1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 272 Xiao Su, the ministry isn't showing enough concern for your farm!

Soon, Van der Fogh and several researchers climbed into the pigpen.

Soon a white pig was pinned to the ground, struggling violently and squealing desperately.

In an instant, deafening roars echoed throughout the entire pigsty.

"Awooo—! Awooo—! Awooo—!"

It seems to be calling for its companions to come and save it!

However, the four white pigs that were originally in the same pigpen simply hid in a corner inside the pigpen.

They all curled up together, heads inward and buttocks outward.

It seems to be saying, "Dude, it's not that we didn't want to save you, it's that none of us saw it!"

You can only hope for the best.

Once the white pig was under control, the two researchers immediately squatted down and began to pry open its mouth!
The white pig was so frightened by the sight of people prying open its mouth and peering inside that it even began to growl softer.

"It's really been successfully bred. This pig's milk incisors have only just started to fall out. According to the growth pattern of pigs, the milk incisors usually fall out every four to six months, which means that this white pig is definitely no more than six months old."

"Magnifying glass! Where's the magnifying glass? I need to observe how far the permanent incisor has grown and confirm its exact age."

Soon a magnifying glass was handed to the other person.

"The permanent incisors have just begun to emerge, meaning they are in the early stages of tooth replacement, which is at most around 120 days."

Seeing this, he knew there were no problems.

The Blue Water Farm has truly succeeded in breeding these white pigs, because while data can be faked and body size can be imitated by adult pigs, teeth cannot lie.

Especially for piglets that are around four months old and in the teething stage.

Even if you knock out the teeth of an adult pig, it will not grow new teeth.

Upon hearing this, several researchers took magnifying glasses and examined the piglet closely. They had to admit that it was indeed a genuine piglet around four months old and in the process of losing its baby teeth.

However, judging by the weight of the other person, it is clear that they weigh at least 120 pounds.

Normally, black pigs at this stage weigh around 70 pounds.

They could even tell from other pig pens, where the size difference between small black pigs of similar age was quite obvious.

The researchers were filled with mixed feelings. They finally understood the bitterness that their colleagues in the neighboring rabbit breeding group had felt last time.

Good news! The white pig has been successfully bred.

The bad news is that it wasn't bred by them, nor was it even produced by the same pig breeding farms and experimental farms that received significant resources from the ministry.

If they were developed by a breeding pig experimental farm, they would actually be better, since they had received support from higher authorities!

So let's not let them end up like their colleagues in the neighboring rabbit breeding group, being transferred to another group as well!

Soon, with mixed feelings, they selected several white pigs, weighed them, and checked their teeth.

Ultimately, faced with the facts, they had to admit that they were outmatched in skill.

One of the people in charge who came along walked up to the old man.

"Boss, we randomly selected seven white pigs from five pig pens. All of them were piglets around four months old and in the teething stage."

"All of these pigs weighed over 120 jin (60 kg), with the heaviest weighing 150 jin and 4 liang (220 kg)."

"Based on the daily weight gain rate previously recorded by Blue Water Farm, it should be no problem for him to reach 250 or 260 pounds in six months."

Upon hearing this, the old man took a deep breath.

"it is good!"

At this moment, the old man finally breathed a sigh of relief, even though all the previous signs indicated that Blue Water Farm had indeed bred white pigs that could be sold in six months.

But without seeing it with his own eyes and inspecting it on the spot, he still couldn't completely put his mind at ease.

After all, this concerns the national economy and people's livelihood.

However, after confirming the facts, the elderly man discovered that there seemed to be many more problems.

"Xiao Su, is this the only number of third-generation white pigs you have at your farm?"

Su Wenchen nodded.

"Yes, leader. The first generation of white pigs are still being raised, but they are no longer used for breeding. The main breeding force is now the second generation of more than 20 white pigs."

"The rest will be the third-generation white pigs that grow up. These third-generation white pigs will be the main breed promoted in the future."

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately pressed for an answer.

"So, how many pairs of piglets can you provide for promotion each year?"

Su Wenchen thought about it.

"Currently, our farm doesn't even have enough adult pigs for its own needs, based on the current breeding situation of the second-generation white pigs."

"After these white pigs reach adulthood, they can reproduce about twice a year, with each litter producing about ten to thirteen piglets."

"The stillbirth and weak pups rate is generally around five percent, although sometimes high-yield production can reach more than fifteen pups."

