How much grain can you get in an acre?

[Vahktang]

So, I read that an average U.S. farmer can get 3 tons of grain (corn, the most efficient) from the land these days.
So, how much do you think an average D & D farmer can get?
I'm thinking 800-1000 lbs
(This would allow the yield to be doubled, then doubled again with modern methods.)
An acre of land could feed a person, barely. (2 lbs of wheat/barley/etc/day)
So an average family (of 7 or so) would need at least 10 acres.
Now, this is where the spell Plant Growth comes in.
The village gets together and has the cleric/druid cast Plant Growth for 150 gp (the market rate).
This ups the yield on about 500 acres.
The farmers give out 3 sp/acre for this.
300 or so more lbs of grain is produced per acre, which will give the farmer 2 gp/acre after expenses (wheat is 1 CP/lb)

This makes the cleric/druid _very_ important to the farmer type.

All this doesn't take taxes/tithes into consideration.
If you do that, then a 20 acre farm comes into being to make ends meet.
Add in a mule and it may work out.

Those 160 acre things we always hear about (homestead act) were in the plains where primitive small farmers don't do as well.
But they may with the right magic spells.
A create water item would go for 1000 GP and produce 20,000 gallons of water a day.
May be worth it.

What do you all think?
Besides the fact that I have too much time on my hands?

More later,

Vahktang

 

[DanMcS]

http://www.dnd.starflung.com/dom_calc.html

And of course, Medieval Demographics Made Easy, the canonical source
http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm

 

[dulsin]

It realy depends on what grains you are producing. Also lbs don't mean much to farmers because they are paid by the bushel. If the grain is heavy that means to much moisture and a lower price. With modern meathods, seeds and fertalisers...

Wheat 30 B/A
Barley 45 B/A
Sorghum 70 B/A
Corn 120 B/A

For Middle age farmers with no fertalisers, no selected seeds, no herbacides, no insecticides ... 1/10 - 1/4 of that depending on how good the year was

 

[Drommon]

So, I read that an average U.S. farmer can get 3 tons of grain (corn, the most efficient) from the land these days.
So, how much do you think an average D & D farmer can get?
I'm thinking 800-1000 lbs
(This would allow the yield to be doubled, then doubled again with modern methods.)
An acre of land could feed a person, barely. (2 lbs of wheat/barley/etc/day)
So an average family (of 7 or so) would need at least 10 acres.
Now, this is where the spell Plant Growth comes in.
The village gets together and has the cleric/druid cast Plant Growth for 150 gp (the market rate).
This ups the yield on about 500 acres.
The farmers give out 3 sp/acre for this.
300 or so more lbs of grain is produced per acre, which will give the farmer 2 gp/acre after expenses (wheat is 1 CP/lb)

This makes the cleric/druid _very_ important to the farmer type.

All this doesn't take taxes/tithes into consideration.
If you do that, then a 20 acre farm comes into being to make ends meet.
Add in a mule and it may work out.

Those 160 acre things we always hear about (homestead act) were in the plains where primitive small farmers don't do as well.
But they may with the right magic spells.
A create water item would go for 1000 GP and produce 20,000 gallons of water a day.
May be worth it.

What do you all think?
Besides the fact that I have too much time on my hands?

More later,

Vahktang

The book titled "Magical Medieval Societies" might aid you on your endeavor. It is an excellent work. Perhaps you could borrow my copy...

Drommon

 

[Vahktang]

http://www.dnd.starflung.com/dom_calc.html

And of course, Medieval Demographics Made Easy, the canonical source
http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm

Thanks for the info
I used lbs because the articles I was using used weight measurements.
I'm guessing that bushels goes back to when the stock market still used eighths.

So it seems 4 acres/person, or the 20 acre farm for a family, without taxes.

Guess I have some more figuring to do.

More later,

Vahktang

 

[Centaur]

Another thing to consider is how much land can a single farmer tend to and be assumed to get a nominal yield. Modern equipment allows a single person to tend large areas of land. However when your using oxen pulled plows, and hand picking of grain, it takes a lot longer...

 

[barsoomcore]

Also, of course, you'll want to consider how high you stack the grain. You can fit quite a bit in, especially if you build high walls all around your acre and just pour the grain in from a helicopter.

 

[Taren Nighteyes]

And now we know why family fqrms had large fanilies. Kids are cheap labor.

In addition, farms had chickens, milking cow, vegetable gaardens, and often made some of their own clothes/toys etc.

After the initial sunk costs, they could be largely self-sufficient.

Taren Nighteyes

 

[s/LaSH]

A fantasy acre, of course, has certain considerations that might not be immediately apparent. The theory that fantasy worlds are inherently more fertile appeals to me: plants feed herbivores, herbivores feed predators, predators feed dragons, etc. You need some sort of support for the upper-tier predators, and fertility seems to be that support.

Another thing to consider, and don't laugh here, is if you have magical pixies to help you gather the wheat. Various fairy types are in the MM, and if they hold to old traditions, you can get fairies to help you with gifts of milk or bread or something. They're small, but they're pretty energetic little critters, so I expect that a nest of pixies would be very useful when harvest time comes around.