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

This year, all planting bases are still implementing the rotation of seawater rice and salt-tolerant soybeans, but the alfalfa planting project has been completely cancelled.

This is a great pity for many local herders, especially in years with abnormal weather. Without enough feed, how can livestock survive the winter?

However, this concern was soon proven to be unnecessary.

Xiachu County and the surrounding areas quickly introduced policies to encourage the planting of alfalfa in moderately saline-alkali land. The designated plots were all located near pastures, where conditions were not ideal.

However, driven by profit, some people naturally get involved, and each farmer contracts a considerable amount of land, usually starting with tens of thousands of acres.

Planting forage grass is not very profitable if the planting area is small; you can only make money when you reach a certain scale.

Juli Agriculture only needs to sell [Purple Flower Salt 002] seeds; the profits will definitely be higher than simply planting alfalfa. Besides, wouldn't it be better to free up land that was previously used for alfalfa and plant soybeans instead?

Next, spring planting work was carried out in full swing.

Turning the soil, drying the fields, fertilizing, and sowing seeds—all tasks are proceeding in an orderly manner.

This year, the company has strengthened its personnel and material supply for breeding work, and the area of ​​the breeding base has expanded dramatically, which means a reduction in the area of ​​crop planting.

If calculated based on economic output per acre, breeding naturally yields a much higher economic output.

During this period, Feng Xiaojiang and Fang Tao devoted their main energy to the breeding center, providing technical support for the breeding work.

morning.

Fang Wei arrived at the breeding and production site, and Feng Xiaojiang accompanied him on a tour.

"Boss, the center has prepared plenty of breeding materials. The planting area has been reasonably allocated according to the order of [Salted Bean 001], [West Oil 023], [Sea Rice 012], and [Purple Flower Salt 002]."

The situation Feng Xiaojiang described was decided by the company's management. Fang Wei nodded silently without saying anything more.

At this moment, he saw Fang Tao explaining the key points of breeding techniques to the technicians and front-line managers. The two of them did not disturb each other, but stood a little distance away and listened quietly for a while.

Fang Tao has formal training in agriculture and worked at the Xiangnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences for a long time.

He's no ordinary researcher; he has a solid professional foundation and his presentations are full of valuable insights.

"Let's go, let's not disturb them."

After listening for a while, Fang Wei felt very satisfied.

His nephew was impeccable in his profession; even he couldn't find fault with him. So, he and Feng Xiaojiang went to visit other places and saw that the breeding center's preparations were all done very well.

Back in the office, Ye Chen brought Fang Wei a document.

"Boss, international soybean prices have continued to rise this spring. From the beginning of the year to now, the increase is as high as 74%, which is outrageous."

Ye Chen has been tracking domestic and international soybean market trends. Given the strong domestic demand for soybeans and the large supply gap, China has virtually no pricing power.

After reviewing the documents, Fang Wei looked up and asked, "Has the land acquisition and storage company not taken any action yet?"

"There's been action. The stockpiling companies have started selling off their soybean reserves to the market. If that weren't the case, the price of soybeans would probably have more than doubled by now."

Ye Chen analyzed that international giants are very determined to drive up soybean prices this time.

The current stagnation in soybean prices is largely due to the selling off by soybean storage companies.

Unfortunately, the domestic demand for soybeans has grown too rapidly, which has made the efforts of the soybean storage companies to stabilize soybean prices less effective.

"The key issue is that the domestic soybean planting area can't be increased. If our own production can make up for the shortfall, let's see if they still dare to manipulate soybean prices. Assistant Ye, what's the price trend for rapeseed?"

Fang Wei couldn't help but sigh, and then changed the subject.

"The price of rapeseed is currently relatively stable, and domestic production is gradually increasing, so the shortage is not too large. I've noticed that whatever we import in large quantities tends to go up in price."

"This is a matter of pricing power, and it's difficult to resolve in a short time."

Fang Wei felt that this protracted battle would not be so easy to resolve, and the root of the problem lay in the supply and demand relationship.

Domestic demand for soybeans is growing too fast, while arable land is limited, which is why the price keeps rising.

However, he believes that this round of soybean price increases should be nearing its end, and it remains to be seen how the relevant authorities will handle the situation.

Ye Chen then left the office. After thinking for a moment, Fang Wei made a phone call to the relevant leaders in the province.

He suggested compiling and publishing data on the newly added soybean planting area on saline-alkali land to date. Regardless of the size of this figure, any increase would deter international giants attempting to inflate soybean prices.

This is a matter of attitude, not a matter of quantity itself.

The leadership took Fang Wei's opinion very seriously, and after being reported up the chain of command, the relevant authorities decided to adopt the suggestion.

this day.

Ye Chen brought Fang Wei a stack of newspapers early in the morning. All the newspapers published data on the newly planted soybean area this spring.

