Cost Comparison of Farm Labour: Hiring Workers versus Doing it Yourself.
By Oluwatobiloba Gideon Oludayomi
There is a lesson I learnt on the farm that I never learnt in any classroom. It is this. The cheapest option is not always the one with the smallest price tag. Sometimes the cheapest option is the one that costs you your strength, your focus and your years, while looking free on paper.
Let me take you into my world for a moment. I am a farmer. I run my farm in Ijebu land, and over the years, I have tried almost every form of farm labour that exists. I have hired workers. I have supervised workers. And yes, I have also worked the land with my own two hands, from clearing the bush to planting, to harvesting, to wetting the soil under a sun that shows no mercy. So when I speak on this subject, I am not quoting a textbook. I am quoting my back, my palms and my calendar.
Before we talk cost, we need to understand the categories. On most farms in our part of the world, you will find three major types of farm labour.
The first is the contracted farm hand. This is someone who lives permanently on the farm or stays close to it. Your major responsibility to this person is feeding and safety equipment. At the end a certain period, usually a year, agreement demands that you get them a motorbike or pay a lump sum. This used to be a small sacrifice. But not anymore. Motorbike prices have climbed so high that what was once a modest year end gift has become a major financial commitment.
The second is the salaried farm hand. Here, you hire workers on a fixed monthly salary, much like a regular job. It sounds organised on paper. In practice, it carries its own weight, which we will get to shortly.
The third is the daily hire, popularly done by Hausa farm workers, though not limited to them. These workers charge by the hour block. Work from eight in the morning to one in the afternoon may cost around four thousand naira. Extend it to three in the afternoon, and the fee rises to about six thousand naira. Push it to six in the evening, and you may be paying around eight thousand naira. These figures shift with location and season, but the structure remains the same. Time on ground determines the fee.
Three systems. Three different cost structures. And the one you choose will quietly shape your entire farming budget, whether you notice it immediately or not.
Of the three, the daily hire system has worked best for me. My method is simple. I keep one dedicated farm hand on a part time contract whose only job is to supervise physical activities on the farm. He tells me, it is time to clear, it is time to plant, it is time to weed. I then release funds, bring in a team of daily workers, and place them under strict supervision.
Under proper supervision, ten hardworking men can clear about ten acres in 2 days, plant in 1 day or weed in 3/4days. That is the power of the right system, managed the right way.
But here is the part nobody tells you plainly. If you do not understand how this system works, those same ten men can stretch three days into a full week. Why. Because they lose nothing by delaying. You are the one funding the days. Some will claim the ground is difficult, that there are stones, that there are stubborn roots. Some will simply be lazy, and because these workers often move as a community, the hardworking ones sometimes bring along the lazy ones to help them find work too. Nobody considers how this drags down the total output.
They take long breaks. They eat slowly. Yet they still expect to close at the agreed hour. And sometimes, even after all the time spent, the job is not done to standard. You also have to keep training every new set on how you want your work done, because many of them return to their villages after a season, and a new group means starting the orientation all over again.
This is not complaint. This is simply the true cost of that system, the cost that does not show up on a receipt but shows up in your patience and your planning.
Now let us talk about doing it yourself, because I understand its appeal. No wages to pay. No supervision headache. Just you and the soil.
I have done it. Cleared bush, planted, harvested, wetted the farm, all by myself. And I will tell you the truth without polishing it. It takes a heavy toll on the body. There is a point where the physical weight becomes so heavy that the entire joy of agriculture disappears. You stop seeing the farm as a calling and start seeing it as a punishment.
There is also a hidden cost that many farmers never calculate. When you are the one doing the physical labour, you lose your capacity to think, to plan and to envision for the farm. Farming is not just about digging and planting. It requires a mind that is free enough to strategize, to see ahead, to notice what is working and what is not. A tired body rarely carries a clear mind.
With the services of a farm labour instead, I become what I now call the big brother eye. I stand back, I observe, I correct, I direct. Slacking here, I address it. Work below standard there, I address it. That oversight is only possible when my hands are not the ones swinging the cutlass all day.
The salaried farm hand system has its own weakness, and it is a human one. I only recommend this to established farms but for growing farms, you can only grow into it. In my experience, it is difficult to pay a farm worker an amount that fully satisfies them long term. Over time, many become less motivated, and slowly, subtly, they begin to shortchange you. This is not always deliberate wickedness. Sometimes it is simply human nature responding to a feeling of being underappreciated. Except you are fully present with them, issues will keep arising.
Of course, there are exceptions. God does bless some farmers with genuinely hardworking hands who serve with integrity regardless of pay. But even then, one or two unmotivated workers can quietly influence the productivity of the whole team, because low commitment tends to spread faster than high commitment.
The permanent/contract farm hand system, the one requiring the year end motorbike, is becoming less common now. Many of these workers have grown wiser. They now run their own farms, operate their own bikes, and work for themselves. But when you do find a genuinely diligent one, this system can be deeply rewarding. You can measure their output clearly against what you give them at the close of the season. The only real barrier now is cost. Only farmers with deeper pockets can comfortably sustain it, especially with how expensive motorbikes have become.
Here is what I have come to understand after years on the farm. The real cost of labour is never just about money. It is about time, energy, vision and peace of mind. What looks free, like doing everything yourself, may actually be the most expensive option, because it drains the very resource that helps a farm grow, which is your clear thinking. And what looks costly, like organised daily hire under strict supervision, may in fact be the wisest investment, because it protects your energy for the things only you can do as the visioner of that farm.
Scripture speaks gently into this. Proverbs twelve verse eleven says, those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense. Working the land matters. But so does working it wisely. Ecclesiastes four verse nine reminds us, two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour. Farming was never designed to be a solo battle. It was designed for wise partnership, wise delegation and wise oversight.
I always say this to young farmers I mentor. Sweat is not the measure of diligence. Direction is. You can sweat all day and still walk in circles. Or you can stand, observe, and lead others to walk the right path faster than your own hands ever could.
If you have ever managed people, on a farm, in a business, or even within your own family responsibilities, you already know this tension. Do you do it yourself and control every detail, or do you release it to others and manage the bigger picture.
I would love to hear from you. Have you tried farm labour before. Which system worked for you, and which one taught you the hardest lesson. Drop your experience in the comments. Someone reading this may need exactly what you went through to make their next decision easier.
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Oluwatobiloba Gideon Oludayomi is a life coach, a practical writer, and a versatile entrepreneur creating wealth solutions through agriculture, real estate, and enterprise. He is the Convener of the Dominion Guild Network, an ecosystem of high value individuals, young and determined to becoming an empowered generation. He is the author of 'Build It to Last', 'I Thought I Married a Wife' (a novel), and 'Practical Love.'
