Chapter 254: Setting up a trap for the four major grain merchants
"That's more than 800 million acres. Aren't there still 300 million acres of soybeans?" The forestry department's tone revealed joy.

The rapid development of industrialization and urbanization in the country in the past two years has occupied a large amount of fertile land.

At the same time, the phenomenon of rural land abandonment is becoming more and more serious.

This has resulted in tremendous pressure on the country's arable land area and food security.

Today, by using Alfalfa No. 1 seeds to improve coastal saline-alkali land, and adding Tiandou No. 1, in just one year, 1100 million acres of arable land have been added along the coast.

And this is only one tenth, how could he not be happy.

Although the effect of soybeans in improving saline-alkali land is slightly worse, Guo Yang did not go to dampen the enthusiasm of the Forestry Department.

He did not forget the purpose of this trip.

Originally, this matter could be resolved by contacting the department responsible for managing foreign investment, but it just so happened that Minister Lin knew he was coming, so he arranged a meeting.

Soon, the topic shifted to investing in agriculture in Africa.

Minister Lin frowned, which was rare for him. It was obvious that he was not very optimistic about Jiahe's overseas investment in Africa.

"Except for agricultural machinery, Jiahe's other businesses are not compatible with the African market."

"It is not a wise move to engage in planting in Africa. Agricultural reclamation and other units are more out of the needs of the country's overall strategy."

"On the contrary, isn't Jiahe jealous of the soybean and corn seed market in South America?"

Brazil and Argentina in South America are both major soybean and corn growers and are important seed and grain markets in the world.

The Ministry of Agriculture encourages agricultural enterprises to go overseas, and is more focused on Asia-Pacific and South America. For example, a state-owned enterprise in Chongqing has joined forces with more than ten companies to go overseas to South America.

Guo Yang smiled and said, "Golden Harvest will also enter the South American market, but we are still waiting for an opportunity."

Lin Bu asked with interest, "What kind of opportunity are you waiting for?"

Guo Yang said: "International corn prices have risen sharply recently, and even wheat has a trend of sharp rise."

“This could be a bureau.”

Minister Lin’s eyes fixed.

Before this, he had had a conversation with Lao Nie from the National Grain Administration, sharing the joy of the increased corn production and also discussing how to deal with the corn.

There are only three ways: export, processing and inventory.

Because of the recent rise in corn prices, the State Food and Grain Administration has chosen to export and process the majority of the corn and store a portion of it.

Lin Bu asked calmly, "Oh? Tell me about it."

"Bioenergy technology has only just made a breakthrough this year, and countries led by the United States have begun to introduce large-scale subsidies to encourage corn processing for energy, resulting in an upward trend in international grain prices in the past two or three months."

"If nothing unexpected happens, international grain prices will rise rapidly in the next two to three years."

At this point, Guo Yang smiled and said, "Minister Lin, don't you think this method is familiar?"

Lin Bu laughed and said, "Good boy, why, Jiahe also wants to try his hand in the international futures market this time?"

Guo Yang raised his eyebrows. It seemed that the top management knew everything about Jiahe’s operations in the futures market a few years ago.

"Golden Harvest will not give up on taking advantage of the situation if given the chance. In the next few years, there may be a serious food crisis internationally."

Minister Lin looked at him in surprise and asked, "Another international food crisis?"

Guo Yang was very sure that the 2008 financial tsunami was just around the corner, and wasn't food the best tool for transferring risks and reaping the rewards?
"Bioenergy consumes grain stocks, which in turn raises the price of agricultural inputs and planting costs, thus creating the fundamentals for rising grain prices."

“Eventually, international capital will invest huge amounts of real money, just like soybeans two years ago.”

Seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, the global agricultural inputs industry chain is mainly controlled by Western countries.

Guo Yang's few brief words resolved Lin Bu's doubts over the past few days, but he was not too worried.

What the country fears most is low grain prices, which will hurt farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain. Since 1990, a national special grain reserve system has been established.

In 2000, the National Grain Reserve was established to be responsible for grain reserve management.

Minister Lin thought about it and said with a smile, "The domestic grain reserves are sufficient, and the production has been improving in recent years. If international grain traders dare to come again, they will definitely suffer the consequences."

"Have you never thought of leading me into a trap?"

Lin Bu raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

In Guo Yang's memory, during the food crisis in his previous life, the four major grain traders, after harvesting grain from Asia, Africa and Latin America, also turned their attention to the great Eastern countries.

