5-3 Sorting and Sales (Chapter 5: JA and Commodity Groups)

If JA did not exist, farmers who produce agricultural products would have to sort their vegetables by size and appearance, pack them neatly into bags, packs, or cardboard boxes, and then personally take them to places that might buy them to sell. It is hard to say how long it would take to sell off the day's harvest, but sorting and packaging alone could take several hours, and when you consider the time spent going around to sell them, a full day might not be enough. Since many agricultural products are harvested daily, this sorting and selling would have to be done every single day. If this were repeated every day, there would be no time left for the primary job of managing crop cultivation. On the other hand, no matter how well the cultivation goes, if you do not sell it and turn it into money, there is no point in cultivating it in the first place. Therefore, sorting and sales cannot be neglected.
The two tasks of crop cultivation management and sorting and sales are like the two wheels of a cart for agriculture. If either one is missing, you cannot move forward. However, there is not enough time to do both.
Well, strictly speaking, time can be created. If you reduce the cultivation area and produce only a small amount that you can sell yourself, you can balance cultivation management and sales. In fact, some small-scale farmers who operate hobby-like farms as an extension of a home garden manage their business in this style. However, if the area is small, you cannot increase sales. Agricultural products are basically low-unit-price items, so unless you sell a certain large quantity, you cannot make enough money to live on as a full-time farmer. Ultimately, to achieve stable agricultural management, it is necessary to secure a certain amount of cultivation area and produce in large quantities. But if you do that, you will again run out of time to spend on sales.

JA's sorting and sales operations resolve this dilemma. Farmers harvest their agricultural products and bring them to the JA sorting facility. This is the extent of the farmer's work, and from that point on, all sorting, packaging, transportation, and sales activities such as negotiations with business partners are handled by JA on their behalf. In the meantime, farmers can concentrate on managing the cultivation of their crops. In other words, after harvesting in the morning and bringing the produce to the sorting facility, farmers can spend the entire day on tasks such as crop care. This is a major benefit for farmers. They can pour all their energy into crop cultivation management. If they take good care of the crops, the quality improves and the yield per unit area is more likely to increase. And because JA handles the sorting and sales properly, the crops are reliably sold and turned into money.
In this way, by shipping to JA and entrusting the sorting and sales operations to them, the two most important wheels for agriculture—cultivation management and sales—continue to turn steadily and reliably. Modern farm management is built upon this system.