Much of our work here at La Semilla Ministries is with smaller producers who typically are producing enough food for themselves to eat, plus a little more to bring to market. Our goal is to help these producers think past agriculture solely as a way of maintaining themselves, to seeing agriculture as a business that can provide the financial resources their family needs to make a living from the land year-round.
One of our challenges in this regard is to help producers think in bigger ways, dream bigger dreams. Including technology. In order for producers to be able to cultivate enough land provide for their families 12 months of the year, there are some technologies that could be implemented, such as: mechanical land clearing and soil preparation prior to planting, mechanical planting where land slopes will permit, and thrashing machines to help speed along harvest. It’s amazing the time and effort that goes into producing beans from a small, 2-3 acre plot when everything is done manually.
As we began our sustainable ag program in 2013, one of the first ways we saw to help was to provide a thrashing service to farmers who wanted to try a mechanical alternative. (what does thrashing look like when it’s done manually, you ask? After the beans have been hand-pulled and dried for a few days in the sun, a quantity, maybe 200 plants, are put out on a sheet of plastic, then beaten with sticks for 15-20 minutes before being winnowed in the wind to remove the chaff. Time consuming and back-breaking!) 
One of these Brazilian made thrashing machines was purchased in the first planting season of 2103, and a second was added for the second planting as demand increased. The cost to operate these machines is about equal to the cost of hiring men to do the thrashing by hand, but the work is less intense, and the time to harvest (exposure to weather, theft) decreased a lot!
Another area where we see a lot of potential is in mechanical seeding. Plant populations, seeding depth, and time needed to plant could all be greatly aided by using a simple, mechanical driven planter. We’ve built a prototype from some imported North American parts, and have been using it in a limited way the past two seasons. There is interest in this technology, especially as we talk and encourage more adaptation of minimum-till and zero-till techniques.
We are currently raising funds to expand this part of our ministry. 
Funds are needed for the purchase of a small tractor to do some soil prep work and mulching, and to pull the 4-row planter unit. Also, we’d like to purchase a disc to prep some fields (the field conditions after the oxen have been opening furrows for planting are too rough for our planter) and purchase a mower to mulch some of the crop residues prior to planting. Want to help out with this? click the DONATE button on our home page for more instructions on how to give!
