Volume 12, Number 16                                                
December 20, 2009

The Farmer

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The Consequences of following rules: farm vs garden

By Dr. Ridgely Abdul Mu’min Muhammad

As stated earlier there are a few rules that we have learned: 1. You must
grow your crops within its proper season, 2. You must pay attention to and
respond properly to weather conditions, 3. You must look at your crop or plants
at least every other day, 4. After you see the condition of your crop or field
and have the latest weather predictions, you must act immediately, if necessary,
and do everything "right and exact".

These four rules are in effect whether you are gardening in a 50 by 50 foot
plot or on a 1600 acre farm. The difference is a matter of time, logistics and
power. There are negative consequences of not following these rules, but
there is a cost that the farmer must pay to follow these rules.

For instance if you have a 50 by 50 foot garden and want to grow just say
corn, you must plant the crop in due season. Let’s say that March is the best
month to plant corn in your area. It should not be too difficult to go to your
garden after working on your day job or on the weekends and get that 50 by 50
foot plot of land prepared for planting then planted. Or you can just take one
eight hour day and get the job done. However, when you attempt to plant 200
acres of corn within one month, this is where time, logistics and power must be
coordinated in a systematic manner to insure that you get the entire 200 acres
properly planted in those 30 days. Let’s do the math to understand the
magnitude of difference between the 50 by 50 foot plot and 200 acres.

Parameters: labor requirements 50 by 50 ft plot
	Area (sq ft)	50×50	2500
Land prep, Planting	1 day per plot		1
	30, 8 hr days with 1 man	30×2500 sq ft	75,000
	30 day acreage	75,000 sq ft/43560	1.722
Hand labor needed	200 acres	200 acres/1.722	116.16
Labor cost	200 acres	116.16x30x8x$8	$223,027.20

 

 

We must start out by making a few assumptions. First of all we will assume
that one man can prepare the land in a 50 by 50 foot plot and plant that plot
with corn in one 8 hour day. We will assume that major land preparations like
building the planting beds and bringing in the soil had been done earlier. So
all that would be necessary would be to use a hoe and a rake to smooth out the
soil and stick each corn seed in the ground with your finger. Therefore in one
day you could theoretically plant 2500 sq ft. If you could work each day for 30
days, then you theoretically could plant 75,000 sq ft. Since there are 43,560 sq
ft in an acre, then one man could plant 1.722 acres in that 30 day period. Now
when we stretch this acreage out by adding on more hand labor, one could
theoretically plant 200 acres in 30 days with 116.16 men/women. However, what is
the probability of getting 116 people to work free of charge 8 hours each day
for 30 days? At a wage rate of $8 per hour one would have to pay these 116.16
men/women $223,027.20. Now this is just to get the crop planted, but now you
have to hoe the weeds out of your corn at least two times, then you have to
harvest the crop.

Of course we are in modern times so we would have to get some equipment.
However, equipment is not free and we must make sure now that we make enough
money off of the crop to pay for it. So now let us compare a few scenarios to
see how the farmer must look at his 200 acres of corn production.

	Hand Labor Farm		Slave farm
Items	50 by 50 ft	200 acres	200 acres
Capital require.
Shovels and hoes	$ 40.00	$ 4,646.40	$ 4,646.40
	$ 40.00	$ 4,646.40	$ 4646.40
Fixed costs
Equipment charge	$ 8.00	$ 929.28	$ 929.28
Prep/ plant labor	$ 64.00	$ 223,027.20	0
Cult/harv labor	$ 64.00	$ 223,027.20	0
Seed 4ac per bag	$ 0.72	$ 2,500.00	$ 2,500.00
Total var. cost	$ 128.72	$ 448,554.40	$ 2,500.00
Total prep, plant, cult, harv	$136.72	$ 449,483.68	$ 3,429.28
sales $4 per bushel
Yeild 100 bu per acre
Total revenue	$ 22.96	$ 80,000.00	$ 80,000.00
Profit/loss	$ (113.76)	$(369,483.68)	$ 76,570.72
Profit w/o labor cost	$ 14.24

 

 

 

However, first let us put up a projected budget for our 50 by 50 foot plot
and the 200 acres of corn done with hand labor with the aid of a few shovels,
hoes and rakes. We will say that the gardener can spend $40 on the required land
preparation equipment. He may be able to keep those hand tools in workable
condition for 5 years, therefore the depreciation expense or the allocated
yearly equipment cost is $8.

Now even though he works without compensation, we must value the labor input
with what is called “opportunity cost”. The gardener could have been doing
something else with his or her time, so the economist would put in a value to
that time to reflect what the gardener lost in income by playing around in his
garden. So now we add $64 for that labor input.

We also will assume that one worker can cultivate the corn twice and pick it
over a span of time equaling one 8 hour day of hand labor. However, for
comparative reasons we are growing field corn, not sweet corn. Field corn or
corn grain must be picked and shelled and is then put into bushel baskets
weighing 56 lbs, selling for $4 per bushel. Therefore the total revenue received
by the gardener would be $22.97 based on 100 bushel per acre yields.

