bantayden Chapter 1444 Plotting to lease land, waiting for cotton prices to rise
Chapter 1444 Plotting to lease land, waiting for cotton prices to rise
People who were prepared in advance used pitchforks to pick up the cotton and load it into the truck. Once the truck was full, it was taken to the cotton ginning factory.
The original plan was to cultivate 500 mu of land, but Xie Yundong thought that this thing could be harvested quickly and efficiently, so he simply cultivated more. Of the 2,000 mu of land cultivated by Liang Dacheng in the cooperative, 1,000 mu were all handed over to cotton harvesters.
Not only were people from the team interested in watching the cotton harvester, but also teachers, students, and odd jobs picking cotton nearby.
In fact, at the beginning, some students thought about picking cotton from this white cotton field, but Xie Yundong refused, saying that the cotton had been specially treated with flowering and defoliating agents and was prepared for cotton harvesting machines.
Students, teachers, and day laborers hired by other farmers nearby were also quite curious and wanted to see how machine cotton harvesting worked.
After all, this is a novelty for most people.
The fields where cotton is machine-harvested and those where it is hand-harvested are clearly distinct. At a glance, the cotton plants in the machine-harvested fields only have white cotton bolls, while the cotton plants in the hand-harvested fields also have green and brown leaves and green cotton bolls. Although there is also a lot of white cotton, it does not cover the entire plant.
The differences are quite significant.
After seeing the cotton harvester enter the field, the teachers, students, and day laborers all stood up to watch. They were all amazed to see the bare cotton stalks after the harvester had finished picking the cotton.
Some people even came to ask Xie Yundong if in the future, cotton harvesters would be enough, and students and day laborers would no longer be needed to pick cotton.
Xie Yundong explained that it is still in the experimental stage, and it will be a long time before cotton harvesters completely replace manual labor.
Actually, students and teachers have different opinions on this.
Some people support it, some oppose it. The gig workers, however, are mostly against it.
The price for picking cotton has risen slightly this year. Casual laborers, who don't live on the premises and don't eat breakfast or dinner, are paid a bit more, already around 50 or 60 cents. It will reach 70 or 80 cents during the second cotton harvest, because the second harvest involves less picking and takes more time.
Therefore, casual laborers can earn around 60 cents per piece.
The price for students is slightly higher, with cotton picking costing around 60 cents because students only pick the first flush of cotton. However, with the guaranteed meals included, the total comes to close to 70 cents.
After the students finish picking up the items, odd jobs are needed to finish them off, which increases the cost.
Unlike students, casual laborers negotiate prices based on the second crop of cotton in the field, so they have more freedom and can often earn several thousand yuan in a single cotton season.
That's more than some people earn in a year.
Therefore, they particularly do not want this cotton harvester to go online.
But seeing that after the cotton harvester finished, there were no cotton flowers left on the ground, and not only were there no hairs on the stalks, but even the husks were almost gone, it was impossible not to be shocked.
Fortunately, seeing how dirty the cotton "spit out" of the cotton harvester was, and knowing that this cotton needed special cleaning equipment to clean, and that cotton and linen companies didn't accept it directly, the casual workers were somewhat relieved.
It is unlikely to expand on a large scale, at least in the short term.
Li Long not only drives it himself, but also teaches others to drive it.
Most of the Li family members are currently idle, busy driving tractors to plow the cornfields and sunflower fields that have already been harvested.
Those who were not busy followed Xie Yundong and others to manage the odd jobs of picking cotton. Li Long asked Li Junhai to come with him to mine cotton.
Originally, Li Junfeng was the intended candidate, as he is quite meticulous. However, Junfeng has to manage the drip irrigation tape factory during the winter off-season, so he can't be asked to do everything. Therefore, Li Long asked Junhai instead.
Junhai was overjoyed. He was earning two salaries this year, and more importantly, Uncle Xiaolong was taking care of him. How could he not be happy?
Junhai had no problem driving the tractor. When he was using the cotton harvester, Li Long gave him a few key points. Plus, it was a new machine, easy to operate, and didn't have many problems, so Li Junhai quickly got the hang of it.
The cotton from 1,000 mu of land was harvested in just a few days, which is twice the amount of land and twice the yield as planned. This has put a lot of pressure on the warehouses at the cotton ginning mill.
Fortunately, when the factory was built, Li Long requested that the land be as large as possible, and the warehouse was also large enough. It can now be installed, but the time for cleaning the flowers has been prolonged.
