Chapter 305 Cuscuta
"Professor, you know, depending on the national conditions, sometimes I cannot fully make the decision." Guo Yang was not surprised when he heard Putnam's request for introduction.
It seems that the relationship between the Davis campus and the alfalfa enterprise is very close.
Putnam’s expression changed.
As the world's top grassland research institution, the Davis campus lowered its head to introduce seeds to a Chinese company. Few people would believe this.
Yet it was rejected.
Putnam said: "Why? Isn't it more conducive to progress to communicate and cooperate with each other? There are also many excellent germplasm resources in the United States."
"The professor is acting as a model for others. Lobbyist?" Guo Yang suddenly asked.
“Yes, before this, I didn’t know that China had such excellent commercial alfalfa seeds.”
“Nitro?”
"Yes."
Putnam was very frank, so frank that Guo Yang still didn't believe it.
Judging from the information disclosed so far, Nitro pays more attention to the commercial nature of Alfalfa No. 1, that is, the nutritional content.
Because alfalfa has always been successful in the international forage market because of its excellent quality traits.
Alfalfa has extremely strong vitality, is resistant to barrenness, drought, salt and alkali, and can improve soil...
The resistance of Alfalfa No. 1, especially its improvement effect on saline-alkali soil, has not attracted attention.
Guo Yang feels that biotechnology companies like Monsanto will pay more attention to the salt-alkali tolerance gene of Alfalfa No. 1.
After thinking for a while, Guo Yang said: "Professor, of course cooperation is possible. Jiahe is also happy to cooperate with a well-known school like Davis."
"But it is indeed difficult to introduce seeds. , Alfalfa No. 1 has relevant protection policies, and its introduction needs to be approved by the competent authorities.”
The Ministry of Agriculture leaves the matter to Jiahe, and Jiahe will naturally kick the ball back, so let’s spend it.
"What about buying commercial varieties? Nitro is willing to pay the price for it."
Guo Yang balanced the pros and cons and said: "You can consider it."
Domestic Alfalfa No. 1 commercial variety It’s already flying everywhere, so it’s not difficult to get the seeds.
And when it comes to the consumer market for alfalfa seeds, the United States actually has a stronger spending power.
Guo Yang already knew from Putnam’s mouth that the commercial alfalfa planting area in the United States last year was 143 million acres.
The larger the planting area, the higher the demand for seeds and the larger the market.
It is still possible to sell a limited amount of seeds, or to make a castrated version of seeds to enter the North American market.
On someone else’s territory, it’s better not to refuse too thoroughly.
And, if you have money, why not make it?
Guo Yang pondered for a moment and then said: "But the price of the seeds needs to be discussed again. The price of Alfalfa No. 1 in China is not cheap."
"Hahaha, that's natural."
Putnam's mood has improved a lot. If he refuses again, he will consider suggesting to the school to reduce the admission quota for Chinese students.
"Guo, are you interested in visiting the largest alfalfa farm in California tomorrow?"
"Of course you are interested." Guo Yang's eyes lit up. Anyway, there is still time. The bigger the farm, the bigger the farm. Naturally, problems are more likely to occur. He has been worried these past two days!
And, the largest alfalfa farm in California...
"Is it Nitro's farm?"
"Hahaha, you guessed it right." Putnam smiled and said: "Barnes has been to Chicago these two days, but he will be there tomorrow. Come back."
"Guo, you stay in Davis for one night, and you'll be there tomorrow morning. It's about time."
Guo Yang asked curiously: "Is it far?"< br>
“Nitro’s headquarters is in Bakersfield, but the farm is on the edge of the California-Arizona border.”
"That's quite far." Guo Yang thought about the maps he had seen in the past two days.
From north to south are Davis-San Francisco-Bakersfield-Los Angeles, on the border with Arizona, and Nitro's farm is in southeastern California.
Guo Yang raised his eyebrows, "Isn't it a desert over there?"
"It seems that Guo has studied it carefully. There are indeed two major deserts over there, the Mojave and the Sonoran. "Putnam smiled and said, "Isn't it the same in China? They plant alfalfa in dry sandy land and saline-alkali land."
"That's true." Guo Yang said, "I thought it was in North America. At least alfalfa is grown on better soil.”
"How can there be so much good land?"
It seems that alfalfa all over the world is treated the same and can only be planted in various types of land with difficult environments.
This is also consistent with his previous inference: Nitro has not paid much attention to the improvement effect of Alfalfa No. 1 on saline-alkali land.
"Alfalfa is really a magical plant."
Guo Yang sighed, and now he is interested in Nitro's alfalfa planting base.
In the following time, Guo Yang walked around the Davis campus.
This top agricultural college is not only covered with farmland, but also has a strong academic atmosphere and extremely high enrollment requirements. It is really remarkable that its predecessor can obtain a place to study abroad.
Unexpectedly, Guo Yang also saw the elf drone in the farm on campus.
He stopped and looked at it for a moment.
In North America, Fengkai sells through dealers. It seems that some results have been achieved so far.
Putnam did not doubt that he was there, and also looked at it, "I heard that this is a product from your country."
"What do you think, professor?"