Therefore if the gardener had to pay someone to do the planting, weeding and
picking, he would lose $113.76. Now of course the gardener would probably not
pay any hired help so he could then realize a profit or savings of $14.24.

Now if we stretch this idea of hand labor to 200 acres, we immediately see
that we are in trouble with the 116.16 hired hands receiving $446,054 for
planting, weeding and harvesting. However, during slavery the white farmers did
not have to pay his slaves, therefore under these same assumptions the slave
plantation could receive a profit of $76,571.

Now let us look at modern mechanized farm. At the very least such a farm
would have to have a tractor, a harrow, a planter, a cultivator and a grain
combine. This equipment new would cost around $260,000 which is reflected in the
equipment allocation (assuming a 5 year depreciation) cost of $52,000 per year.

 

Mechanized Farm
Items	200 acres	200acres
Capital requirements	new	used
1. Tractor	$ 70,000.00	25000
2. harrow	$ 25,000.00	7500
3. planter	$ 30,000.00	5000
4. cultivator	$ 15,000.00	2000
5. grain combine	$ 120,000.00	7500
6. Total	$ 260,000.00	47000
Fixed Costs
7. Equipment allocation (5 yr dep)	$ 52,000.00	9400
Variable inputs
8. 1 man 30 days 3 times p,c,h	$ 5,760.00	$ 5,760.00
9. Fuel 300 gal at 2.5	$ 750.00	$ 750.00
10. Seed 4ac per bag at $50	$ 2,500.00	$ 2,500.00
11. Total var. cost	$ 9,010.00	$ 9,010.00
12. Total prep, plant, cult, harv.	$ 61,010.00	$ 18,410.00
sales $4 per bushel
Yield 100 bu per acre
13. Total revenue	$ 80,000.00	$ 80,000.00
14. Profit/loss	$ 18,990.00	$ 61,590.00

 

Of course the labor costs go down from $446,054 for the hand labor example to
$5,760 wages to our skilled tractor driver. The net profit is now $18,990 if
everything goes on schedule and the weather cooperates. However, every time the
worker misses a day or the equipment breaks down or it rains, you will be thrown
off schedule substantially. Here in Southwest Georgia the rule of thumb is that
you lose one day in the fields for every 1 inch of rain. As the farm manager of
Muhammad Farms I know that I spend more time getting parts and fixing equipment
than I spend riding the tractors. The larger the tractor the greater will be the
repair bills. Also, as tractor size increases so does the damage to a wet or
soggy field. Therefore, it becomes costly to make the mistake of rushing to the
field too early after a rain.

We also showed the scenario of a mechanized farm that purchases used
equipment instead of new equipment. If every thing goes as planned the
farmer’s bottom line can increase from$18,990 to $61,590. However, the
probability of equipment downtime due to repairs will increase. And if you have
made the mistake of buying a piece of obsolete equipment for which there are no
more repair parts, you might wind up losing a substantial amount of crop to
weeds or not being able to harvest the crop at all. All of these factors must be
weighed by the farm manager and he must decide how much risk he can afford.
Buying new equipment puts you in a financial risk of bankruptcy due to a failure
to make payments, while used equipment puts you at risk of losing the crop
because of unexpected delays due to equipment failures.

Although buying used equipment may cause a problem with getting replacement
parts for repairs, new equipment has its repair woes also. For instance, the
newer model John Deere and International tractors that have engines of over 100
horsepower do not even allow you to open the hood over the engine. Any repairs
to the engine or transmission must be done by an authorized dealer at a cost of
$90 per hour and their mechanics do not work fast. On the other hand at Muhammad
farms we have older tractors which we can do a lot of the minor to intermediate
repairs. In fact I can call the dealership and speak to the mechanics that I
personally know and get them to walk me through most procedures. Fortunately our
tractors or not so old that we can not get parts, however sooner or later we
will have to get knew tractors and be stuck with huge repair bills when anything
goes wrong after the warrantee expires.

The larger highly capitalized farmers reduce their chance of breakdowns by
leasing their tractors and pickers for no more than 5 years, then trading them
back in and starting another 5 year lease on the latest models. Going back to
our new equipment scenario, that $52,000 per year expense for equipment can be
quite a burden, especially in years of either bad weather or low market prices.
In farming there are always tradeoffs that the farm manager must face and he
must face the consequences of his decisions, i.e. responsibility bearing. Of
course white farmers have been able to shift some of this risk to the government
and government subsidized crop insurance programs that we will discuss later.
However, many black farmers were discriminated against and suffered the loss of
their farm because they did not have the government to bail them out the way
white farmers did.

