The upside down of grain prices at home and abroad has led to a surge in imports. Farmers can't grow grain and sell it.

Food can't be sold, and farmers want to cry without tears-is there too much grain in China?

Author: Gao Yuan to Zhou Mian Wu Tao Source: half Moon talk Network Editor: Yuan Bixia

Editor's note: at present, there are some things that people do not understand in China's grain production and grain market: on the one hand, there is a surge in grain imports; on the other hand, it is the backlog of stocks and it is difficult to sell grain again; on the other hand, it is the worry about "who will grow grain." on the one hand, it is the remarkable achievement of "11 consecutive increases"; on the one hand, the pressure on resources and environment is increasing day by day, and on the other hand, the impulse to simply pursue output continues unabated. Some people may say that too much food is always a good thing. However, this is only the surface of the matter. Behind the large amount of grain, is the market normal? Is there anything wrong with the grain structure? How to protect farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain? Is grain production sustainable? These are all issues that need to be carefully studied and considered in depth. The reporter recently visited several major grain provinces and found that ensuring food security is facing a new situation and test, and relevant strategies and policies and measures have all reached the threshold of adjustment.

Food can't be sold, and farmers want to cry without tears.

-- A frontline survey from Henan, a major grain province.

This year, the total output of summer grain in Henan exceeded 70 billion jin, increasing for 13 years in a row. For the farmers, however, the joy of a bumper harvest did not last long, because the backlog of grain became a hot potato.

Over the past few days and half a month, reporters have visited many counties and districts in Henan and found that the difficulty in selling grain is on the rise. The difficulty of continuously selling grain is also transmitted through the food chain, capital chain, and land chain, causing chain adverse reactions: grain brokers are slow to sell after buying a large amount of grain; large grain growers are difficult to maintain and have no money to invest in reproduction; agricultural dealers have serious credit sales and operating difficulties.

"now I'm so anxious to bite."

Recently, the streets of Gangqiao Town in Fangcheng County are full of large trucks selling grain. The shortest of these cars has been parked on the side of the road for four or five days, and the longest has been parked for more than ten days. Drivers reported that the coupon Bridge has a grain purchase point commissioned by grain storage, but only receives one or two truckloads of wheat every day. In this way, they can only wait in line outside the grain depot and on both sides of the road for a long time.

While waiting, drivers set up hammocks in the woods outside the grain depot, seemingly leisurely surfing the Internet and resting. Compared with the slightly "reserved" acquisition of China Grain Reserve, a private purchase point next to the grain depot is open to buying wheat. Although the price is only 0.95 yuan per jin, which is more than 20 cents lower than the protective price, some farmers still come to sell grain. "if you don't sell grain, you can't spend money." A farmer who sells grain said.

The only thing you can't bear to sell at a low price is in your hands. At the home of Li Junping (a pseudonym), a grain broker in southern Henan, the reporter saw piles of wheat naked, spreading from the house to the outside like undulating hills. Scales, snakeskin bags, rack cars are scattered among them. From time to time, pigeons flew down from the roof to peck. The air smelled of pigeon dung mixed with mildew of grain.

After the new wheat harvest this year, Li Junping bought 400000 jin from farmers. "it lasted for 10 days, but I stayed at home for more than two months without 'leaving'. This is the first time I have been in the grain distribution business for more than a decade. "

Liu Baochen, an agent in another place, also encountered difficulties in selling grain. Liu Baochen's 71-year-old father, Liu Changzhi, hanged himself not long ago because he failed to pay for grain in time and could not bear the abuse of farmers.

Liu Baochen said that he and several partners collected more than 2.4 million jin of wheat before and after. After spending more than 1 million yuan of private loans, there is still more than 1 million yuan of grain outstanding. Farmers continue to come to beg, and at most, nearly 50 people come in a day.

"people who ask for money often swear when they are in a hurry. As soon as my father was so angry at his age, he hanged himself." Liu Baochen said, "according to the experience of previous years, the state protection price is 1.18 yuan, and our purchase price is 1.1 yuan. Excluding freight and labor, we can earn 2 cents per jin." Who would have thought that such a situation could happen? now they are so anxious that they want to bite. "

Statistics show that as of 20 August, Henan Province had purchased a total of 34.04 billion jin of wheat, a decrease of 6.12 billion jin over the same period last year, of which both government-supported market acquisitions and market main body purchases were significantly lower than the same period last year.

"A grasshopper tied to the same rope."

With the passage of time, the impact of the difficulty in selling grain is gradually spreading to a deeper level: as it is difficult to sell the wheat purchased by brokers, grain sellers, including big grain growers, encounter "blank slips", and the latter are therefore unable to pay the credit sales of agricultural merchants. Everyone became a "grasshopper tied to the same rope", and life was difficult.

In Yuantan Town, Tanghe County, Qin Changchun, an agricultural dealer, came up with a thick stack of bills. After a rough count, there are more than 30. I can only see that the above pen notes the information of farmers selling agricultural materials on credit, ranging from 300 to 500 yuan to tens of thousands of yuan.

"A rough calculation shows that up to now, there are still more than 2 million yuan owed for agricultural materials outside, most of which were on credit when planting wheat last year. Now the corn is about to be harvested, and some of them haven't even given a penny for two seasons." Qin Changchun said.

Shi Yihang, who is also a distributor of agricultural materials in Tanghe, told reporters that due to the difficulty of continuing to sell grain, in the face of a large number of agricultural materials sold on credit, not long ago he had no choice but to take the form of grain to repay debts. "there are three big grain growers, and their total arrears amount to more than 200,000 yuan, so they really have no choice but to use more than 100,000 jin of wheat to offset part of the debt. Otherwise, if the time is too long and the number is too large, we can't afford it. "

The reporter noted that, unlike ordinary farmers, for large grain growers, the amount of grain sold is equivalent to their working capital for agricultural production, and piles of grain cannot be realized, resulting in a "choking effect."