According to Li Long's expected price, the cooperative was supposed to pay him one cent per kilogram for clearing costs, which had been agreed upon when the machine harvesting was finalized.
As soon as about 300 tons of cotton entered the site, the cotton cleaning process began. Amidst the roar of the machines, the dirty machine-picked cotton was transformed into white lint, which was quite amazing.
Some of the villagers who handed over their land to the cooperative picked cotton to earn pocket money, while others were unwilling to work and played cards and drank in the store courtyard, and still others went to watch the cotton ginning factory clean the cotton.
The novel things Li Long came up with often appeared in the villagers' conversations, becoming the core content of their gossip.
The same goes for cotton harvesters. The villagers now believe that if Li Long decides to do something, it's highly likely to happen within a certain timeframe.
"Just imagine, in a few years, we won't even need to pick cotton by hand anymore. Machines will go directly into the fields and do it all in one go. Hey, how convenient!"
"The important thing is that it's cheap! It's only 10 cents a kilogram. Even if you add the cost of cleaning the flowers, let's say 20 cents, and if the selling price is a little lower, let's say 30 cents, it's still better than finding odd jobs."
“Cheapness is secondary; the important thing is convenience! After one harvest, all that's left in the field are bare stalks. Just remove the stalks, remove the drip irrigation tape, plow the field, and you're done! In previous years, just picking cotton took two or three harvests—it was such a huge amount of work! We made a lot of money, but there was also a lot of trouble…”
Everyone was discussing the upcoming era of machine-harvested cotton, and no one doubted whether Li Long's experimental approach would be successful.
It has been verified many times; it's impossible for it not to succeed.
“Ma Jinbao is going to be worried from now on. Before, when he was herding sheep, he could go to the cotton fields that other people had finished picking and eat cotton leaves and stunted bolls. But now that the cotton harvester has come, there are only bare stalks left in the fields. Hey, there's nothing left.”
"He's just lazy. Otherwise, wouldn't it be better to drive the sheep further away? The grass in Dongdagou is good enough."
Whenever Li Long is mentioned, it inevitably leads to another figure.
It can be considered a kind of entanglement.
Li Long didn't have time to care what everyone was talking about. He was scolding a young man he had hired from the team. The young man was smoking behind the cotton ginning factory during his breaks from work—he said he just couldn't resist anymore.
“This factory has 300 tons of cotton, worth over a million! You can turn that million into ashes with just one cigarette butt! Over a million! Can you afford to pay for it? I told you on your first day at the factory that there can’t be even a single spark in here. What’s wrong with your brain?”
Li Long's rare outburst of anger surprised not only Li Junhai, but also Xie Yundong, who rushed over from the cooperative upon hearing the commotion.
The young man was from the Xu family, Xu Feihu's younger brother, Xu Feibao. At this moment, he was looking down with a wronged expression, not saying a word—actually, he was still a little unconvinced. He had deliberately chosen the back of the factory building, far away from the workplace, and planned to stub out the cigarette after he finished smoking, so there would be no hidden dangers.
"You can leave now. Making other mistakes is one thing, but smoking is absolutely forbidden! You're fired!" Li Long waved his hand. "Go settle your bill with Junhai; today's wages are deducted!"
Xu Feibao was unaware of the seriousness of the situation. The young man was only in his early twenties, stubborn, and proud. He turned his head and left.
Li Long was still angry. After Xu Feibao left, he ordered Li Junhai to stop work and called all the workers to the place where Xu Feibao had been smoking for a safety briefing.
"You might think it's okay to smoke here, but let me tell you, the air in our cotton ginning factory is full of dust and cotton fibers. Smoking here is like lighting a fire outside a powder keg. Once it starts, it's impossible to put it out!"
I want to emphasize again: no one in the factory is allowed to have lighters or matches on them. Anyone who violates this rule is fired!
Whether assigning tasks, teaching how to operate machines, or solving technical problems, Li Long is usually very kind and gentle. Even if he sometimes scolds or teases, he rarely gets angry.
Today, he was unusually angry, and everyone, including Li Junhai, just listened quietly, not daring to breathe.
That very evening, the news spread throughout the village.
Xu Haijun was still picking cotton in the second team when Xu Feihu brought his younger brother to apologize to Li Long. Li Long looked at the slightly unconvinced expression on Xu Feibao's face and shook his head, saying that since the mistake had been made and the matter had already occurred, he was fired and there was no way to get him back.