In the Nation of Islam the Three Year Economic Program is so important,
because it allows us to purchase more land and equipment and cover some of the
risks involved with farming. For now Muhammad Farms does participate in
government programs that we are entitled to and we have crop insurance on our
major cash crops, but not vegetables and navy beans. However, one day we will be
completely independent and must have our own programs and insurance for our own
farmers to help cover some of those risks, so the Three Year Economic Program
will be needed long into the foreseeable future.

These scenarios were abstracted from reality to make some points:

1. a gardener has fewer financial and logistical worries than a farmer,

2. a gardener will spend a lot less time fixing equipment than a farmer,

3. a gardener will not have to deal with getting a loan to operate,

4. a gardener will not have to manage hired labor,

5. the gardener can pay closer attention to each of his plants, while the
farmer must look after fields of crops then do necessary operations on a
large scale,

6. the requirement for accuracy greatly increases for the farmer over the
gardener.

Let me explain this point of differences in “margins for error” of the
gardener and farmer. A gardener does not have to plant his crop in exactly
straight rows, because he does not have to use any equipment to pull the weeds.
He can use a hoe or a roto-tiller but if he has to, he can pull the weeds by
hand with little chance of damaging his crops. However, the farmer must plant
his crop in straight rows and each seed must not deviate by more than an inch
off of that straight line. This is because when the farmer has to fight weeds,
he must do it with a cultivator not hand labor. The farmer would like to
cultivate within 2 inches on either side of his crop, so anything outside of
these two inches of the “drill” will be killed along with the “weeds”.
Now, of course the farmer can use chemicals to fight the weeds, but even then
unless he plans to spray the weed killer with an airplane, he must still drive
through his fields which need to be in straight rows so he does not run over his
crop.

To get these straight lines the farmer would like to plant on as flat of a
piece of land as possible. Every time he runs into a hill he must make
adjustments in his steering so that the cultivator will not sway too far to one
side and kill his crop.

Another reason for the need for flat land with a uniform soil type is the
effect of rain. When you have flat land with a uniform soil type, the land dries
out evenly after a heavy rain. However, if you have hilly land, the lower areas
will be wet while the higher areas dry. This could cause you to make a mistake
and wind up stuck in the mud in the middle of a field, because you thought it
was dry throughout. Now, you have to bring in another tractor to pull you out or
call a wrecker and pay that extra expense. You lose in terms of time and money
paid out.

When you have hilly land, the top of the hill may become very dry and hard
before the bottom land is ready to be cultivated or plowed causing your
equipment to break when you try to plow too deep for the conditions. Plowing
shallow will probably prevent your equipment from breaking, but may not kill the
weeds or turn the soil in the manner that you would prefer and therefore, you
still are wasting time and money.

Even if you have relatively flat land, but in one part of the field you have
very sandy land and in another part you have heavy land like clay, the sandy
soils will dry out before the clay soils. Therefore, you can make the mistake
again of thinking that the entire field is dry and you wind up stuck again in
some mud. This is why the large white farmers in Georgia have taken up the best
flat land from the black farmers and left them with the hilly heavy clays. Even
when the white farmers have some land that is too hilly to work with or too
swampy or cannot fit under a circular irrigation pivot, they rent that land to
the government and get a check each year for not utilizing this difficult to
farm land.

It is also harder to use large multi-row planters, cultivators and harvesters
if you have a rolling landscape. One part of a 12 row planter may be planting at
two inches deep while another row is being planted at a depth of one inch. What
may happen, depending on the temperature and soil moisture conditions, is that
one set of rows could germinate before another. Now you may have one plant
standing at 8 inches while another at only two inches. When you use a cultivator
to kill the weeds, you want to run it at a certain speed according to the height
of your crop. You can usually kill more weeds driving at a faster pass, but if
your crop is to short, you may wind up killing it as well.

Now to grow rice on a commercial basis the land specifications increase
dramatically. Fields for growing rice should be relatively level but gently
sloping toward drainage channels. Generally, fields with less than one percent
slope are suited for rice production. Ideally, land leveling for a uniform grad
of .15 to .20 percent slope achieves necessary drainage and also reduces the
number of required levees. On some fields using a land plane to construct the
natural slope uniformly is sufficient.

If you already have land then there are some things that you may be able to
do to enhance its quality. However, before you buy land, be sure that you know
what you are planning to do with it or you may pay too much for something that
will give you more trouble than benefit. You must get some type of experience
under your belt before you buy land to farm. You can bring in new topsoil for a
garden, but you can not afford to replace acres of land to farm. You can level
hills and drain swamps to put up condos or shopping malls but should buy farm
land that is ready to farm, because the returns per acre for farming are much
less than for housing, retailing or industrial use.

The development of western society has reduced the value of what is produced
naturally but increased the value of what is artificially manufactured. This
change was produced as people made certain choices. Some made conscious and
calculated choices, but most just fail into the “trends” of the time.
“History rewards our research…” on these important issues of societal and
economic transitions that made some sectors winners and other sectors losers.