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<pre>Realising that this group is international I preface my remarks by the
observation that this is about Western Australia, and it seems to be hard
to reach local Western Australians either by telephone or email.

I went today to the Gingin ( town 1 hour north of Perth) with the
expectation of gaining some simple info on a question I have had for quite
some while. I want to know how much land to buy to start a small olive
grove with the intention in some 7 - 10 years time to supply fruit to the
local industry. How much land? Obviously a primary financial question, but
getting any answers proved harder than I thought, no matter how I put it.

I spoke to several people at the event and the answers ranged from some
strongly negative ( visit a bank and put the cash in an investment account)
to mildly positive and more or less informative.

The focus of the event seemed to be on tasting. Clearly important, but
first things are first.

If an olive industry is going to grow in Western Australia, then it would be
paramount in my opinion to get back to basics. The industry isn't
obviously interested in assisting - emails to the association (s) produce
nothing. So where does this fundamental info come from?

Compare to investing in the stock market. The place is crawling with
advice. The olive industry? Maybe it hasn't realised that there are people
out there with cash and a willingness to get dirt under the finger nails,
and I suspect we can do (collectively) something that hasn't happened
before. I agree with Michael Burr.

Any advice will be welcome.

Bill
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