The two brothers left, and on the way, Xu Feihu berated his younger brother mercilessly.
Xu Feibao couldn't stand being scolded anymore, so he retorted a few times, saying things like "If they don't want me here, there are plenty of other places that will," and that he would go to the county tomorrow to find a place to work.
Xu Feihu was at a loss; his younger brother had been spoiled by their parents, had a bad temper, was stubborn, and had never suffered any hardship, making him quite difficult to deal with. However, Xu Feibao soon realized the seriousness of the situation.
He worked in three factories in the county, but he didn't stay in any of them for long. After the factory managers found out that he had been fired for smoking in the cotton ginning factory, they fired him directly.
In short, we can't keep people like that around. Who knows what outrageous things they might do in the future? What if they accidentally flip the switch while we're fixing the electricity?
The county town is only so big, and there are only so many businesses; you can find out about each other by asking around.
Later, Xu Haijun approached Li Long about this matter. Li Long was also somewhat surprised, but he wasn't the one who spread the news, and he wasn't that bad.
Xu Haijun also knew that he was just chatting with Li Long on this topic. Actually, it would be good for the Xu family to be beaten up by society. Otherwise, they would always be arrogant and look down on everyone, always thinking that they were just unlucky, otherwise they would have become successful long ago.
Putting Xu Feibao aside, Xu Haijun came to see Li Long to talk about something else.
As Li Long had mentioned before, since there are now many cotton growers in the fourth team and cotton prices are steadily rising, it would be best to increase the bonuses for those of them who are responsible for the area, otherwise their enthusiasm will definitely not be high.
Now that most of the cotton has been harvested, Xu Haijun approached Li Long to ask if this project could be successful.
Li Long laughed and said, "Why not?" He also wanted to suggest to Xie Yundong that the people in charge of the area who achieve a yield of 300 kilograms or more per mu should have their bonuses raised to 15,000 to 20,000 yuan. As for the specific figures, he said, "Let everyone discuss them."
After all, the others can just sit back and wait for their bonuses without doing anything. Their original salaries were set at one or two thousand, and later bonuses were added, but to be honest, it's a bit low considering their current income.
Take Xu Haijun as an example. The 1,000 mu of land contracted by the second team has been converted to drip irrigation, and this year's cotton yield per mu is expected to reach about 350 kilograms.
After deducting costs, this cotton can bring the cooperative at least 600,000 yuan in net income.
A reward of 10,000 is indeed a bit too little.
Xu Haijun was relieved to see that Li Long had agreed. He then went on to say that he planned to see if he could contract land from other teams.
“Our cooperative is quite large now. If we contract more land and convert it to drip irrigation for cotton cultivation, we can make more money and the dividends will increase. In fact, many of the people who joined last year wanted to go out and contract land like us.”
“I also think the more we contract, the better. But we still need to take a good look at the plots,” Li Long said. “They need to have water, and they need to be close to the road so that they can be easily renovated.”
Li Long also had the idea of expanding his land plot. After all, in his opinion, the price of cotton would suddenly rise from four yuan to more than six yuan in two years, and cotton growers could make a fortune.
Although it's only been one year, in the previous life at this time, the four teams had less than a third of the cotton-growing capacity, but now it has reached more than three-quarters.
He brought about most of this, which can be considered as indirectly leading the villagers to prosperity.
Xu Haijun got a satisfactory answer from Li Long and hurriedly went to the second team. He still needed to keep an eye on those picking cotton to ensure there was no waste and no accidents.
After the students finished picking cotton and left, Li Long's cotton ginning factory also finished cleaning up all 300 tons of cotton, packing the lint, and preparing to sell it to the cotton and linen company.
During the cotton ginning process, personnel from the county fire department came to inspect the fire safety facilities at the cotton ginning factory.
Seeing that Li Long's side had sand piles, fire extinguishers, and large water tanks all ready, and that fire prevention measures were in place, and that there was a written emergency plan, and that the managers and employees knew what to do in case of fire, they felt reassured and passed the inspection before leaving.
Li Long guessed that the fire department wasn't acting without reason; they must have heard something or someone had reported them before coming over.
Only after witnessing the fire department's thorough inspection did Li Junhai and the workers believe Li Long's account. Although no fire broke out, the inadequate measures meant the factory would be shut down!