However, as domestic grain prices have been sluggish for more than a decade, the state grain reserves have been hoarding grain for more than a decade in order to protect farmers.

When international speculators were buying, they found that the country’s grain reserves were bottomless and ultimately suffered a crushing defeat.

However, in this life, due to the existence of Tianhe Seed Industry, the country's grain output in the past two years has far exceeded expectations.

In addition to corn, soybeans and wheat will also see significant increases in production in the future. It is hard to say whether international speculators will come again.

After thinking for a while, Guo Yang said: "On the one hand, we should increase our food storage, and on the other hand, we should pretend that we are weak and attract international speculators to come to our country to cause trouble."

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. The four major grain traders and international funds have harvested the harvest in Asia, Africa and Latin America. We asked them to come to China..."

Lin Bu narrowed his eyes.

He finally understood what opportunity Jiahe was waiting for. If he attacked the four major grain traders, Jiahe would face much less resistance when entering South America.

Guo Yang continued, "Can the State Grain Administration not be so high-profile? The autumn harvest is not even over yet, but they have already urgently raised their production forecast for this year."

Minister Lin thought that if he followed the boy's logic, it seemed to be true.

After thinking for a while, Minister Lin recalled that Jiahe's entry into the grain and oil processing field at this time, did they have this plan in place long ago?
However, the losses from Jiahe's processing and purchasing of domestic soybeans were real, and for a while, the Forestry Department was at a loss.

But having food in hand is definitely right.

Lin Bu said, "I'll make a note of this."

Guo Yang also smiled. In fact, in addition to processing, another purpose of Jiahe Grain and Oil is to stockpile grain. With grain in hand, they can be at ease when fighting against the four major grain merchants.

"Then can Minister Lin help introduce some investments in Africa?"

Minister Lin thought about it and asked his secretary to bring him some information.

"It just so happens that Congo (DRC) has become more stable in the past two years. Although there are still many active opposition parties in the eastern Great Lakes region, the overall political situation has eased somewhat."

“The newly-appointed President Kabila Jr. studied in the country and is now in dialogue with the country on infrastructure financing.”

"The initial tone is to exchange infrastructure for mineral resources."

Guo Yang took the document, which was an investment negotiation scope between China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A quick review shows that Congo's infrastructure, including transportation, water, electricity, municipal administration, and medical care, is very backward.

The same is true for agriculture. Food is basically dependent on imports, effective demand for agricultural products is insufficient, and grains and vegetables are luxuries in the lives of local residents.

Technological backwardness permeates every link of the planting and animal husbandry industries, and there is a serious shortage of agricultural inputs.

The advantage is the abundance of various resources.

Simply put, large-scale investment in food planting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a very low cost-effectiveness ratio and faces various risks.

Guo Yang looked at the information provided by the Forest Department for a long time before finally pointing to one of the pages.

“Golden Harvest is interested in both palm oil development and food planting development.”

"Yes, I can introduce you to the Minister of Agriculture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He happens to be in Beijing these days."

Minister Lin looked at him deeply and said, "If we go overseas, the country won't be able to provide much support. In comparison, we still have to vigorously develop the country!"

"As long as Jiahe can continue to work hard to transform saline-alkali land, deserts and Gobi like it is doing now, no one in China will touch Jiahe."

There are countless arable lands in the country that are difficult to use. There have been attempts to improve them in the past, but the results have been disappointing.

Over the past few decades, Jiahe is the only company that has been able to develop wasteland on such a large scale and achieve such results.

Guo Yang understood that Chief Lin was pointing a finger at him.

"The focus is definitely still on the domestic market, especially the Northwest. Transforming the Northwest into a major granary is Jiahe's ultimate goal."

"As long as you know what's going on."

Minister Lin actually had one more thing he hadn’t said. In two months, the China-Africa Cooperation Forum will be held in Beijing.

However, he did not want Jiahe to participate.

The agricultural investment environment in the remaining African countries, Zambia, Kenya and Nigeria, is better than that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

But he didn't want Jiahe to expand overseas easily, as there were still large tracts of land in China that needed Jiahe to develop!

Seeing that Lin Bu wanted to leave, Guo Yang stood up and shook hands with Lin Bu, saying, "Thank you for your support, Lin Bu. Jiahe will never forget where its roots are."

