Thanks!

No, the part about him owning 53,000 homes and keeping them empty is the myth.

Yep.

I still don't understand why you are getting down voted. Must be all the managers seeing this thread.

Better to contact the Virginia Dept of Labor. This is illegal and a government agency has a lot more power than an organization that takes membership dues from businesses.

Yep.

Section 1, first bullet: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips

"an employer cannot keep employees’ tips under any circumstances; managers and supervisors also may not keep tips received by employees, including through tip pools"

Section 1, first bullet: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips

"an employer cannot keep employees’ tips under any circumstances; managers and supervisors also may not keep tips received by employees, including through tip pools"

True. But they never post any numbers.

Costs vary a lot across different crops. Are they using certified organic prices or normal prices?

I get wary of claims without data.

Unfortunately that 5 acre / he doesn't include transit time.

But they are getting there. With battery swaps it helps.

I am interested in the tech but costs are never shown. Only they say it is cheaper. I want to see studies from independent review.

Solar is low energy density. I can't cover my fields with solar arrays and grow crops. Battery tech has a long way to go for letting me recharge 50 batteries each night.

You ask which is better, rent or spray. I don't know. Without numbers we are arguing about phantoms. The tech could be amazing or it could be vaporware like Theranos.

So 50 robots or one sprayer?

And co-op equipment doesn't work because we all want it at the same time.

Over my life we have completely changed methods. No-till was a big thing that takes 10 years to pay off. Genetically modified crops have doubled yields. Self driving equipment that reduce fatigue and reduce seed/fertizer/chemical use by targeting what we need.

I think the lazers have a future but I worry about fuel use. Chemical arose because the cost of fuel was more than chemicals. I can't believe lazers that can kill plants with short bursts are low energy consumers.

Honestly, self driving grain trucks would be a better investment. I can't find a CDL driver when I need them. I could hire it out of season for normal logistics.

You do realize that weeds need to be killed in a short time frame so they don't dominate the crops. Also, farms are not contiguous. You may have 80 acres here, then drive two miles, then another 8 miles.

We need to cover 2,000 acres in three weeks. So speed needs to increase.

I think we are getting there but the focus is on stopping chemicals, not efficiency or economics.

Unfortunately the equipment is a sunk cost. So farmers won't want to switch until the old equipment wears off.

The big problem for a farmer is that it only kills what is up. There isn't any lasting protection.