"It's very small. If the family goes out for an outing, it would be cool to bring a drone."
"Professor, do you think there is a future for plant protection drones?"
"The price is too expensive. , the cost is too high, not cost-effective!” Putnam said: “Large farms have specialized plant protection services.”
"What if the price and cost come down?"
"Then there will be great application scenarios in some small farms or special farmland."
Guo Yang did not say that this is his own As for the product, I remember that DJI’s plant protection drones in the previous life were also very popular in North America and also occupied the largest market share of plant protection drones.
It’s just that this time only the Elf was sold in the United States, and the MG-1 did not enter the old American market at the same time.
Don’t be in a hurry for a while.
First explore the domestic plant protection market.
In the evening, Professor Putnam arranged a dinner and called several students, including two international students from China, and one was even his alumnus.
If nothing else, Long Agricultural University is quite important in the field of grass science.
Guo Yang was in a much better mood. He communicated with these two students and tried to draw them into Jiahe's camp.
But both of them are interested in scientific research.
The next day, Guo Yang and Professor Putnam went to Nitro's alfalfa planting base in southeastern California.
The conditions here are quite similar to the Golden Pagoda, with plenty of sunshine, little rainfall, and the same desert surrounding it.
The farm covers an area of 30,000 acres, all of which is sandy land.
Putnam smiled and said: "Nitro is the world's leading forage supplier, with customers all over the world. It exports a large amount of hay to Japan, South Korea, the Middle East and North Africa every year."
"Currently Nitro Tero has three main export processing plants and logistics centers: Erinsburg, Washington, Scottton, California, and Wilmington, California.”
“These three processing and transshipment centers cover most of the forage growing areas in the 11 states on the West Coast.”
“These resources give Nitro the ability to supply high-quality forage to customers around the world year-round.”
< br>Guo Yang also learned about the full picture of Alfalfa's competitor for the first time. It covers a wider area than Alfalfa. In addition to planting, acquisition and processing are also Nitro's strengths.
Putnam continued: "Nitro is also the largest alfalfa seed producer in the United States."
"It's awesome."
"Alfalfa is even more powerful. I heard that you have dominated Nitro in the international market in the past two years."
"Aren't you afraid that I will fight with Barnes later?"
"Do you think it will?"
Guo Yang was really hesitant. If something happened, would he be delivering the goods to his door?
Seeing Guo Yangzhen thinking seriously, Putnam smiled and said: "Don't worry, at most Barnes will show off his power in front of you this time, but it won't be too much."
"And he brought a friend over from Chicago and wants to talk to you."
"Chicago? Friend?" No way? Guo Yang already had some speculations in his mind. Is Nitro also involved in futures trading?
He thought for a while, but could not come up with a result. He could only block it with water and soil, and soldiers.
The most important thing now is to collect seeds.
The alfalfa farm is very large, but there are very few people. The entire base of nearly 180,000 acres has only 6 managers and 15 workers. When busy, it will hire dozens of temporary workers.
This season, the first crop of alfalfa has already been harvested.
But Guo Yang’s purpose is to collect weeds, and the professional seed fields on the farm are also growing vigorously.
This is the right time.
Irrigation on the farm is very particular. It originally relied on melted snow-capped mountains water from the river. However, due to complaints from the downstream about excessive water use, drip irrigation from groundwater is now the main method.
There is much for Guo Yang to learn about water use, which made him think it was time to organize an inspection team.
Guo Yang also continued to collect dodder in the farmland in the name of learning irrigation technology.
Cuscuta is a parasitic weed, mainly parasitic on alfalfa and other leguminous crops, and is extremely harmful to pasture.
Part of the reason why Jinta’s alfalfa farm rotates crops to produce corn is to prevent the damage of dodder.
It is indeed not easy to manage a large farm. In addition to dodder, there are also many mouse holes in the soft sand.
So crop rotation is really necessary.
On a sandy land like Nitro, what crop to rotate is also a big problem, but this kind of thing is not something Guo Yang needs to consider.
After spending some time, Guo Yang collected the germplasm, but he was short of time and could not carefully select and cultivate it.
You can only start with field dodder and five-cornered dodder, which are the most widely distributed in North America.
Mainly harmful to herbal plants, such as alfalfa, clover, tobacco, soybeans, potatoes, etc.
But I didn't expect that just by randomly choosing the direction of cultivation, there would be surprising results.
[Variety]: Cuscuta
[Characteristic 1]: Plant killer, quickly absorbs water and nutrients from the host. When the damage is serious, plant mortality can reach more than 80%, grass, seeds The yield is significantly reduced, reducing the role of alfalfa in improving soil fertility.
[Characteristic 2]: It has strong spreading ability, spreading from a single plant to all directions, and the plants become entangled, with a diameter of up to 20m or more.
【Characteristic 3】: It is difficult for ordinary chemicals to completely kill the root system.
【Characteristic 4】: Can cause symptoms such as abomasitis, intestinal mucositis, intestinal suppuration and bleeding in livestock.
[Natural Energy]: 1514 (tendency to maliciously destroy the ecological environment).
To be honest, Guo Yang once felt so unbearable.
