Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

"The entry of foreign capital will bring fierce competition, and domestic edible oil companies need to be careful. Once their layout is complete, they will use their price advantage to launch a price war, and it is hard to say how many domestic companies will survive at that time."

Foreign capital doesn't come to do charity; they come to pursue excess profits.

Therefore, tricks such as using low-price strategies to defeat competitors, occupying the market, and then drastically raising prices will continue to emerge in the future.

Fang Wei understood what Cai Tong was worried about, but at present his abilities were limited and he could not influence the changes in the edible oil market.

The company owns an oil pressing plant, but it is small in scale and negligible in the overall edible oil market. Furthermore, the company cultivates very few oilseed crops; it has some seeds, but these are not its main products.

"Secretary, I have an idea. Could we increase the supply of oilseed crop seeds?"

Cai Tong felt this was both a crisis and an opportunity, as it would allow the company to increase its oilseed crop seed production. Of course, apart from the new generation of soybeans, all other oilseed crop varieties needed to be upgraded.

Of course, this is just his personal idea, and it needs to be discussed by the management team before it can be implemented.

“I can try to cultivate higher-yielding oilseed crops, but that will take time. Also, the production cost of oilseed crops is determined by multiple factors, and we don’t have that much land, so don’t be too optimistic.”

Having good oilseed crops is not enough to withstand external pressures in the edible oil industry.

Factors such as planting area, production costs, and yield all need to be considered comprehensively.

Fang Wei felt that it was worthwhile to increase investment in the oil pressing plant, and also to find ways to expand the planting area of ​​oil crops. No matter how effective it was, taking action was better than doing nothing.

After ending the call, he went to the research institute and discussed the issue with the institute's leaders and the heads of the crop research institute's dispatched personnel.

“Secretary Fang, our area is suitable for rapeseed cultivation, so we can try to cultivate rapeseed varieties with higher yields and better quality. The existing rapeseed varieties have unsatisfactory oil extraction rates and yields.”

Fang Wei held a symposium with them, and some technicians suggested focusing on cultivating a new generation of rapeseed.

The local area has a tradition of growing rapeseed for winter, which can be staggered with the rice production season, saving a lot of land.

“Okay, then let’s focus on researching the next generation of rapeseed. This project can be started immediately, and the next generation of soybean project is also nearing completion.”

After discussing with everyone, Fang Wei decided to launch a project to develop a new generation of rapeseed.

Once the new generation of rapeseed is successfully developed, it can be planted on a large scale in rice planting bases, thereby providing sufficient raw materials for oil mills.

The oil mill mainly produces rapeseed oil, with a small amount of tea oil added; it's not a large-scale operation.

There is still a lot of room for development in the future.

Around noon, Fang Wei left the research institute to go home for lunch.

He had just arrived at his office in the afternoon when two directors from the Yaoling Cooperative came to visit him.

“Secretary Fang, our kindergarten is overcrowded. At the start of this semester, many children were unable to attend, and everyone is very upset.”

Primary and secondary schools were placed under the jurisdiction of the county education bureau, but early childhood education has lagged significantly behind.

The reason is not complicated: the county's funds are insufficient to cover this area. The county's priority is to ensure the kindergartens in the county seat, and it cannot manage the rural areas.

The kindergarten in Yaoling Township was built during the cooperative era, but it has become seriously outdated with the development of the times.

"How much more funding can the community provide? The solution is simple: invest in building a new kindergarten and expand enrollment."

Now that the overall situation is much larger, it's difficult for Fang Wei to be able to handle everything perfectly.

For example, he was unaware of the situation at the kindergarten, mainly because he hadn't inspected that area, and only today did someone report this matter to him.

"The company's funds are a bit tight, with most of them going towards dividends for its members. We're worried that deducting too much might cause complaints. Could the company sponsor part of the funding for the new kindergarten?"

The board members seemed to be in a dilemma. Things are different now than before. The cooperative is also facing a tight budget, since the distribution rights are not held by the cooperative itself.

He then made a suggestion, hoping that Yaoling Agriculture could lend a helping hand.

"That's easy. I'll discuss it with the company and give you an answer later."

Fang Wei nodded, intending to have the company contribute some funds.

The two directors then went to the township government, and Zhao Yong immediately agreed that the government would also contribute some funds.

In this way, with the cooperative contributing part of the funds, the township contributing part of the funds, and Yaoling Agriculture providing additional assistance, the construction of the second kindergarten in Yaoling Township was financially guaranteed.

Fang Wei then called Cai Tong about this matter.

“Secretary, the company should pay for this. Our main production facilities are all in Yaoling Township, and most of our key employees also come from Yaoling Township. I'm planning to sponsor 2000 million yuan to build a kindergarten. What do you think?”

Cai Tong is very good at calculating. He never only considers the economic aspects of a problem. Sometimes, what seems like a donation can actually yield hidden benefits that exceed the amount of money donated.

