when you buy cuttings it is usual to have the top end straight cut and the bottom 'slyped' (cut at an angle) so that they poke in the ground easy and you can help your purchasers know which way is optimal in your planting and care instructions. Loppers or bill hook are the way most do I think....Once you have cut and processed a few hundred (I cant imagine an acre!!), labled, bundled and posted off with instructions, I expect you will thing 50p is too little! I buy in still for my living willow structures and its a lot cheaper (because they have just been graded and bundled, not cut into 12 inch lengths). Growing and grading for basketry is an art and I'm not sure I'll ever get stuff good enough (long and thin) from mine, still trying!!!