Chapter 91 Pasture Compression
Almost a year after owning the seed store, Guo Yang only had a general understanding of the rules for obtaining natural energy.

The engineering management of 1000 acres of saline-alkali land can roughly gain 1 point of natural energy for every acres of land.

In the past six months, although there has been the impact of the backflow of salt from the deep soil, alfalfa has also improved the soil and provided him with 22 points of natural energy.

In addition, preliminary management of 6.3 acres of desert, restoration of vegetation around the Hongyashan Reservoir, and management of ancient desert river channels have been carried out.

It also provides him with 70 points of natural energy.

Including the remaining from the previous period, there are now a total of 101 points of natural energy.

And all of this is continuous. As the ecological conditions recover better, the energy will increase, until it stops completely.

With the first batch of alfalfa returned to the fields, it also means that the rest of the alfalfa can begin to be harvested.

The long-forgotten Claas silage machinery made its reappearance.

In early June, the sky was blue and the clouds were white, with a gentle breeze.

The endless fields of alfalfa are lush and green, the flower buds are swaying, and harvesters are shuttling back and forth among them. The green carpet turns into a striped carpet, like a painting on the earth.

The harvested alfalfa is dried and then baled by a baler.

The processed alfalfa hay retains its nutrients and has an excellent taste.

……

In an office in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

"Leader, the reports from the various regiments have come in again. Please allow the remaining alfalfa fields to be plowed and planted with cotton."

"Didn't we just till the fields in winter? Now the entire Corps has less than 200,000 acres of alfalfa!"

"The price of alfalfa is unstable now, and the net income from growing cotton is 70% to 100% higher."

The leaders lamented again and again, "We are so eager for quick success! Cotton requires a lot of fertilizer, and there is no alfalfa rotation to nourish the land. In the long run, the land will be wasted!"

The man also said helplessly: "Alfalfa takes too long to occupy land. It will not be productive until the third or fourth year. The per capita arable land area of ​​the regiment is also decreasing. The workers are reluctant to rotate the grass and fields."

"The Corps has always attached great importance to green manure and feed production. At its peak, the alfalfa planting area was nearly 150 million mu!"

"The main reason is that the economic benefits are too low, and they are almost inferior to wheat and corn."

The leader suddenly remembered something. "Last year, a company in Long Province improved saline-alkali land to grow alfalfa. How is it going now?"

"Alfalfa, the yield this year is not expected to be high, and the market is not good. I don't know if I can hold on."

"Pay attention."

……

Muhe, at the meeting, introduced the situation this year to Tianshan.

"The first crop of alfalfa hay is expected to produce about 80 kilograms per mu. The yield is not high, but more than 1 mu will produce at least tons of hay."

The sales manager is Yu Xiaochuan, who is in his thirties. "It's not much. The local farms can handle it."

Xiang Tianshan asked: "How is the market this year?"

"The local price of first-grade alfalfa hay is about 750 yuan per ton, while the price in Shanghai and Beijing is around 1500 yuan per ton, and it may be even higher in Guangdong Province."

Everyone at the meeting was thinking that based on the current production volume, even if they harvested four times a year, they would still suffer losses.

Yu Xiaochuan seemed to understand everyone's thoughts and added: "It also depends on the product grade. Grade 550 hay is 400 yuan/ton, while grade is only yuan/ton."

Everyone's heart sank.

Alfalfa hay and meal are graded primarily based on crude protein content and moisture content.

The protein content of first-grade hay bales must not be less than 18%, second-grade 16%, and third-grade 14%; the moisture content must not exceed 14%.

Jiuquan is dry and rainless, so there is definitely no problem with the water content. But the soil is all raw soil improved from saline-alkali beach, so how can the nutritional content be high? Sure enough, a young man sitting in the corner of the conference room provided nutrient data.

"According to the test, only the best areas have a crude protein content of about 16%, which barely meets the standard of Grade hay."

Finish the calf!
Everyone unconsciously observed Guo Yang's expression out of the corner of their eyes and did not dare to speak carelessly.

Someone asked: "Would it be better to sell it to Shanghai and Beijing?"

Yu Xiaochuan shook his head. "The shipping cost is too high. Shipping to Beijing and Shanghai costs 500 yuan per ton."

Xiang Tianshan thought for a while, "How about processing it into grass powder and granules?"

"Alfalfa meal is used as a protein supplement and added to compound feed. It has a low crude protein content and cannot be sold at a high price. In addition, the company's current grass meal processing equipment is the one that the boss imported from abroad."

The meeting room fell silent.

The yield is low, most of the hay is grade three, the freight cost is extremely high, and the processing capacity is insufficient.

It’s better not to accept it!
Someone did the math and found that the yield per mu for the first crop was only about 30 yuan.

"Why don't we just not collect it? Or just return the land to the fields?"

No one answered his question. If alfalfa is not mowed for a long time, it will lose its nutritional value. But if it is mowed, it will lose money and gain publicity.

Guo Yang, who had been sitting aside and listening quietly, stood up, clapped his hands, and said with a smile.

"We can't stop eating because of choking. We need to open up sales channels in coastal areas and process grass powder and pellets, even if it means losing money."

"Also, everyone, think about it, is there any way to reduce logistics costs?"

When Alfalfa No. 1 is launched on the market, its main market will still be the coastal areas or exported.

But the Northwest is too remote, with any location about one or two thousand kilometers away, and the infrastructure is poor, so many agricultural products face the problem of high transportation costs.

If alfalfa is to be industrialized, the problem of transportation costs must be solved first.

The conference room fell silent again, even the breathing became quieter.

Can the logistics costs be reduced in the Northwest?
After a long while, a voice stammered, "You can consider increasing the density of the baling."

Following the voice, I looked for the young man who had just provided the nutritional content data. He was wearing glasses and looked like a scholar.

The young man was visibly nervous.

Guo Yang smiled and said, "Tell me what you think."

Hu Jie could feel his heart pounding, and spoke stiffly.

"The density of our bales is only 120kg/m, but the density of imported hay bales is over 450kg/m, and the container capacity can reach 25 tons."

"The cost of shipping from America to our coastal areas is only $10 per ton!"

"So, as long as we can make a breakthrough in the secondary pressure baling technology and increase the transportation capacity, the cost will naturally come down."

Some people raised doubts, "There is no means of secondary processing of grass products in China!"

"That's American technology. Can we do it?"

"Of course you can!" Guo Yang said in a firm voice, and also remembered the appearance of this young man.

The next two days.

Guo Yang consumed natural energy and upgraded several hay balers, greatly increasing the density of hay bales.

At the same time, a secondary bale pressurizing machine was also developed. After secondary pressurization, the density of the hay bale instantly increased to 500kg/m.

A full 4 times increase!
It also means that the cost of transportation has dropped from 500 yuan/ton to 125 yuan/ton!
(End of this chapter)