This question is easy to answer, the farmers replied, "The land over there is too good. Even if we planted it now, it would be of no use. In a few years, maybe some noble will come to buy it, and weren't we just working for free for a few years then?"
"It's better to choose a piece of decent land and cultivate it now, and nourish the land."
Although the land is good, burning or pulling out the grass is quite labor-intensive. They are also afraid that if they cultivate the land well, a noble might come along and with a wave of their hand, take over the land they have cultivated.
That's still okay, but what if there's still grain growing in the field and they take the grain as well?
Such things aren't unheard of.
This is one of the reasons why more people tend toward selling themselves into slavery.
But selling oneself into slavery makes one even less self-determined, so as long as there is still hope, they do not wish to sell themselves.