"However, this can easily affect the sows. Currently, we have two second-generation sows whose uterine health has been damaged due to high productivity, making them unable to conceive again, and we have to slaughter them prematurely."

"Therefore, we now control the feeding of sows during pregnancy, so that they are neither lacking in nutrition nor overfed, which would increase the risk of reproduction."

"Once these third-generation white pigs reach adulthood and enter their reproductive period, they can provide approximately two thousand piglets annually for promotion."

"There should be more to come, but that will take time."

For Su Wenchen, the second generation of white pigs can still reproduce.

Therefore, they should have more white pigs for breeding in the future, because if they take good care of them, it is not a problem for a pig to give birth to seven or eight litters at a time.

The old man said with some emotion.

"Time!"

"It seems we can only start by establishing a pilot program and then gradually expand the program."

However, he also knew that this was something that couldn't be changed, since the gestation period of pigs wasn't something that could be controlled by humans.

It's impossible for them to be like rabbits, where they can have a litter every few months, and the baby rabbits grow up and can reproduce again in a few months.

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen added.

"Boss, although the promotion of piglets is slow, if any breeding farms need them, we can arrange for sows to come and be used for breeding!"

"Although this situation does not necessarily guarantee the birth of a suitable white pig, there is a chance of successful crossbreeding."

"After all, that's how our white pigs were bred. The main thing is that our farm currently has only about ninety sows among the three generations of white pigs, which is more than enough to support the forty-odd boars."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, the old man waved his hand.

"Let the individual departments discuss these matters with you themselves. The ministry won't get involved."

After all, for their department, now that Blue Water Farm has a mature breed, the focus should definitely be on promoting the existing mature pig breed.

Those who come looking for boars to breed with, the resulting hybrids are obviously of unknown breed.

With mature varieties already available, their department will not prevent other units from trying them, but it will also stop allocating grain and financial support as before.

If we want to do it again in the future, we can only do it like we did with Blue Water Farm before, using our own unit's surplus funds.

Because of the limited food and funds available now, all resources need to be used for the promotion of these white pigs.

Moreover, Su Wenchen had actually anticipated these words.

Now that we have mature pig breeds, the government's support for breeding pigs will definitely be reduced in the future!
Many pig farms will likely face tough times ahead.

Apart from some key national pig breeding farms, it is highly likely that other farms will no longer receive funding and food support from the government.

It is estimated that many of them will have to turn to supplying piglets to nearby brigades and communes in order to survive.

Su Wenchen even felt that some breeding pig farms needed to establish their own pig farms to support their employees.

After confirming the situation at the pig farm, the old man's expression relaxed considerably, although the promotion process couldn't be rushed at the moment.

But it's much better than just seeing a shadow. All that's left is to wait for these pigs to grow up and then breed them little by little to promote their breeding.

So he spoke directly to Su Wenchen.

"Let's go!"

"Go take a look at your rabbit shed. To be honest, the only thing I've ever seen is the finished tanned fur of your Moonflower rabbits."

"I'm still quite curious about what they look like in real life!"

Su Wenchen gestured towards the door.

"Boss, actually, now is not a good time for you to see the adult Moon Rabbit."

"Because most of the adult rabbits have just been sold, there are only a small number of pregnant breeding rabbits and a small number of newborn rabbits in the farm right now."

Soon, the inspection team arrived at the rabbit shed.

The difference between this area and the pigsty is obvious; the air is filled with the scent of fresh grass and a faint aroma of medicinal herbs.

The faint scent of alfalfa, mixed with the aroma of herbs, lingered in the air around Su Wenchen's nose.

The old man smelled the air here, which was noticeably fresher than that of the pigsty.

He immediately laughed.

"This place looks much cleaner than the pigsty!"

"The air smells much better too."

Su Wenchen explained with a smile.

"Boss, pigs are omnivorous livestock after all. Although we clean the pigpen every day and turn on the exhaust fan regularly to change the air, the smell from all the excrement and feeding is unavoidable."

"As for the Moonflower Rabbits, they are fed a special nutritional diet made by combining pasture grass with some medicinal herbs."

"So even when the Moon Rabbits here defecate, there's basically no odor! Plus, with frequent ventilation, the air quality here is definitely much better."

"Of course, with most adult Moon Rabbits now ready for market, there's even less of an odor."

"The leadership area is the rabbit breeding area. However, since the young rabbits are less resistant than adult rabbits, they are usually assigned to special staff who wear special protective clothing to take care of the young rabbits."

