Kudzu plagued land

Im in the preliminary stages of looking for land and planning for a future homestead, has anyone looked into purchasing some kudzu gardens that property owners view as worthless? Im talking about the kind of land you pass on country highways that has kudzu dinosaurs and such on it. Ive never seen land like that on the market, but im guessing its probably because they view it as impossible to sell. I figure a goat tractor followed by a hog tractor could eliminate it over the course of a couple years, quite possibly leaving me with really nice fertile land...

Kudzu does have its upside, being a nitrogen fixer and good goat forage as well as being an edible green. I believe you're on the right track. You'd just have to take it piece by piece and keep on it, though, since the seeds remain viable for some time.

Did you see this post from Geoff Lawton?

I like it.

It definitely is a hard working immigrant.

Cut for for high quality nitrogen rich mulch and direct that to plants, trees and compost that you want, graze it and convert it into protein and animal tractor it where you want to remove it.

We can also eat it in various ways.

https://permies.com/t/11345/plants/Permaculture-Approach-Kudzu

This is good too

P.S. For those concerned about killing the plant. 1. get goats to consume all the foliage as well as new seedlings the next few years. 2. Remove the root crown. The root crown is all that needs to be removed, NOT the entire root.

https://permies.com/t/6922/plants/Growing-kudzu

That's really cool, Rose.

The seeds will lay dormant for years.

I'm not aware of any kind of devaluation in terms of real estate prices from kudzu. In the southeast, typically for small acreage (say under 20 acres) the market is for people who want to bulldoze everything and build a McMansion and giant metal shed/workshop/garage. Larger acreage is usually for commercial development or tractor-based farming unless it's good pasture or timber (and sometimes even then).

For all of the above I should say "for land that has been advertised for sale." I can't say what happens in the informal market, but as a stranger you will be hard pressed to tap into that market anyway. But no, average people don't see kudzu on their property and then assume it's worth less.

That said, you can find some mighty nice permie acreage in kudzu land, without or without the vines, for a reasonable price. Finding affordable land near employment is much, much harder, but I suppose that's the case anywhere.

I guess im thinking more rural than you. Land in truly rural areas of the south have little development value and are viewed mainly as valuable for agriculture or recreation... maybe as a site for a family home. Few people in areas with a glut of land would be willing to deal with the headaches of kudzu-ed land.

When was the last time you passed a kudzu forest you knew, only to find it was a soybean farm? If I remove myself from the permies state of mind I view kudzu land as worthless myself.