Yunlin County Promotes Contract Farming and Builds Brands: A Dual Model to Ease Production-Sales Imbalance

Yunlin County Government, standing shoulder to shoulder with farmers, pays close attention to fluctuations in agricultural prices. In addition to boosting sales of agricultural products through marketing in the short term, it also guides farmers toward contract farming and branding in order to reduce their risks.

County Magistrate Li Chin-yung said that the saying "vegetables are worth dirt, vegetables are worth gold" rings truest for most farmers in the county. Especially today, when extreme weather occurs frequently, agricultural price fluctuations are even more pronounced. In early 2016 (the 105th year of the Republic of China calendar), a rare cold-weather disaster caused vegetables to stop growing and supply to fall short of demand, so that after the Lunar New Year vegetable prices did not fall but instead soared. In September, Typhoon Megi dealt a severe blow, sharply reducing crop harvests, with short-term leafy vegetables suffering the worst damage, again causing vegetable prices to soar. Responding to market demand, farmers rushed to replant, which in turn caused prices to plummet, showing clearly that agricultural prices are easily affected by weather and market conditions.

Chang Shih-chung, Director-General of the Agriculture Department, said that during mass production, to assist farmers, the county government not only sought large purchases by well-known enterprises but also promoted premium agricultural products in major metropolitan consumer areas (such as Hope Plaza and Expo Plaza in Taipei City), and organized diverse marketing activities in line with seasonal demand. On the other hand, regarding how to guarantee agricultural prices, experts and scholars from all sides have offered many suggestions, including guaranteed-price purchasing, contract farming, natural disaster relief funds and other measures. The county government is also guiding farmers gradually toward contract farming (for example, the county government provides an additional subsidy of 12,000 yuan per hectare for planting hard corn and non-GMO large (black) beans, etc.).

Agriculture is the lifeblood of Yunlin County. County Magistrate Li Chin-yung well understands the hearts of farmers. During mass production, the county government has an unshirkable duty to help farmers through difficulties in diverse ways. In the long run, helping and guiding farmers to seek business models that can reduce risks and stabilize agricultural prices is also a goal the county government strives for.