Chapter 332 Heavy Snow
Xiaheqing Farm.

"Next year's hop order area may be cut in half?" Wei Tao, general manager of Xiaheqing Farm, couldn't believe it.

Xu Qing of Tsingtao Beer nodded and said, "After this contract ends, Tsingtao Beer will no longer sign individual contracts, but will purchase raw materials on demand."

Wei Tao stood there in a daze.

Tsingtao Brewery is the leading company in the domestic beer industry, and Yanjing Beer is the main customer of Xiaheqing Farm.

Although other beer manufacturers also purchase, the quantities are relatively small.

Wei Tao asked: "Why?"

Xu Qing said: "It's too expensive. Competition is fierce now, and the cost is too high. We can't continue to operate!"

Wei Tao finally understood why Xu Qing came at this time. The hops had been picked, and in addition to processing, it was also time to prepare for the next season.

Xu Qing came to inform in advance, probably because he was worried that there would be a sudden decrease in orders in the early spring of next year, which would cause conflicts.

Fuck, should I thank him?
The hop production is good this year and the price is high, so the employees have good incomes. Many people plan to contract more land next year.

With all this trouble happening now, it will be difficult to contract out this land next year.

...

The next day.

Guo Yang, Qin Lijun, and Niu Hulin set out for Xiaheqing Farm together.

The farm is located about 50 kilometers east of Jiuquan City, with a total cultivated land area of ​​about 2.8 acres. The main crops are hops, peppers, etc.

At this moment, peppers are drying on the Gobi Desert, and the hops on the fence racks have been picked.

Qin Lijun asked, "Mr. Guo, what do you think of Xiaheqing Farm?"

"The crops are too simple." Guo Yang said, "I can't see the others yet."

Qin Lijun said: "For decades, Xiaheqing Farm has been famous for producing high-quality hop raw materials, and it is indeed a bit constrained."

Guo Yang observed the situation at Xiaheqing Farm, and the signs of unified planning for crop planting were obvious.

There are also many machine-made wells distributed everywhere, and the proportion of drip irrigation is very high. The source of drip irrigation water should come from groundwater.

That's all we can see for now.

After a while, we arrived at a two-story office building with Xiaheqing Farm written on it.

There were already some people standing in the yard, and when Qin Lijun's car arrived, a group of people came to greet him.

After the greetings, Guo Yang recognized the person.

Wei Tao, general manager of Xiaheqing Farm; Ma Peng, chairman of Yasheng Group, and Jiang Youjun, general manager; Zhang Zhiyuan, chairman of the Provincial Agricultural Reclamation, and Zhang Hui, general manager.

As well as Wang Zhong, Shi Jing and He Yongming, the secretaries and managers of the three state-owned farms of Dunhuang, Yinma and Huanghua.

Zhang Zhiyuan said with a smile: "Boss Guo, Jiahe's project in Dunhuang West Lake is really a big deal!"

Guo Yang said: "There are still many places that need to be troubled by the Agricultural Reclamation Group in the future."

Zhang Zhiyuan said, "Okay, okay. There aren't many projects worth 300 billion yuan in the whole province, so we must cooperate."

When they heard the number 300 billion yuan, Zhang Hui, Ma Peng, Jiang Youjun, Wang Zhong, Shi Jing and others also smiled.

The same is true for Wei Tao. Now that hops are in short supply, farms are forced to transform towards diversified planting. Cooperating with Jiahe is the best choice.

Qin Lijun then asked, "Didn't they say that the Tsingtao Beer delegation was coming?"

The atmosphere was a little awkward, and Wei Tao said, "They had something to do, so they left first."

On the side, Guo Yang heard that the people from Tsingtao Beer had left. Although he felt a little strange, he was relieved.

Led by Wei Tao, the group visited the entire farm. The main crops are hops and peppers, and the area of ​​peppers is only a little over 1000 mu.

The area of ​​water-saving drip irrigation has reached 1.9 mu. The water source for drip irrigation mainly comes from 41 machine-driven wells. The average depth of the machine-driven wells is 120~140m, and the average controlled area of ​​a single well is 463 mu.

Qin Lijun asked: "Is the hops production profitable this year?"

Zhang Zhiyuan added: "This year is the best year in recent years, with an income of 9000 yuan per mu."

Qin Lijun was surprised and said, "That's great! Yinma Farm must have planted a lot of hops. This year, Yasheng's hops sales will increase significantly!"