"But there's glass over there, so you can look inside the baby rabbits through the glass." After walking over, the old man looked through the glass at the pink and hairless baby rabbits inside, which were constantly burrowing under the belly of a silver-white moon rabbit, and asked curiously.

"Did you specifically replace the walls with glass? Was it for easier visits?"

Su Wenchen shook his head.

"That's not entirely true!"

Then he pointed to the glass dome in the distance.

"The main goal is to increase light transmittance. After all, although our power supply is a high priority, there are still frequent power outages for maintenance during the day."

"Therefore, the skylights and glass walls we reserved are more for increasing indoor lighting."

"Of course, replacing it with this kind of large glass does make it easier to observe the young rabbits. This way, you can see inside from the outside most of the time, reducing the frequency of entering the rabbit nursery."

"Moreover, building this glass wall was not easy. We sent people to communicate with the state-owned factory that produces special glass for a long time before it was produced."

"It took a lot of effort to transport them here, but after they were installed, some record-keeping personnel were no longer allowed to enter the rabbit breeding room unless absolutely necessary. After reducing the frequency of a large number of people entering and leaving the rabbit breeding room, the survival rate of the young rabbits has increased significantly."

The old man nodded.

"Not bad, what you've done seems similar to the sterile room that the Academy of Sciences has set up."

Su Wenchen smiled and waved his hand.

"Boss, we're far from that level, and normal rabbit production doesn't really require a sterile room."

"That cost is too high, and it's not worth it."

After all, in this day and age, the cost of setting up a truly sterile room is something Su Wenchen wouldn't even dare to imagine.

Besides, the Moon Rabbits he bred weren't that delicate.

Creating a clean delivery room that minimizes the entry of bacteria is not expensive for them, but building a truly sterile delivery room would be much more costly.

Besides, at this point, even hospital delivery rooms probably aren't sterile, so this kind of thing is completely unnecessary.

Hearing Su Wenchen say this, the old man nodded.

He then walked towards the door with his hands behind his back, saying something as he did so.

"Xiao Su, if you need anything in the future, don't make things too difficult for yourself."

"If you encounter any difficulties, you can talk to the ministry. Remember, you are not wild children who are left unattended."

"As long as it's within the ministry's power to handle, we will definitely do our best to help you solve it."

The old man clearly knew that it wouldn't be easy for Blue Water Farm to communicate directly with the special glass manufacturer.

Although it was eventually completed, it certainly took some effort.

The more this was the case, the more he felt the difficulties faced by Blue Water Farm, especially since Su Wenchen had only mentioned communicating with them several times.

However, he could imagine that people wouldn't have a good attitude towards this kind of thing, which is why Blue Water Farm didn't even contact them.

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen immediately showed a touched expression.

"Don't worry, leader. If we really encounter difficulties, we will definitely request support from the ministry."

"But we can't just tell everything to the higher-ups, can we?"

"After all, the country provides us with supplies to establish various farms, mainly so that we can give back to the country. How can our farms keep asking for more?"

"If there are any particularly difficult situations, we will definitely request support from the ministry."

Su Wenchen knew very well that the leaders felt guilty and wanted to make amends to them.

You absolutely cannot ask for it yourself.

Because once he asks, the leader will most likely agree immediately, but his guilt will disappear afterward.

In the eyes of the leaders, their farm was no different from other farms, so Su Wenchen couldn't be greedy for anything external at this time.

Once this image of being sensible, capable, and self-disciplined is firmly established in the leader's mind, it will be much easier to negotiate for support from the department in the future.

It becomes much easier to improve oneself.

Even if you have a memorable persona, you don't need to do anything; your boss will always be thinking of you.

Of course, doing this also carries a lot of risk. It only works for capable and outstanding people. If you are not outstanding, or even mediocre, your boss will probably forget who you are as soon as he turns around.

That would be a complete waste; it would be better to take this opportunity to get some real benefits.

For Su Wenchen, their farm would no longer remain unknown, and he was not worried at all that the leaders would forget about him.

Even if he is forgotten, he has the ability to make his superiors remember him through a series of major events.

After Su Wenchen finished speaking, the old man felt a pang of guilt.

"Xiao Su, the ministry isn't showing enough concern for your farm!"

"You can't do that again. You still need to raise any questions or requests you have!"

Now look at Blue Water Farm, it's capable, sensible, and proactive in considering the needs of the ministry.

Then think about those farms that constantly ask the ministry for all sorts of support.

I'm getting angrier and angrier the more I think about it!

