Walnut Hill Farm at Elm Springs, LLC

Have you ever wondered how much exercise there can be in farming?He is a math challenge for you.The first correct answer will receive one pound of ground beef courteous of Walnut Hill Farm.(Sorry this has to be picked up at one of our winter sales location, we will not ship.)

 This spring Jeff and Ginny working together will be using Chip and Dale to plow the market garden.Jeff will be behind the plow, and Ginny will be the teamster, Chip will be the nigh ox and Dale will be the off ox.

 Working as a team, the four of us will be walking at approximately 1.0 to 1.5 miles per hour using a plow that will turn over 8 inches of soil per pass.Or in other words we will be using an 8 inch plow.

 My question for you is how far will each of us have to walk in order to plow one acre?An acre is 43,560 square feet or approximately 208 feet long by 208 feet wide.As with all math problems there are several methods to derive the correct answer.Remember the prize one package of Walnut Hill Farm ground beef “Free of Charge.”

I am looking for the minimum footage, and it will not be an exact answer, because there is also footage in turning around and backing up.

I hope the answer surprises you. If you are looking for some exercise but you don’t like going to the gym, come to the farm instead, we can provide you with all sorts of exercise, and best yet the exercise classes are free.

There is a big difference in using a modern tractor and plowing with oxen.First as the math above show the amount of exercise the farm receives.Second the plow width per pass.Modern tractor can plow 10 or more feet wide per pass, and probably disc 30 feet wide or more at 5 to 6 miles per hour.

 In modern farming an estimate as to how much can be accomplished in a 10 hour day, multiply the width of the machinery by the ground speed (in miles per hour).As an example a 30 foot combine head traveling and 5 miles per hour through corn can cover 15 acres per hour, or 150 acres in a ten hour day.

 I hope you have enjoyed this first of what I hope is many math challenges to come.