Zhang Zhiyuan and the others did not respond.

Before this, they already knew that Tsingtao Brewery had reduced its order planting contracts and other companies were also reducing their purchases. The hop planting area next year may be cut in half.

After symbolically looking at the farm for a while, the group came to the meeting room of Xiaheqing Farm to discuss issues related to fallow and water conservation on state-owned farms.

Qin Lijun first introduced the general situation of the project, and then Guo Yang made detailed supplements.

It's nothing more than drip irrigation to save water and leaving land fallow.

He Yongming of Huanghua Farm said: "Huanghua Farm now covers an area of ​​45.8 mu, but it was originally built on a saline-alkali beach, and only 10.8 mu of cultivated land has been reclaimed, and all of it is saline-alkali land. Now the benefits of farming are getting worse year by year. I definitely support water conservation, but Huanghua can't afford a penny."

Wang Zhong said: "Dunhuang Farm covers an area of ​​53 mu, but only 2.8 mu is arable land."

Shi Jing said: "The situation at Yinma Farm is not much better. Currently, the cultivated area is only 10 mu, and all of it is saline-alkali land with medium and low yields. In the words of ordinary people, it is harder to grow a tree than to raise a cow."

The three major state farms in the Shule River basin all emphasized their difficulties: poverty and lack of money.

Guo Yang had also investigated and understood the situation before.

The most difficult farms are remote and small farms such as Xihu Farm.

Dunhuang, Yinma and Huanghua are all relatively large farms with relatively good conditions. Some of the contract farmers are also Tianhe’s customers and their lives have been much better in the past two years.

But overall, state-owned farms are relatively closed and their market sense is not as keen as that of ordinary farmers.

Guo Yang said: "Do you know anything about Tianhe seeds? Secretary Wang Zhong should know that Fan Xuejun built a farm by growing Tianhe cotton."

Wang Zhong smiled and said, "It's clear. It would be great if we could cooperate with Jiahe. Drip irrigation is a given. Dunhuang Farm will also cooperate, but it will be difficult to keep the land fallow."

"Yes, there is not much land to begin with, and it is all saline-alkali land. There are so many people on the farm to feed, so if we leave it uncultivated, it will cause a huge uproar."

"If it weren't for the suppression, there would be a lot of newly reclaimed wasteland for drinking horses."

Among these farms, the current industries of Huanghua Farm are mainly edible sunflower, fennel, grain and alfalfa; those of Yinma Farm are mainly hops, spices and fodder; and those of Dunhuang Farm are mainly Hami melon and other fruits.

The industry is more diversified than that of Xiaheqing Farm, but the area of ​​efficient water-saving is zero.

For some saline-alkali lands, the annual irrigation water volume can reach 600-750m per mu, which is an extremely high water consumption.

Guo Yang said: "As for saline-alkali land, in conjunction with this water conservancy project, Jiahe will allocate seeds to improve saline-alkali land."

Zhang Zhiyuan asked: "Is it Alfalfa No. 1?"

The others were also looking at Guo Yang. Everyone present knew the reputation of Alfalfa No. 1, but in the past few years Alfalfa No. 1 had only been supplied to coastal saline-alkali land.

They had been looking forward to it for a long time.

He Yongming said: "What about the price? Is it still 500 yuan per kilogram? We can't afford it."

"Yes, one mu of seeds costs 1250 yuan, and there is no subsidy for alfalfa varieties in the northwest, so we can't afford it."

Guo Yang pondered and said, "There is no national subsidy for improved varieties, but Jiahe can give some price discounts in the Shule River Basin."

Qin Lijun also said: "If Alfalfa No. 1 is sold in the city, the city can provide some seed subsidies, and the districts and counties will also have some."

郭阳继续说：“除了苜禾1号，还有天豆7号、天豆1号、天玉8号、天棉20等品种可供选择。”

"Employees generally don't want to grow corn and soybeans because the benefits are not good."

"Growing grain is not as profitable as growing cash crops. This year, Yinma and Xiaheqing Farms made a lot of money by growing hops."

“Yellow Flower Farm also plans to grow some hops next year.”

Before the others could continue, Jiang Youjun, the general manager of Yasheng, said, "The market demand for hops is not good enough. If we plant hops now, it will be ruined if we wait for a good harvest in three years."

"how come?"

Jiang Youjun said: "Tsingtao Beer just arrived yesterday. Next year, the planting area of ​​hops orders for Xiaheqing will be directly reduced by half."

