Corn Silage with Ears Gains Popularity in the Zhoucun Market

During the "three autumns" period, villagers of Hantao Village in Zhoucun District sold more than 700 mu of corn, ears and stalks together, to Zibo Shengkang Ecological Agriculture Co., Ltd. Shengkang was responsible for harvesting and transporting it, then making ear-included silage to use as feed for dairy cattle. The villagers thus saved themselves a whole series of tasks such as harvesting the corn, drying the corn and dealing with the stalks. The formerly bustling autumn harvest scene disappeared in Hantao Village, and during the busy autumn harvest period the villagers either relaxed and enjoyed themselves or went out to earn extra money.

Ear-included silage is sought after by the villagers. Xi Sumei, who planted 7.6 mu of land, did some calculations: this year, figuring on a yield of 900 jin of corn per mu and a market price of 1.25 yuan per jin, after deducting 850 yuan for machine operation costs such as the harvester, thresher and transport truck, the whole family, working at it for about a month, could earn 7,700 yuan; now, he only needs 1 hour to sign a contract with Shengkang, and after selling the whole corn plants to Shengkang at 900 yuan per mu, this year's autumn harvest is over, and 6,840 yuan is easily in hand; the month saved can be spent doing odd jobs to earn more than 2,000 yuan.

Zhoucun District has vigorously developed standardized breeding, and 7 large-scale dairy and beef cattle farms such as Shengkang and Sukong have emerged, with more than 3,600 head of dairy and beef cattle on hand, able to consume corn stalks from 20,000 mu, accounting for nearly one fifth of the comprehensive conversion and utilization of stalks in Zhoucun District.