Because of Li Xiangqian's connections, Lao Luo from the cotton and linen company bought the cotton lint from the cooperative. When Lao Luo unpacked and inspected the cotton lint, he was somewhat surprised, saying:
"Old Li said you always prioritize quality when doing things, and I thought he was just praising you. But looking at the quality of this cotton, it's really good. Even the cotton we produce ourselves might not be as good... Not bad, not bad."
Xiao Li, to be honest, there are risks involved in buying cotton on such a large scale. But since you're now one of our subcontracting companies, remember that in the future, and tell everyone who comes to inspect.
The cotton is of good quality, so having more won't be a problem.
With those words, Li Long was truly relieved.
Of course, Manager Luo was relieved—Li Long brought not only cotton but also two bottles of soaked liquor.
He'd tried making this liquor before, but it couldn't compare to the one Li Long gave him... Hey, that's potent!
When the cooperative distributed profits, everyone agreed that the bonus for those who contracted 1,000 mu or more of land outside the cooperative and whose drip irrigation yielded more than 300 kilograms of water would be increased from the original 10,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan.
Although the plot of land Tao Daqiang was in charge of was less than a thousand acres, it was close enough that it was approved.
As Xu Haijun predicted, Lu Yingming and others approached the cooperative that winter, proposing to contract wasteland from other production teams to grow cotton, hoping for the cooperative's support.
Both Li Long and Xie Yundong made demands: the wasteland must be reviewed, the contract price cannot be high, and the contract period must be long, not just two or three years, otherwise it would be like doing the work for someone else.
When the snow melts in the spring, the cooperative will have added another 5,000 mu of land. Although it is all wasteland, everyone is quite confident and plans to carry out drip irrigation transformation while sowing, so that they can meet the conditions for drip irrigation planting next year.
The rapid expansion model of the Fourth Team Cooperative has attracted a lot of attention, with people from the county TV station and the state newspaper coming to interview them.
More cotton is being planted in the village, leaving only one-fifth of the land for grain and oil crops.
Many families have become accustomed to buying flour from the rural flour processing plant.
Fast forward to 1998. That autumn, the cotton and linen company's opening price was a whopping 6.6 yuan, which shocked the people who had just come to sell cotton.
They could hardly believe their ears—six yuan and sixty cents!
Last year, cotton prices dropped a bit, with the first-grade cotton from 4 yuan in 1996 to 3.7 yuan. This year, prices have suddenly risen by almost 3 yuan. Who wouldn't be shocked?
The news spread quickly throughout the county, and even rumors began to circulate, saying that cotton had previously been subject to controls and was not allowed to leave Xinjiang.
However, this year some people have been very resourceful and managed to transport cotton directly out of Xinjiang and sell it at a high price. After all, the quality of cotton in Xinjiang is better, which is why it is sold at a high price.
Of course, there are also rumors that international cotton prices have risen, and that the price increase is due to the large number of newly built cotton mills in Xinjiang, leading to high demand.
In any case, this price is great news for cotton farmers.
By 1998, the cooperative's cotton planting area had reached an astonishing 20,000 mu, of which 15,000 mu were contracted out to other places. There were eleven people in charge, each responsible for a plot.
As soon as the cotton price was announced, even though the cooperative hadn't sold any cotton yet, Li Long and Xie Yundong discussed it and met with several original shareholders to announce that the bonuses for the heads of each plot of land this year would be increased to 30,000 yuan!
Everyone was incredibly excited. After all, it was 30,000 yuan! Even in 1998, the average worker's salary was only five or six hundred yuan. 30,000 yuan was equivalent to four or five years' salary for them.
Worth it!
That year, machine-harvested cotton reached 3,000 mu (approximately 200 hectares), and the cotton ginning plant expanded its production and acquired another set of cotton cleaning machines to meet the demand.
That year, Li Juan gave birth to a daughter named Wang Lei, who was well-behaved and adorable, and was loved by everyone.
That year, the fourth team added a lot more cars—cotton cultivation alone added many households to the fourth team with an income of 50,000 yuan or even 100,000 yuan.
Starting that year, the centralized residential area of the four teams was officially formed, and the eastern part and the new residential area were almost deserted.
Many people are hoping that cotton prices will rise even higher next year.
However, Li Long had already warned the cooperative members that cotton prices would actually fall next year.
It was as if fate played a cruel joke on everyone. After a sudden surge in cotton prices, the following seven or eight years saw prices hovering at low levels.
Farmers, sigh. (End of Chapter)