Chapter 417: The First Snow

Chapter 417 -193: The First Snow

In less than five days.

The 250,000 mu of substandard fodder soybeans were all bought up by local livestock farmers and businesses.

Meanwhile, harvesting had also begun on Hailufeng Company’s own 150,000 mu of fodder soybeans that met the standard for collection.

This standard-compliant crop was being divided into two categories. Some would be processed into silage on-site, while the rest would be dried into hay, then compressed, baled, and sold.

「October 27th.」

A group of livestock farmers from Hu City, in the Northeast of Monan, arrived at Mulan Base.

Wu Bin, the head of the temporary sales office, shook his head. “Fellas, you’re too late. The last of our soybean stalks were all spoken for yesterday.”

“Two hundred fifty thousand mu, all gone in just a few days?” A sturdy man from the group of farmers stared, his eyes wide.

“That’s right! Between our local Zhelimu area and neighboring Red Mountain, it was all snapped up in a flash.” Wu Bin’s tone then shifted. “However, we do have another 150,000 mu that we’ve set aside for our own use…”

Hearing this, a shrewd-looking older man next to the sturdy one chuckled, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and offering it to him. “Manager Wu, do us a favor. Sell us a bit, we don’t need much. How about just ten thousand mu?”

Wu Bin accepted the cigarettes but still smiled and shook his head. “To be honest, this batch we set aside is also for sale. But these plants have already podded, so the yield is around 2.3 tons per mu. The protein content is also very high, so the price can’t be too low.”

“How much per mu?” the sturdy man asked, his brow furrowed.

“It’s not cost-effective for you to buy it by the mu. You’d be better off purchasing the processed product directly from our company. We have soybean silage with 20% protein content at a factory price of 680 yuan per ton. We also have soybean hay with 16% moisture and 35% protein content at a factory price of 1,800 yuan per ton. It can replace a significant portion of the concentrate feed made from soybean meal.”

The older man’s eyes, narrowed to slits, darted back and forth. He turned and huddled with the other members of his group, discussing in low voices for a moment.

“Old Gao, what do you think?”

The sturdy man, Old Gao, scratched his temple. “The price is decent. I asked around about the local situation. For the plots they sold off, the yield is about 2,900 jin per mu. The price was 500 per mu, plus an 80-yuan harvesting fee and another 10 to 30 for transport. That comes out to roughly 400 yuan per ton. But those were immature soybean plants without many pods, so the quality is definitely no match for the batch Hailufeng kept for itself.”

This year in Hu City, natural salt meadow grass and other mixed grasses are priced at 860 yuan per ton, while alfalfa feed is around 1,356 yuan per ton. These are all prices for hay, and the quality is mediocre at best.

Take alfalfa hay, for example. The high-quality first cutting is always bought up by dairy farms. The protein content of the remaining second and third cuttings drops by a third, down to only about 14-16%.

The core measure of alfalfa hay quality is its protein content. The first cutting generally has a protein content between 18% and 24%, typically around 20%.

Normally, the protein content of alfalfa silage and alfalfa hay should be similar. The discrepancy arises because protein loss during the ensiling process is minimal, whereas a significant amount of protein is lost when the grass is dried or sun-cured to make hay.

However, pod-bearing soybean plants are an exception. This is because the protein is concentrated in the pods, so even when dehydrated, there isn’t significant protein loss.

This meant that at a price of 2,000 yuan per ton, the soybean hay with 35% protein content was an extremely good value.

For comparison, the soybean meal sold by oil-pressing companies has a protein content of around 43-48%, and its current market price is about 2,500 yuan per ton.

Furthermore, feed made from the entire soybean plant is more nutritionally complete and balanced than just soybean meal. For instance, its high oil content is excellent for helping cattle and sheep get through the winter and for fattening them up.

After a round of discussion, the group of farmers finally came to an agreement.

“Manager Wu, we’ll take 5,000 tons of silage and 5,000 tons of hay.”

“No problem. However, we don’t offer credit. Is that acceptable to you?”

“Yes.”

“By the way, have you ever used soybean hay on a large scale before?”

The older man quickly asked, “No, why?”

Wu Bin pulled a technical manual from his drawer and handed it to him. “Soybean hay can easily cause bloating in cattle and sheep. Your best bet is to get a feed pellet mill with a cooking-extrusion function. Process the soybean hay together with corn kernels to create cooked pellets. That will eliminate most of the side effects.”

“Oh, I see. We understand.”

“Of course, if you find that too troublesome, our company can handle the processing for you. We’ll do it for an extra 30 yuan per ton.”

However, the older man, who was looking through the technical manual, shook his head. “No need, we’ll process it ourselves.”

“Alright, then.”

The reason he refused was that the formula for the pellets required adding about 20% corn kernels. Currently, in the Northeast Region, dry corn with a low moisture content was only 1,000 yuan per ton.

For each ton they processed, there was a hidden gross profit of around 200 yuan.

The shrewd old man had no intention of letting Hailufeng Company pocket that extra cash.

After signing the cooperation agreement and making a 30% down payment, the Monan Branch would deliver the silage and hay to Hu City over the next two to three months.

Just as the older man and his group were about to leave, they ran into a few acquaintances from the neighboring county.

“Hoba, you old dog! You’re only just getting here?”

The middle-aged, bald man in the leather jacket took a closer look and recognized Old Radish from the next county. He smiled and shook his head. “I got here yesterday. Managed to grab the last batch, but the quality isn’t great.”

“You took it even with poor quality? Is Hailar that short on fodder this year?” Old Radish asked, a look of astonishment on his face.