Yeah jen, he certainly could have borrowed money if nothing mor than the government loan, But he was not guaranteed a better sales price and he needed money for the down stroke on his farm. Borrowing money for speculation is like borrowing money from your bookie.
That is why forward contracting is preferable at time. If you need money for a specific obligation at a specific time, the contract will allow a sale and you no longer need to fret about market price or basis change because you have locked in a sure thing. May other potions be more profitable? Possibly but there are no guarantees. If I were entering a land deal I would want to be assured that nothing conflicted with that objective.