In particular, the technology for growing soybeans in saline-alkali land has been mastered domestically, which means that while ensuring the basic farmland area remains unchanged, more than 300 million mu of arable land (saline-alkali land) has been added for soybean cultivation.

For a country, 300 million mu of arable land is almost negligible. But don't forget that there are nearly 15 billion mu of saline-alkali land, tidal flats, etc. in China. If all of these could be turned into arable land, it would be unimaginable.

The red line for basic farmland is 18 billion mu (120 million hectares). If all of this could be developed and utilized, it would be equivalent to nearly doubling the country's arable land area.

Therefore, although the numbers are small, the impact on the market is enormous.

"Boss, as soon as this news came out, the price of soybean futures contracts plummeted, falling by more than 20%."

This tactic works very well. With expectations of increased domestic soybean production rising, prices will naturally return to a more rational level.

Ye Chen thought this method was feasible, and that the comprehensive improvement plan for saline-alkali land should be vigorously promoted in the future, and farmers should be guided to plant soybeans.

Focusing on agriculture can play a certain role in this regard, but the more crucial aspect is that relevant departments take the lead in organizing and implementing it.

"Therefore, we must do a good job in breeding. In the future, we can take Juli Agriculture to a new level just by relying on breeding business."

Fang Wei felt that it was necessary to encourage young people and let them see hope.

However, improving saline-alkali land is a long-term process, and the domestic soybean supply shortage will persist for a long time.

However, with the prospect of successfully growing soybeans on saline-alkali land, international giants are hesitant to go too far, leading to repeated back-and-forth battles, which means the soybean war has entered its mid-stage.

The two talked for a while, and then went to the conference room together.

"Today's meeting has only one agenda item: given the rapidly changing situation, we need to increase the breeding area for [Salted Bean 001]. Please share any suggestions you may have."

The soybean market has been volatile recently, and Fang Wei has keenly seen an opportunity.

He felt that the previous spring planting plan was somewhat conservative. There was still time, and they should increase soybean breeding production. Otherwise, there was a high possibility of a sell-out in the fall, which would leave them in a bind.

"Boss, the company only has seawater rice that hasn't been planted yet. How about we continue to reduce the planting area of ​​seawater rice and allocate the extra land to the breeding center?"

Rice is planted locally, about twenty days later than soybeans.

Although centralized seedling cultivation has already begun, the seedlings can be sold. The only impact is that this year's seawater rice yield will be reduced.

Therefore, Yang Feng suggested that the adjustment should be made internally within the company.

“Sure! But Mr. Yang, you should hurry up and go to the neighboring county. We need to expand our planting base by another 10 mu, and use it all to grow seawater rice.”

Adjusting according to Yang Feng's suggestion is the easiest way.

However, there is a problem: if the yield of seawater rice is too low, it loses its effect as a window for display.

After some consideration, Fang Wei still felt that the land area of ​​the planting base in the neighboring county should be increased, and the production of seawater rice should not be reduced any further.

Fortunately, the company only needs saline-alkali land, and the local authorities have already carried out basic infrastructure development on the saline-alkali land near each planting base. Whoever contracts the saline-alkali land can start planting crops immediately.

"Okay, boss, I'll do it right away."

Without saying a word, Yang Feng prepared to set off for Linxian County.

The others also agreed with Fang Wei's decision, and everyone immediately took action to actively cooperate with this temporary adjustment.

The matter was resolved quickly and did not affect the planting of seawater rice.

Next, the production of all types of seeds will increase compared to the original plan, with the largest increase being for the [Salted Bean 001] seed.

"Boss, without us even realizing it, our Juli Agriculture has already expanded to multiple counties and cities."

morning.

Ye Chen accompanied Fang Wei to a regional meeting and suddenly realized that Juli Agriculture had already expanded beyond Xia Chu County, and had established multiple planting demonstration bases in other counties and cities.

This commendation meeting recognizes the units and individuals who have made significant contributions to the management of saline-alkali land.

Juli Agriculture won the first prize, which was also the only first prize awarded at this conference.

Fang Wei dislikes participating in such activities, but Yang Feng and others are too busy to attend, and Ye Chen representing him doesn't carry enough weight.

The car sped along and finally arrived in the city before noon.

The two had lunch on the street, and then attended the awards ceremony in the afternoon, where they received the first prize certificate, award, and prize money.

After the meeting ended, Fang Wei and Ye Chen didn't linger and headed straight back.

By the time he got home, it was already dark.

"Third Brother, how much bonus did you get?"

Pan Lianhua was very curious about the commendation meeting. As soon as Fang Wei sat down, she asked him directly.

"I was quite content with the 10 yuan bonus I received from the company, considering that the economy in Northwest China is underdeveloped and the region is not wealthy."

Fang Wei smiled slightly, providing her answer. (End of Chapter)