Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 656: Chapter 646: The Harvest of the First Year

The grand autumn harvest work began, and after Shen Yunfang and a few employees studied the usage of the harvester, they started gathering the crops with the machine.

The current harvesters were not very advanced, so their speed couldn’t compare with those of the future, but they were still much faster than manual harvesting.

Shen Yunfang delegated the entire autumn harvest work to Zhang Chunwang, while she just observed and helped out with odd jobs.

A farm needs a manager, and after observing for a while, Yunfang felt that Chunwang was a talent worthy of use. However, whether he could really handle it all had yet to be seen through his performance this time. Yunfang thought that if a qualified manager was indeed found, she as the boss could take a back seat and act just as a decision-maker.

Zhang Chunwang indeed had some real skill, and he managed the harvesting scene meticulously. The autumn harvest work was completed in just seven days.

And the farm workers also witnessed the powerful capabilities of this large machinery. If it were to be harvested by hand, these more than two hundred acres of land, relying on their thirty-something people, would take at least seven or eight days to gather from the fields, then stripping the corn, and pressing the soybean pods, it would take a full month to finish without a doubt.

Now, with the mechanized harvester to help, they finished gathering the crops in seven days. And they even had time to go into the fields to pick up soybeans.

It’s inevitable to knock some pods off when people harvest, let alone when machines work.

The boss had said that any beans they fished out from the fields belonged to them; however, if they didn’t want them, the boss would buy them back at the price of 0.25 yuan per jin. Of course, this was the purchase price for pure soybeans; if it included pods, then it was 0.12 yuan per jin.

This immediately sparked the enthusiasm of the women. Although this price was a bit cheaper than sold outside, nobody cared when something they got for free could be sold for money.

So, for the next few days, the workers were seen laboring in the fields during the day, sifting through the fields with their small baskets during the lunch break and after work, not minding the extra fatigue.

Some people saved some beans, planning to send them to their hometown when they had time, some kept them in the dormitory, planning to grow Douya when they started cooking for themselves (Chunwang had already notified everyone that after the autumn harvest, the canteen would close, and all employees would need to solve their own food issues, though group meals were still an option; the farm would not interfere). However, most people sold the majority of the soybeans they picked back to the farm.

After the autumn harvest, Shen Yunfang bought back more than a thousand jin of soybeans from the workers. No one sold them with the pods, they all shelled them at home, selling just pure soybeans.

Sitting in the office, Yunfang began to examine the statistical report that Chunwang had given her. This was per her instructions to Chunwang because as the boss, she needed to know the detailed state of the grain in the storage after the autumn harvest.

"Our farm had a very good harvest this year. I’ve consolidated the information, and we have a total of one hundred and twenty-three acres of soybeans. These last few days, after the straw dried, I had the machine crew working in shifts to thresh the beans. After weighing, we gathered a total of forty-nine thousand three hundred and twenty-two jin. Adding the amount they picked from the fields, it’s fifty-one thousand five hundred and forty jin," Chunwang reported to his sister-in-law with some excitement.

As a farmer, the joy of seeing a bountiful harvest is genuine and uncontrollable.

Yunfang noticed this and smiled, saying, "Mhm, not a bad harvest at all."

Hearing his sister-in-law’s praise, Chunwang tried to maintain a serious demeanor and responded firmly, "The yield is indeed good this year. We discussed it together, and there are several reasons why our farm could have a bumper harvest. The first one is that we plowed the land back and forth several times. Sister-in-law, didn’t you say that plowing multiple times could loosen the soil, help the growth of the crops, and also bring out bugs’ eggs hidden in the soil? We observed and it turns out, what you said was right—our soybeans and corn this year had hardly any insects. We’re now fully convinced that scientific farming has massive benefits," he added while nodding continuously.

Though they were all relatively young, they could be called seasoned farmers and naturally compared the farm’s yield to the past yields in the production team.

The difference was like heaven and earth. Originally, soybean yields were not high, generally around 150 to 200 jin per acre in the production teams, but this year the farm’s yield was double the amount. This figure was indeed astonishing.

So, they privately sought out reasons, recalling the entire planting process, identifying differences from the farming methods back home, and their reverence for their sister-in-law grew like a surging river.

The sister-in-law’s teaching sessions were truly not in vain. As she said, scientific farming really can lead to a bountiful harvest.

Yunfang blushed at the praise, knowing that more plowing certainly could increase productivity to some extent, but not to the miraculous level they described.

"It’s not as exaggerated as you say," she replied with modesty.

"Heh, of course, there’s more to it. The treated seeds you provided were definitely of a superior variety. We could all tell at the time. And later, you taught us when to water and so on, it all definitely played a role."

This time, Yunfang nodded and said, "That is the essence of scientific farming. If you keep doing it this way, the yield will certainly improve to some extent. Of course, you all are skilled at growing crops, and the experience you’ve gained through practice is also very valuable, so I hope that when you work here in the future, you will combine scientific farming with your experience, which should help further increase the yield."

It seems Essence of Life is not only effective for humans and animals but is also beneficial for plants.

After listening, Chunwang also nodded along, extremely convinced by his sister-in-law, promising repeatedly, "Don’t worry, sister-in-law. When we have time, I’ll organize them to study. Everyone will study hard in the future."

Yunfang smiled. It would be great if everyone realized the importance of learning scientific farming, but she knew it was difficult for some people; after all, not everyone has the courage to deny themselves and start over to embrace new things.

"Sister-in-law, our corn harvest was good this year as well, with over eighty acres yielding one hundred and ten thousand jin of corn—all dried and ready. What do you think we should do with it?" Chunwang knew the sister-in-law wanted the soybeans for oil pressing, but he really did not know her plans for the corn.

"For now, just pack them into burlap sacks and store them in the warehouse. In a few days, I’ll go out to find sales channels," Yunfang had plans already, "Also, I plan to allocate a few people to work in sales. See if any of our current employees are suitable for that. Moreover, I’ve already contacted the car manufacturer; they said the truck and the insulated container I ordered are ready—they’re asking when we will pick them up. I think we need to take care of this soon; we still need to find someone to drive the vehicles back."