"what?"

Wang Zhong and He Yongming, who were planning to grow some hops next year, were dumbfounded. They asked Wei Tao and Shi Jing for confirmation and received a positive answer.

Guo Yang also understood, thought for a moment, and asked, "What kind of hops are Yinma and Xiaheqing growing now?"

"It's mainly Qingdao Dahua." Wei Tao said, "In addition, we have also introduced new varieties such as Marco Polo, Zhayi and Yajin No. 1."

Guo Yang said: "Maybe we can also try Tianhe's new hop variety. It has performed very well this year. In the first year, the yield per mu reached 1500 kilograms. We also sold about 1500 tons, and the price reached 8000 yuan per ton."

Wei Tao exclaimed, "The yield per mu is so high in the first year? Xiaheqing's garden has been in operation for many years, and this year's yield of 3000 kilograms per mu is already a rare bumper harvest."

"Not only is the yield per mu high." Shi Jing also hurriedly asked: "Who did Jiahe sell its hops to? They actually offered a high price of 8000 yuan per ton!"

Wei Tao said: "Damn, I almost didn't notice that the average price Tsingtao Beer gave to Xiaheqing was only 3 yuan per catty, a full dollar difference."

More than a few farm managers were exclaiming, and even the people from Yasheng and Nongken were getting a little restless.

Jiang Youjun calculated it in his mind and sighed: "The income per mu in the first year has reached 6000 yuan!"

"Boss Guo, which company offered the purchase price?"

Guo Yang said slowly: "I'm not sure about the details, but the bulk of it should have been acquired by Tsingtao Beer."

Wei Tao was dumbfounded at first, and then he became angry. "Damn it! Yesterday, Xu Qing reduced the planting area of ​​the order, citing the price of raw materials as too expensive and the production cost as too high. But he secretly purchased hops at a high price. Is he kidding me?"

He Yongming also cursed: "What a fucking bastard, he doesn't buy cheap things but insists on buying expensive ones."

The heads of the two hop farms were cursing.

In the end, it was Jiang Youjun who calmed down first and asked, "Why is Tsingtao Beer willing to pay a high price for Jiahe's hops?"

This year, Jiahe's hop plantation in Yumen covers a total area of ​​3000 acres, with a total output of 2250 tons, and 8000 tons were sold at a price of 1500 yuan per ton.

The reason why it can be sold at a high price is that Jiahe hops are not only of good quality but also have a high level of effective ingredients, which allows beer companies to process more beer with less raw materials.

With higher quality and lower cost, breweries are naturally willing to buy Jiahe’s hops.

Jiahe's hop plantation achieved a profit of 1200 million yuan in the first year, basically recovering the cost of building the plantation.

After listening to Guo Yang, everyone present fell silent.

Such a truth is a little hard for everyone to accept, but if you think about it carefully, it seems very reasonable.

Several famous varieties of Jiahe, Tianyu No. 1, Tiandou No. 1, and Muhe No. 1, are all unreasonable in this way.

Now there's just one more hop.

After letting everyone pause for a while, Guo Yang said, "So, with the implementation of this water-saving project, Dunhuang, Yinma, and Huanghua farms can adjust the planting structure and update varieties while improving the saline-alkali land." "After the soil is improved, we can also develop some Tianhe corn and soybean seed production bases."

"During this process, Jiahe can provide price concessions or interest-free loans."

As he spoke, Guo Yang took out a report on the profits from planting Tianyu, Tiandou, Tianmian and other varieties in recent years.

The average income per mu is no less than 1000 yuan, especially for seed corn, the income can reach several thousand yuan, which is extremely tempting for each farm.

Guo Yang said: "The autumn harvest is almost over, and each farm can conduct its own investigation. Jiahe will also organize relevant investigations later."

Wang Zhong, Shi Jing and He Yongming all nodded silently.

They know their own business well. The land is basically saline-alkali land with low yield. The average income per mu is only a few hundred yuan, and some even do not exceed 500 yuan.

The main resistance to water-saving irrigation and fallow comes from the grassroots.

Now Jiahe can guarantee an income of thousands per mu, so why do you need a bicycle? Just follow and do it.

After the farm issue was resolved, Guo Yang found it much easier to negotiate with Zhang Zhiyuan and Zhang Hui from the Provincial Agricultural Reclamation Bureau, and Ma Peng and Jiang Youjun from the Yasheng Group.

It's nothing more than an exchange of interests.