Minister Lin nodded, and when he was halfway there, he stopped and turned around to speak.

"Didn't they arrest a group of people earlier? They have already been exchanged with Dayang."

"Among them is your former classmate Chen Yunpeng, who is probably on his way back to China now."

"what?"

Guo Yang was puzzled, and when he wanted to ask for more details, Lin Bu had already left. Chen Yunpeng?
Guo Yang thought for a while before he remembered the slightly silly Fat Tiger.

It seems that he still owes Chen Yunpeng money, 10 yuan or 20 yuan?

But none of this matters anymore.

Two days later.

Guo Yang successfully met François Nzanga from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who also serves as the head of the Congolese Ministry of Agriculture.

The conversation between the two went smoothly.

Guo Yang then called Yu Honghai and provided some investigation directions to Yu Honghai, who was confused and didn't know where to start.

The first is the palm oil comprehensive development project in Equateur Province, the second is the corn demonstration field project in the capital Kinshasa, and the third is the comprehensive agricultural development project in Lower Congo Province.

All three regions are located in the Midwest, far from the unrest-prone eastern mining regions.
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After staying for a few more days, Guo Yang sat in the office of Weiguang Company, playing with the long and thick corn cobs that were freshly baked this year.

Not long after,

Luo Xiu, dressed in black, walked in, took out a card from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"Boss, I'm back."

Guo Yang glanced at the bank card and asked, "Why did it take so long?"

Luo Xiu was silent for a moment, and when he saw that there was no one around, he said, "The other two were delayed when they were leaving the country from the north after finishing their business in Liao Province."

"No trouble left?"

Luo Xiu gritted his teeth and said, "No, I just happened to meet a few comrades. After hearing about Jiahe's salary and benefits, they also wanted to go abroad."

Guo Yang raised his eyebrows. The four people before were special cases and they probably wouldn’t have the chance to return home in the short term.

If there are new people added...

Guo Yang said: "Africa does not need so many capable fighters for the time being. We can arrange for them to go to the Middle East and be responsible for security there. It depends on whether they are willing to do so."

"Okay, then I'll go ask."

"Take the card too. I'll keep it with you for future use." Seeing Luo Xiu hesitate, Guo Yang said, "If I tell you to take it, just take it."

After Luo Xiu left, Guo Yang thought about leaving the capital. He could work remotely, and if it was urgent, he would handle it specially.

The gains from this trip were still acceptable.

Not only did we find a breakthrough in Africa, but Huinong.com was also successfully launched.

In just one week, the number of registered users exceeded one million. Although the retention rate of active users dropped sharply, the thing was done after all.

The next step is to expand Denong agricultural supplies supermarkets across the country and improve the warehousing and logistics system.

Currently, agricultural supply supermarkets are springing up all over the country, and provincial supply and marketing cooperatives are also making large-scale layouts, resulting in fierce competition.

According to Yuan Wenwu's previous plan, Denong Agricultural Materials Supermarket should stabilize the market in Shandong Province, expand appropriately in the four provinces of Shandong, and then acquire other companies when they can no longer hold on.

But now I can't wait.

I stared at the itinerary plan drawn up by the headquarters office and pondered for a while.

The itinerary was full.

the saline wasteland of Zepu and the grain and oil processing plants in Xinjiang Province;

Salt marshes along the coast;

The seed production in the Hexi Corridor is mainly the expansion of flower and vegetable seeds. I haven't visited it this year.
Seed production base in Hainan;
I have never been to the agricultural machinery factory in Weifang after its expansion;
Luo Potassium Project;

And overseas...

One by one, Guo Yang felt like he had only been in the laboratory for half a month, but his schedule was already full of things to do.

But there is no need to go to every place. After thinking about it, Guo Yang finally decided to go and see the situation of the coastal saline-alkali land.

The American personally filed a complaint about dumping. He was really curious about the situation of forage grass production along the coast.

Unlike the northwest, coastal saline-alkali land has great advantages in transformation and irrigation due to abundant water resources.

Therefore, the yield of Alfalfa No. 1 in the coastal areas was higher than Guo Yang expected.

Originally, the first season focused on improving the soil, and a forage yield of 1 to 1.5 tons was considered up to standard, but the yield in coastal areas generally reached 2 tons.

In Dongying, the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land has been explored, but the barrenness of the saline-alkali land has made the phenomenon of abandonment here extremely serious.

