Why Wheat Harvest Broker in Linquan County, Anhui Stands Out

    These past few days, Old Yu has been making and receiving over a hundred phone calls a day on average, essentially one call every 20 minutes. 

In his words: "Two batteries a day aren't even enough." 

Who is Old Yu? Why is he so busy? Listen to the content of his phone calls, and you can probably guess a thing or two. 

Some of these calls are from farmers asking him to arrange combine harvesters, some from outside operators and local farmers who have had friction and want him to mediate, and others reporting on the progress of mechanized harvesting... In short, every year during the summer harvest, it is his busiest time. 

That's right, he is the "wheat harvest broker" famous throughout the township - Old Yu from Xinzhuang Brigade, Chengguan Town, Linquan County, Anhui Province. 

Although he has worked as a barefoot doctor for many years, that is far less outstanding than his role as a part-time wheat harvest broker in recent years. 

One 

In the wheat field before him, 6 combine harvesters are busily working in an orderly manner under his telephone direction, and the reporter's interview was interrupted several times by his ringing phone. 

Over the past six or seven years, Old Yu has built up a group of "ironclad" clients. 

A few years ago, he still followed the combine harvesters back and forth in the fields, recording the mu count and calculating his own small commission. Now that his relationships with clients are solid, he no longer follows the machines. As for how much should be paid, you decide - since they are old connections, neither side will naturally shortchange the other. 

Old Yu's work is very simple. His central task is to help his fellow villagers contact out-of-town agricultural machinery teams before the summer harvest arrives, and to help those out-of-town machinery teams contact farmers in his village or nearby villages so they can come for cross-regional operations. 

Generally, during the more than 10 days of the summer harvest, Old Yu is busiest for 5 of them. During this period, he has the most things to worry about: not only is he responsible for the food and lodging of the outside operators during this time, but every evening he also has to arrange their next day's harvesting schedule in advance and settle the harvesting prices. 

The machinery teams usually start work at 5 a.m. and finish at 10 p.m. During this period, he also has to keep "watching" constantly, ready to deal with problems that may arise at any time. 

In the past, Old Yu handled all these things alone. Now with seven or eight machines out working, how could he possibly "watch" them all himself, so he called several younger fellows from the same village to help follow the machines. He is responsible for one or several of them, and then directs by phone, keeping track of the harvesting progress of all the other machines. When necessary, he also has to ride his motorcycle to personally supervise on site, within a radius of 5 kilometers. 

Two 

As a broker, Old Yu has a strong sense of trust toward the villagers and the machinery teams. Over these six or seven years, from the machinery teams' arrival to their departure each year, there are roughly more than 10 days, with 5 of them being the busiest. The remuneration they give Old Yu is a commission of 5 yuan per mu for each machine. After deducting public relations fees for finding people and labor costs for hiring assistants to follow the machines, Old Yu earns more than 1000 yuan over one wheat season. 

Although other "brokers" have seen rising rates these past two years, Old Yu has never raised his price, but that does not mean he bears no risk. 

In fact, the work of a contact person is not easy. If it is farmers from his own village, it is not difficult, but if it is from other villages, it is not so easy. 

Sometimes, he needs to go to a neighboring village to find a prestigious contact person to help connect with farmers. If that person happens to be fond of cigarettes or alcohol, Old Yu also has to pay out of his own pocket to "show some appreciation," so as to ensure that these cross-regional machinery operators can carry out their work smoothly locally, without being harassed or bullied. 

Generally, once this person is secured, the nearly 200-plus mu of wheat fields in that village are basically as good as won. After the machinery operators eat breakfast the next day, they can go straight to the wheat fields to start work without having to ask about anything. 

Three 

On the day of the interview, while he was talking with the reporter, an aunt surnamed Jiang from a neighboring village came to report a problem to Old Yu. She said that when she went to the field today to collect wheat straw, she found that a lot of the wheat that had just been cut yesterday had been scattered, as much as two nylon bags' worth. Because the combine harvester was brought by Old Yu, she demanded that Old Yu ask the operator to refund the 35 yuan harvesting fee and to compensate her for the losses caused by improper operation. 

"If it had scattered only a little, I wouldn't have come to you. If you don't believe me, go to the field and see for yourself." 

"Do you know which combine harvester it was?" 

"I don't remember, it was the one you brought over." Old Yu thought carefully for a moment. "The one that harvested for Aunt Jiang yesterday should have been Xiao Shi's machine." 

"Wait until they come back tonight, and I'll ask for you. If too much was scattered, I'll have him refund your money." It seemed this was not the first time Old Yu had encountered such a situation. His attitude was very gentle.