After communication, the two sides reached a lot of cooperation.

First, the water-saving drip irrigation company led by Jiahe, Yasheng Group will also invest in a stake;
Second, Yasheng Group will develop specialized forage production and processing. Areas such as Yinma, Huanghua, and Xihu, which are severely affected by saline-alkali land erosion, will develop a certain alfalfa industry and need technical support from Alfalfa;
Third, Yasheng will set up a beer raw material company and cooperate with Jiahe on hops and barley varieties;
Fourth, Yasheng will enter the seed industry and will act as Tianhe's agent for seed production in the early stages of development;
5. Jiahe will assist Yasheng in adjusting the industrial structure of its farms in the Hexi Corridor.

In addition, it also involves cooperation in industries such as pigment peppers, potatoes, edible sunflowers, agricultural services, Chinese medicinal materials, and plant extraction.

The Provincial Agricultural Reclamation Bureau and Yasheng Group were obviously well prepared and had taken all aspects into consideration.

Through this, not only will the farms under the Yasheng Group be completely renewed, but its business shortcomings and industrial extensions will also be transformed.

And in exchange.

In addition to administrative cooperation in promoting water-saving drip irrigation, Yasheng Group and the Provincial Agricultural Reclamation Bureau will also provide funds to improve farmland infrastructure.

The land was left fallow, and Yasheng Group also took it over.

The three major farms all have their own land. In addition to subsidies from the city, the agricultural reclamation department will also subsidize the farms, so leaving the land fallow is basically not a problem.

In general, the purpose of Guo Yang's trip was achieved, and the remaining details were left to Niu Hulin and others to complete and supplement.

Guo Yang said, "Everyone, Jiahe will host us tonight and we will slaughter cattle and sheep in the Gobi Desert. Let's celebrate together."

A preliminary agreement was reached, and Qin Lijun was very happy. He said, "Take out all the good things from Jiahe. I tell you, Jiahe's home-brewed beer is also a must."

"Okay, I want to try how good Jiahe's hops are."

He Yongming and Wei Tao were still a little unconvinced.

Others were also skeptical.

Hops is something that is very familiar to farmers. Xiaheqing and Yinma Farms have been planting it on a large scale since 1956.

What kind of hops have you not tasted?
However, just one hour later, both the top management of the agricultural reclamation company and the grassroots farms were impressed by Jiahe's beer.

The unique taste of hops is intoxicating.

The variety of beer flavors, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, and alfalfa, are also eye-opening.

And when they heard that Jiahe adopted a new hops planting model of fence-building, which could greatly reduce labor costs, everyone no longer had any doubts.

After drinking and chatting, Guo Yang took Qin Lijun back to his residence.

"Leader, this matter is all thanks to your help."

"It doesn't matter whether I'm here or not. For the sake of the 300 billion investment, no one will stand in the way."

……

Time passes day by day.

All work in Jiahe is progressing in an orderly manner, and Jiuquan area also welcomed its first heavy snow in mid-November.

It snowed heavily all day long, and the Gobi Desert and grassland were covered with snow, and the air was freezing cold.

Even the occasional strong winds have difficulty blowing away the snow.

Guo Yang and Ji Zhuowen walked into the livestock greenhouse of Hexi Ranch, where it was warm and cozy.

A large group of lively calves are jumping around, some are eating food, some are drinking water, and some are playing on the top rack. They are so cute.

Ding Ji was originally the manager of Alfalfa Breeding Farm and the first employee. He is still in charge of the breeding business.

But things are no longer the same as they used to be.

He was attracted to Muhe by the high salary. At that time, there was not a single cow in the farm. But now, Hexi Animal Husbandry has nearly 40 dairy cows.

The embryos of these nearly 40 dairy cows were all produced by the breeding farm he is in charge of, and the coverage rate of high-quality breeds in Hexi Animal Husbandry has reached 100%.

The all-Hexi dairy cows are one of the core reasons why Hexi Dairy has become the industry leader today.

The average milk yield of a dairy cow reaches 11.5 tons.

The domestic average yield has doubled in recent years, reaching 6 tons, but Hexi Dairy's advantages are still obvious.

Ji Zhuowen asked, "Boss, are you really going to sell the calves and embryos of Hexi dairy cows to Yili?"

Guo Yang said: "Yes."

“Yili’s foundation is still there. Once given the opportunity, it is likely to make a comeback!” Ji Zhuowen looked confused and still didn’t understand why his boss wanted to sell the company.