I didn't realize it until I compared them, but now I feel it's really unfair to Blue Water Farm.

To be honest, the institute initially considered transferring Lanshui Farm to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, turning it into a breeding base exclusively for foreign trade.

He was actually competing with the Ministry of Foreign Trade for that foreign exchange quota, because if Lanshui Farm had belonged to their Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry at that time...

Therefore, their department will naturally have an advantage in the subsequent use of this foreign exchange.

At the time, he did not expect that the foreign exchange would eventually reach one hundred million US dollars.

It wasn't just him; even those above hadn't anticipated this.

As for establishing a communication channel with Western countries through this window, that was something no one had anticipated.

As a result, after they transferred control of Bluewater Farm, they only provided it with two large tractors, a truck, and a jeep.

Even due to shortages at car manufacturers, trucks and jeeps were not distributed in time, forcing Bluewater Farm to find its own way to acquire used jeeps discarded by the military.

As a result, they didn't ask for any support and successfully bred a new breed of white pig that could adapt to their local conditions and grow quickly.

Thinking about this, the old man felt that he had indeed let down Blue Water Farm.

Other national-level farms all have dozens or even hundreds of agricultural machines, but Lanshui Farm only has ten, and they are all small hand-held tractors.

Of course, due to time constraints, a large portion of it was accumulated little by little by various farms.

However, Bluewater Farm cannot be too far behind.

Having only two large agricultural machines is certainly not in line with the current situation of Blue Water Farm.

Moreover, the upcoming reclamation of saline-alkali land in the Yellow River floodplain is precisely when Blue Water Farm has the highest demand for agricultural machinery.

Thinking of this, the old man said to Lu Anguo, who was following behind.

“Anguo, your State Farms Bureau shouldn’t be too stingy with its subordinate departments.”

"Has the equipment you allocated to Blue Water Farm last time been distributed?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Anguo was taken aback. Wasn't he supposed to be looking at rabbits? Why did the conversation suddenly turn to equipment?

But still explained.

"Boss, the purchase orders for trucks and jeeps from the Beijing automobile factory are still in the queue, and it is estimated that they will not be available until the second half of next year."

"As for the tractors, the Changzhou Tractor Factory has already prepared them, and Lanshui Farm can send people to drive them back at any time."

The old man shook his head.

"Two large agricultural machines are too few. Lanshui Farm will be opening up a large number of saline-alkali fields in the Yellow River flood area next year, which is exactly when we need a lot of agricultural machinery. Your bureau should allocate a few more to them!"

Lu Anguo was dumbfounded when he heard this. Why were they being asked to contribute something?
And while the white pig project was indeed a success, the livestock bureau probably benefited the most from it!
Unless it's only promoted to their affiliated farms, isn't it a win-win situation where everyone benefits while the bureau has to bear the costs alone?

Although they are all working for the country, we can't expect them to be the only ones to receive funding!

So he explained it directly.

"Sir, our bureau doesn't have any spare large agricultural machinery right now!"

"In addition, we have calculated that in the first year, Blue Water Farm will take over a commune with a total of 80,000 mu of land, of which about half has already been treated."

"So, with only 40,000 mu of wasteland to be cultivated, two large tractors and ten small hand tractors are more than enough."

The old man waved his hand.

"Aren't there two more communes to be taken over later?"

"Since the funds will still need to be allocated eventually, wouldn't it be better to transfer them to Blue Water Farm in advance to reduce some of their burden?"

"We'll first send four large agricultural machines to other farms that need to be delivered. If any farms disagree..."

"Then let them also set up a branch farm in the Yellow River flood area."

"Right now, the country is worried about how to deal with these 30 to 40 million mu of saline-alkali land!"

"If each of these farms manages 100,000 or 200,000 mu (6,667 hectares) of land, wouldn't the problem be solved?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Anguo was dumbfounded.

Is this leader genuinely unaware or pretending not to know?

Those farms all have a certain grain production quota in their local areas, so why would they be willing to open branch farms in the Yellow River flood area?

Aside from the local area and the Yellow River flood zone, we can't release people from other places, even other people's land!

So after a moment's hesitation, Lu Anguo spoke directly.

"Boss, I'm afraid this won't work!"

"If it's voluntary, I doubt anyone would want to go. If it's forced, even if they go, the effect probably won't be good!"

However, he immediately realized that the leader was not forcing them to open a branch farm in the Yellow River flood area, but just giving him an excuse.

(End of this chapter)