Last year, the first batch of farmers who contracted saline-alkali land made money. Before the autumn harvest this year was over, a trend of contracting saline-alkali land had already swept the local area.

After Guo Yang came to Dongying, he saw a field of alfalfa with lush green leaves on the 1000 acres of saline-alkali wasteland contracted by Gao Ruixia.

The last crop of alfalfa has been harvested. These are the new tender leaves. Judging from their growth, there will be no problem for them to survive the winter.

Gao Ruixia is a 48-year-old woman with a strong body. After learning that Guo Yang was the boss of Jiahe, she caught him and asked him.

"Brother, how do you sell alfalfa at such a high price abroad? We sell it for less than 1,500 yuan per ton when we export it, but some of them sell it for only 1,000 yuan."

"1,400 to 1,500 yuan, considering your production, this year is also a big profit!" Guo Yang smiled and said, "The processing standards of alfalfa are extremely strict."

After learning about the situation of Gao Ruixia and others, Guo Yang finally understood why the Ministry of Agriculture no longer cared about the US's dumping complaints.

According to the policy on saline-alkali land development, the subsidies provided by governments at all levels in Dongying for improving one acre of saline-alkali land reached 500 yuan per year in the first three years.

At the same time, along the long north-south line, in the southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, relying on the high temperature, some people tried to mow five crops this year and succeeded. There are even rumors that some people will try to mow six crops next year.

The investment cost for farmers in the first year is about 2750 to 3000 yuan.

The yield per mu is two tons, and each ton is sold at 1200 yuan, which is 2400 yuan. With a government subsidy of 500 yuan, the cost can be recovered in the first year.

The higher the output, the more room there is for price reduction and the cheaper the exports.

Guo Yang looked at the soil out of habit.

The soil desalination effect is very good, and the physical environment and fertility of the soil are also significantly improved.

If fertilization + turning treatment is carried out, the desalination effect and nutrient changes will only be better.

No wonder the Ministry of Agriculture doesn’t care about the Americans’ clamor.

This is using the dumping complaint from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to force farmers to replace green manure with grain and other crops next year.

The coastal areas do not have the same light conditions as the northwest, and it is easy to encounter rain during mowing, so the product quality is naturally lower.

The processing standards cannot catch up with alfalfa.

It does not meet the standards required for export to island countries and South Korea.

But if I can’t export to island countries and South Korea, then I can just export to the other side of the ocean!

The other side of the ocean is the traditional production area of ​​alfalfa, with very low tariffs. Unprepared, the alfalfa from the coastal areas took over part of the market.

At the same time, at least half of the overseas high-end export market has been taken away by Alfalfa Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

Eventually, this caused a joint boycott by already dissatisfied alfalfa farmers on the other side of the ocean, who promptly increased subsidies for their own alfalfa industry.

On the other hand, tariffs were also significantly increased, prompting smaller countries such as the island countries and South Korea to introduce measures.

But unexpectedly, a series of combined punches hit the air. my country's dominant alfalfa producing areas are in the northwest, and the coastal areas are just chess pieces.

The move from the other side played right into the rabbit's hands.

When it comes to strategizing, you still have to get the rabbit!

The only impact may be the export of alfalfa and the decline in business operations of domestically oriented grass companies such as Huihuang Seed.

However, Alfalfa No. 1 seeds have benefited. The newly harvested seeds have entered the production line for sorting and processing, and simultaneous sales work is also being carried out.

According to the current trend, this year's 2000 million kilograms of seeds will most likely be in short supply.

Estimated sales volume is 100 billion yuan!

This will be an important financial guarantee for Jiahe’s investment projects next year!

From Dongying to Yancheng,

Guo Yang learned about the situation along the way. The soybean seed production base in Jiaxiang and the organic soybean planting base in cooperation with Jiusan Grain and Oil both had a bumper harvest.

Through this collaboration, the differentiated edible soybean development route has been proven to be completely feasible.

Jiusan Grain and Oil is already promoting the improvement of saline-alkali land in Northeast China and developing organic soybean cultivation.

In addition, large oil and fat factories acquired along the coast also began processing.

Every factory was suffering huge losses every day, and Guo Yang had no time to look at the detailed data.

However, with the international community's hype about bioenergy, international soybean prices have also entered an upward trend.

Looking at the slowly rising soybean prices, Guo Yang had another evil idea.

Add fuel to the fire.

(End of this chapter)