow, suggest you ask your lawyer to demand copies of his production and sales records for the last couple of years. If the guy balks, have the lawyer obtain a court order to demand disclosure. Reasonable time limits should be imposed, such as 10 days for him to respond to your lawyer, and 30 days to respond to the court order. The courts have a way of stimulating cooperation in such matters. But if you have to go through all of that, you need to seriously re-think your arrangements with this guy, and find someone else to do business with.