Is mechanization actually cheaper than hiring labour for my farm?

It depends entirely on your area and how many hours the machine will work per year, so do the maths instead of following advice blindly. Compare the per acre cost of the operation done by labour against the same operation by machine. For the machine include its annual depreciation (cost divided by working life), interest if you borrowed, diesel, repairs and the operator. A machine that sits idle most of the year is expensive per acre; a machine that works many acres, yours plus custom hiring for others, becomes very cheap per acre. Three honest guidelines: for small holdings, renting from a custom hiring centre or hiring a contractor with the machine is usually cheaper than owning. For medium and large farms, owning the high use machines and renting the rare use ones is often the best mix. And mechanisation wins clearly where labour is scarce or very costly at peak, because then the real comparison is machine versus crop loss from delay. Work out your own numbers before deciding.