"Okay, you call a meeting and come up with a charter, and I'll sign it right away."

Fang Wei didn't mince words and immediately set the tone.

Subsequently, the 2000 million yuan donated by Yaoling Agriculture arrived quickly, and the funds from the cooperative and the county also arrived, and the construction of the second kindergarten began.

This matter concerns countless families, and the news immediately sparked heated discussions. Fang Weiyi, not content with just doing this once, donated money to the primary and secondary schools to improve the school environment and subsidize students' lunches.

In other words, from elementary school to junior high school, all students in Yaoling Township have their lunches paid for by Yaoling Agriculture.

Tuition fee reductions and exemptions have long been implemented, and there are no children in the entire township who drop out of school due to family financial difficulties. In addition to the township's efforts to encourage all school-age children to attend school, the company has also implemented a policy that families who do not send their school-age children to school will not be hired.

Yaoling Township has a long tradition of valuing education.

All four of the Fang brothers' children are college students, which not only makes people envious but also changes their perception that education is useless.

evening.

Fang Wei, Pan Lianhua, and her older sister went to her eldest brother's house.

Today, Tian Guihua bought a lot of groceries and invited Fang Weiyi's family to come over for dinner.

Since Fang Ping and his wife returned, the two brothers have been seeing each other more frequently, and often eat together.

"Sister-in-law, elder sister, what delicious food have you made?"

After getting off work, Fang Wei went straight to her older brother's house.

At that moment, Tian Guihua and her older sister were busy in the kitchen. He went in and greeted them.

"We'll have duck for dinner, along with your favorite cured pork and dried bamboo shoots. Go sit down and have a cup of tea; the food will be ready soon."

Tian Guihua chased her third brother out, and Fang Wei then went to the main room to drink tea and chat with his eldest brother.

Later, Pan Lianhua also came back from get off work.

Twenty minutes later, everyone sat around the table and began to eat.

Fang Ping still drinks a few glasses of wine with dinner, just like before. He doesn't drink much each day, at most three glasses, but he can't not drink.

"Third brother, I'm going to Chenzhou tomorrow and I should be back the day after tomorrow."

The family meal was very casual, and Fang Ping suddenly brought up his work schedule.

He had a lot of free time and could decide where to go for inspections. Anyone else would have slacked off, but Fang Ping was very serious and had already made a quarterly work plan.

“It would be good to go and take a look. You can talk to them about growing rapeseed. The oil mill depends entirely on them for its raw material supply.”

Fang Wei had originally planned to go to Chenzhou soon, but since his older brother had gone, he could postpone it.

The two then discussed the recent edible oil market, noting that the number of edible oil production enterprises, both large and small, is rapidly decreasing.

Many of them were acquired by foreign companies, while others were acquired by domestic edible oil companies.

We are currently in a period of major reshuffling, and the price of cooking oil is falling instead of rising, with many manufacturers claiming serious losses.

The next day.

Fang Ping and his driver drove to the Chenzhou rice planting base, while Fang Wei went to the county town and the market town. He found that the supply of cooking oil had not been affected, and there were countless brands of cooking oil on the market.

Prices have indeed dropped; compared to the same period last year, prices have fallen by at least 15%.

Back in his office, he called Zhang Chu. Zhang Chu complained bitterly on the phone, saying that while the price of edible oil had fallen this year, the price of raw materials had risen slightly, and he estimated that the profits of oil mills would drop significantly.

Fang Wei knew that the major reshuffle had already begun.

It's likely that we'll see far fewer brands of cooking oil in the future, and bulk cooking oil sold in small street shops will soon disappear from the market.

Not only bulk cooking oil, but also bulk soy sauce, bulk vinegar, and so on will disappear.

"The oil mill's profits are just decreasing, it's not losing money, so what's there to complain about? Once I solve your raw material supply problem, you won't have to worry about market fluctuations anymore."

Nowadays, most of the raw materials for oil pressing plants need to be purchased from outside sources, otherwise they would be shut down for most of the year.

The ability to withstand market risks by purchasing raw materials from outside sources is relatively weak, but fortunately this situation will soon be reversed.

the next day.

Luo Zhimin visited Yaoling Township and had lunch with Fang Wei.

"Secretary Fang, I heard you're going to establish your own rapeseed planting base. What about the rapeseed grown in other townships of the county? Will it all be sold outside?"

Luo Zhimin was very well-informed; as soon as Yaoling Agriculture made a move, he realized that something was going to go wrong.

In previous years, most of the rapeseed produced in various townships of the county was sold to the oil pressing plant under the food company. Now that Yaoling Agriculture wants to set up its own rapeseed planting base, the sales channels for rapeseed in various townships have become a problem.

It's not that no one dares to acquire it, but rather that the price will be artificially suppressed.

Farmers lack direct sales channels and are thus at the mercy of middlemen who exploit them. (End of Chapter)