Dong Haijun, a big grain grower in Xiangdian Town, Xixian County, said: every year, money is given to agricultural materials after harvesting crops, and now because wheat cannot be sold, agricultural materials owe more than 200,000 yuan. "the working capital for growing grain, including the purchase of agricultural materials, farming expenses, farmers' land rent, and so on, mainly depends on the money for selling grain. If the grain is not sold, the subsequent turnover will be difficult to sustain."

Yang Xiuli (a pseudonym), a big grain grower in another county, feels even more like "living in dire straits every day." According to her, due to the disaster last year and the current difficulties in selling grain, she has so far owed more than 4 million yuan. In addition to agricultural credit sales, there are also 2 million yuan in private loans.

"in the past, after selling the grain of this season, we hurriedly repaid the agricultural funds of last season, and at the same time paid the land subcontracting fee for the next quarter. Now that the grain is in hand, the chain is not moving, so we can only borrow money everywhere. " Yang Xiuli said.

"if you lose too much money, you will inevitably run away."

In addition to the chain reaction caused by the grain chain and capital chain, the difficulty of selling grain also has a negative impact on land circulation and scale operation, and there are even signs of lease withdrawal locally.

Wang Chunyou, an agricultural dealer in southern Henan, said that at present, many large grain growers are struggling to maintain and operate at a loss, and if the difficulty in selling grain is not alleviated, the next step may usher in a wave of bankruptcy and bankruptcy. "where land transfer rents are high, investment is large, and the infrastructure is poor, drought and flood do not guarantee a bumper harvest. If the grain cannot be sold after hard work, if you lose too much money, you will inevitably run away. "

In fact, the reporter has found some large grain growers running away in the field investigation. Even those who struggle to support it all say that the size of the land will be reduced or even withdrawn completely after the autumn harvest.

In Wolong District, Nanyang City, a grain broker surnamed Yang said that a man from Zhengzhou who had transferred 2000 mu of land in the area had encountered difficulties in selling wheat after harvest this year, and all of them were sold to him at a low price and ran away.

Liu Yong, a 31-year-old grain grower in Pingqiao District, Xinyang City, told reporters that he began to lease land in 2009, with a maximum of more than 6300 mu, and had a debt of more than 2 million yuan in poor management. Last year, he was forced to reduce the area to more than 5200 mu.

"at present, in addition to the sale of agricultural materials on credit, farmers alone owe more than 1 million yuan in land rent, and they have also borrowed more than 600,000 yuan from usury with a monthly interest rate of 3 percent. I've been thinking about turning over, but it's hard to sell grain. " Liu Yong said, "at the end of this autumn, we are going to return all the land. Before the contract expires, there will probably be disputes with farmers, but we can't take care of them."

Liu Xueyou, a big grain grower in Xixian County, said that the unsalable situation of wheat has not been seen for many years and hopes to attract the attention of all parties. "timely measures will be taken to open the 'dead knot' and make these chains turn. For large grain growers, it is often a loss of three years a year. If you don't see the future, it's easy to give up. " (half-monthly reporter Zhang Xingjun)

What is the reason why grain can't be sold? Is there too much food in our country? If there is too much grain, why do China's grain imports hit record highs? Data show that in the first half of this year, China imported a total of 16.29 million tons of cereals and cereal flour, including wheat, corn and barley, an increase of more than 60 percent over the same period last year. What's the problem?

Prices are upside down and imports soar

Qi Tingjun, a major grain grower in Qianjin Farm of the Sanjiang Administration of Land Reclamation in Heilongjiang Province, has been engaged in rice cultivation for more than 20 years, and this year he has planted more than 600 mu of rice. Qi Tingjun told reporters that before 2004, because there was no purchase policy to support the market, grain prices fluctuated greatly, and the income from growing grain could not be guaranteed. After 2004, the state implemented the minimum purchase price policy for rice, and raised the price year by year, and his income from growing grain became better and better.

"there is no need to worry about whether the rice can be sold at all. if there is a minimum purchase price, we will sell the grain to the local grain reserves." Qi Tingjun said.

The choice of Qi Tingjun is also the choice of many farmers. In the past 10 years, the minimum protective price and temporary collection and storage policy have greatly aroused the enthusiasm of farmers to grow grain, while at the same time, domestic grain prices have been rising for many years. At present, there are many phenomena in China's grain market, such as grain prices upside down at home and abroad, grain prices in main producing and selling areas, finished grain and raw grain prices upside down, and so on.

Li Guoxiang, a researcher at the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that China has been raising the purchase price of grain because of the higher cost of farming. For example, the original farmers grow their own land, there is no cost of land rent, now the scale of land circulation, there is a rental cost. The reporter learned that there has been a sharp rise in land transfer prices in Heilongjiang, Shandong and other places this year, with an increase of more than 20% in many places.

Ye Xingqing, head of the Rural Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that from the point of view of China's development stage and natural endowment, it is an inevitable trend for grain prices to hang upside down. Due to the situation of large population and little land in our country, at the present stage of development, the costs of labor and agricultural products have risen sharply. "however, two special factors have caused the arrival of the time ahead of schedule. One is that we have raised the purchase price year after year, and the other is the decline in grain prices in the international market in recent years, which has led to the arrival of grain prices upside down."

Experts said that the upside-down of domestic and foreign prices led to a surge in grain imports, and the upside-down of domestic inter-regional grain prices led to a decline in the enthusiasm of grain harvesting from the main selling areas to the main producing areas. These are all important reasons why it is difficult to sell grain at present.