Guo Yang smiled and said, "Even if Hexi doesn't sell, Yili can still get the calves of Hexi dairy cows."

Ji Zhuowen said: "But the breeding efficiency is slow. If we strengthen internal control, the storage will still have several years of advantages."

Guo Yang didn't say anything and fed the cows with silage. Hexi's layout across the country was destined to be secretive.

Instead of trying hard to plug the leak, it is better to take the initiative to sell it and make more money through germplasm resources.

"Ding Ji, tell President Ji about the achievements of the dairy cattle breeding farm in recent years."

“Great.” Ding Ji said excitedly, “The breeding system, data collection, and genetic evaluation were completed last year.”

"Genetic improvement is also about to bear fruit. This year, there are at least 300 dairy cows in the country whose annual milk yield is more than 14 tons."

"That's right, quantitative change leads to qualitative change." Guo Yang smiled and said, "So, it's appropriate to sell it appropriately at this time."

Ji Zhuowen was surprised. He hadn't paid attention to this recently.

Although the core dairy cow breeding factory is affiliated to Hexi Animal Husbandry, it also has a relatively independent system.

Unexpectedly, a positive cycle has now been formed.

As for dairy cow embryo production, Yili currently does not have the technology to do so, whereas the new generation of high-quality cattle in Hexi are already producing milk.

The advantages are obvious.

Ji Zhuowen said: "Boss, I will go and negotiate with Yili. It's exciting just thinking about it."

"Go if you want."

There were still goose feathers floating outside the greenhouse, and the biting cold wind made Guo Yang shiver.

It’s a cold winter again this year!
Fortunately, he had accumulated enough experience in the pastoral areas. In the group, he knew that the Asafetida Gobi and the Urad Grassland were also prepared for the cold winter.

With greenhouses and silage pits, and sufficient hay reserves, there is no pressure to cope with the snow disaster.

The cotton in Xinjiang Province has also been harvested by machines.

Fengkai's cotton picker performed somewhat bumpy and had many minor problems, but its advantages outweighed its flaws.

Especially in comparison with John Deere and Guihang, Fengkai is the most stable.

Deere Cotton Picker recalled 32 cotton pickers last time, but in another batch of 68 machines, two engine shafts broke again during winter machine cotton picking.

This is already a major accident.

Due to the Corps' strong attitude, John Deere was forced to recall the cotton pickers again. This batch of cotton pickers came from Deere Tiantuo.

This will also lead to people preferring to buy original imported John Deere cotton pickers in the future.

In addition, Case New Holland has also accelerated the development of the domestic market.

However, Fengkai is still in the lead for the time being.

Due to the heavy snow, many of Jiahe’s outdoor work was suspended, and we were busy sorting out various materials for a period of time.

Guo Yang also finished his work and prepared to slip away to Hainan.

The previously accumulated tasks of breeding new varieties have been completed, and some of them remain in Tianhe Science Academy waiting for expansion and propagation in the spring.

But others have been sent to the southern breeding base and are in the process of being planted.

Just went to take a look.

Looking out the window, I saw the snow line of the Qilian Mountains getting lower and lower, and the sea buckthorn forest on the Gobi Desert was covered with a thick layer of snow.

"There is an unusually large amount of snow in the Hexi Corridor this year!"

Suddenly, Guo Yang grasped something in his mind.

Heavy snow, Hainan.

Snowstorm in the south?

Guo Yang cursed inwardly, "Damn, I almost forgot about this!"

The snowstorm in the south in 08 happened to be close to the Spring Festival, and it was a rare heavy snowfall that Guo Yang experienced as a child in his previous life, so he had a deep impression of it.

During that period, the whole country was flooded with news about snow disasters in various places.

People in the south had never experienced such heavy snow, and for a while, everyone was at a loss.

Moreover, due to the high humidity in the south, there is more snow and it is more prone to freezing, so infrastructure such as houses, power lines, railways, roads, etc. have been severely damaged.

The agricultural sector was also severely affected.

All the crops that survive the winter are planted in the south!
After thinking for a while, Guo Yang quickly calmed down.

Today's Jiahe is indeed very capable, but it is powerless in the face of natural disasters. It can only be alerted in advance, make early preparations, and prevent and reduce disasters.

I checked the calendar and found that the Spring Festival in 08 was on February 2th, and the snow disaster occurred before the Spring Festival.

"There are at least two months left, which is plenty of time."

(End of this chapter)