We are all forage farmers, and we are all familiar with the harm caused by dodder. Once a large amount of dodder is discovered on the farm.
At least for a period of time, it will be over, especially seed production. Not only will the yield be greatly reduced, but the seeds will also be adulterated with a large amount of dodder.
Basically, you should not even think about planting alfalfa within a few years. You can only plant plants that are not easily parasitized by dodder.
It can be imagined that this is Alfalfa's biggest competitor, and the other party has never been soft.
And I haven’t returned to China, so I don’t know what I will face next.
Thinking of this, Guo Yang stood around the seed field, looking east and west, scattering seeds covertly in the grass.
After the alfalfa seeds are harvested, I believe it will bring surprises to the alfalfa seed farmers in North America.
By the time all this was done, it was getting late, but Barnes still hadn't come back yet.
Guo Yang, who had a guilty conscience, really didn't want to stay for a long time, so he asked Luo Xiu's contact to buy a ticket to return home in advance, and then found Putnam.
"Professor, let's go to Los Angeles and wait."
"Huh?" Putnam looked at him doubtfully, "Wouldn't it be better to just rest on the farm for a while?"
>
"Something happened in Los Angeles." Guo Yang said: "Do you remember the drone you saw in Davis yesterday?"
"Is it related to drones?"
"That is also a product of my company."
"Guo, are you kidding? Drones? Your company also produces drones?" Putnam said with a shocked look on his face.
Even a few people nearby were attracted. Drones are still a rare thing for most people.
Moreover, it is difficult not to arouse people’s interest in drones produced by agricultural companies.
"Go now, maybe I can give the professor a gift later." Guo Yang smiled and looked at the two students who came with the professor.
"You also have a share."
"But if you go late, you won't be able to get the goods."
The meaning of these words is self-evident.
The two students looked at the professor expectantly. Drones are not cheap for them.
Guo Yang's attitude was also very firm and he was ready to leave on his own.
"You are so generous." Putnam said: "It's hard for me to refuse."
Guo Yang also breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know if Nitro had any malicious intentions. But staying in Los Angeles is definitely more psychologically comforting than living on a farm.
A few drones are nothing, not to mention they are not perfect products.
The group rushed to Los Angeles again.
On the way, Guo Yang contacted Wang Tao in advance. When he arrived in Los Angeles, he briefly met with the staff here and got the prepared drone.
In a high-end restaurant, velvet carpets covered the floor, and waiters in black walked quietly around various celebrities and dignitaries.
Guo Yang saw the professor who came out to greet him in the hall, as well as Nitro's head, Barnes, and a tall middle-aged white man next to him.
Barnes is an old white man with gray hair.
If it weren’t for the trade sanctions some time ago, Guo Yang would have thought this was a kind old man, but now, he would only think that he was pretending well.
Barnes said: "Guo, you are different from what I imagined. I didn't expect you to be so young. No wonder Alfalfa is so energetic."
"But we still lost to Nite in the competition. Luo, ginger is still spicy." Guo Yang also said in time.
Barnes said: "That's because you pay more attention to the domestic market. China's demand for high-quality forage is very strong this year."
The exchange between the two did not make anyone feel tense at all. This made Professor Putnam, who knew the inside story, a little surprised.
After entering the private room, Guo Yang took out the fully packaged elf and gave it to the professor and his students.
"That's cool. I never thought I would own a drone. Thank you, Mr. Guo."
"As long as you like it."
Barnes also expressed curiosity His eyes asked, "Is this a drone?"
"Yes."
Barnes looked at the not-so-large package and asked, "Is there such a small drone?" Is it a human machine? It feels smaller than a model airplane.”
"This is a product that was only released this year, and it's not very mature yet." Guo Yang also gave one to Barnes and the white man next to him, and said with a smile: "Fortunately, the sales volume is not very good, so there are still more."
“The elf will definitely become popular.” One of Putnam’s students said: “The Federation does not have such cheap drones.”
“Indeed, today’s drones People and machines are not cheap.”
At this time, the waiter in black brought the food. After a long day of traveling, he was a little hungry.
Especially the two students. The professor brought them here to do hard work, and they were already hungry.
After filling his stomach with three times, five and two, he went out on the pretext of trying out the drone, and the professor also went out on the pretext of taking a walk.
Soon, only Guo Yang, Luo Xiu, Barnes and another tall middle-aged white man were left in the room.
After Guo Yang tasted it briefly, he also stopped. .
Barnes didn’t come here just for the meal. He quickly got to the point, pointing at the tall white man beside him and said:
“This is Duncan Malone, AIG International Trading The president of the company also came here to discuss some cooperation with Jiahe.”
Guo Yang was surprised for a moment. He thought he was Barnes' bodyguard, but he didn't expect it to be so big.
AIG, American International Group, is an international multinational insurance and financial services group based in the United States and one of the world's top multinational companies.
It is on the same level as the four major grain merchants, or even better.
Why did AIG come?
In the financial tsunami a year later, a business company like AIG would most likely suffer severely.
Guo Yang's brain turned rapidly, and he had some vague ideas, and said: "AIG is also interested in the alfalfa seed and forage business?"
(End of this chapter)