"In addition to Amaranth, we are also conducting research on more than a dozen other species of super weeds. The progress of the research is quite encouraging. Florin said with a smile. "If the research on those super weeds can also be successful, then our products can really be perfected. ”

It turns out that more than 160 species of super weeds have been found in the United States. Some states are plagued by multiple superweeds at the same time, and it doesn't make much sense to solve just one of them. However, if we can solve the most harmful parts, and mix and package the cysts of several viruses, we can solve most of the problems in one use.

Only then can the competitiveness of the company's products against herbicides be guaranteed.

Jessica heard him say this and immediately understood what that meant: "In other words, the production cost of an acre may be much higher than we think." ”

"Yes, if our product is going to deal with the main superweeds, it can cost up to $30 to $40 per acre. ”

Jessica counted and said dejectedly, "Bai is happy!" Although the gross profit can still reach 100%, compared to the 2000% just now, it is simply rubbish.

Link said with a smile: "We can add different viruses to the product for different situations in different states." That would reduce a lot of costs. And it doesn't have to be every plot of land that uses so many types of viruses. ”

"Yes, if the cost is too high, the farmer will refuse to use our products, especially since our products are only targeted at a small number of the most harmful weeds, and they still need to use a small amount of herbicide for the rest of the weeds. ”

Link then came up with the question, "Are our super seeds herbicide resistant?"

Florin nodded and said, "That's a good question." It can resist some of them, but some highly toxic herbicides can't do it. After all, most crops are herbaceous or woody plants, and many herbicides can affect agricultural products, but we can explain this to farmers. ”

Link nodded and said, "That's fine." But he thought for a moment and asked. "Can the cost of producing viral products go down?" if they could use biotechnology to control all the noxious weeds in the fields. Then there is no need to worry about the need for farmers to use herbicides.

"In fact, as long as the crops on the farmland form an advantage, weeds are not a problem. The only additional cost to the farmer is the need to plough the land. ”

"Isn't it normal to cultivate the land?" Link knew that after the emergence of genetically modified crops, herbicides could be used to kill weeds directly, and then the farmland could be cultivated directly without ploughing, at least without deep ploughing. "It's not more than a decade ago, and I think farmers in the U.S. are used to plowing the land before planting. ”

Since the advent of super weeds, farmers have had to resort to deep ploughing to deal with super weeds. But that's just the time to allow crops to form dominant communities as much as possible. Thousands or even tens of thousands of seeds of a super weed, all in the ground. If those seeds grow before the crops grow, the land is waiting to be extinct.

But even deep ploughing only makes the crops grow taller and shades the sun and reduces the number of weeds. A large number of weeds and crop competition will still reduce crop yields.

So he wasn't worried about farmers refusing to use their products because they needed to plough deeply. He is more worried about another question: "Florin, if our product is successfully launched, the planting area of genetically modified crops will definitely shrink sharply, and the number of super weeds will also decrease, so will our viral products be completely meaningless?"

The long-term use of viral products on a piece of land will definitely make that land free of super weeds, at least negligible. Naturally, their viral products have lost their value.

Florin nodded and said, "It's possible." According to our experiments, our viral products can kill more than 99% of Amaranth if the farmer eradicates the surviving Amaranth before it can reproduce. That land can easily remove all the amaranths. ”

Jessica was even more frustrated: "Dad, you mean that our products can only be sold for one to two years at most?"

"That's the case in theory. Seeds like Miscanth do not spread long distances, so as long as the farmer clears the field and surrounding Miscanthus, the farmland will not be threatened by Miscanthus for several years. ”

"Oh my God, this is the real white happiness!"

Link didn't think so. He laughed and said, "What if we don't buy products, but sell services?"

"Service?"

"Super weed handling. We solved the problem for them at one time, five hundred dollars per acre. I think a lot of farmers are willing to give it. ”

As soon as Jessica heard his idea, she excitedly hugged his head in front of Florin and gave him a long kiss and said, "Honey, you are too smart. No, I should say I'm stupid. That's what we're doing, why did I forget?"

She laughed and said, "But five hundred dollars is too cheap." At least eight hundred dollars, or even more. That way we'll recoup ten years of profit in a year. ”

Florin coughed to show her presence and said, "I don't care about business." As long as we can make our research work as it should. ”

Jessica laughed and said, "Then it's decided." Maybe it's time for me to think about how many staff I need for a service team. ”

"You've got a long way to start working like that. So you can take your time. ”

The temperature conditions of the virus made it impossible for them to do that kind of work in the winter. At least wait until spring.

"It's just the right time!" Jessica said, still smiling. "It's a simple job, but we need them to be professional. So we need some time to train the staff. She was still immersed in calculating how much their company could make in this business.

The United States is the country with the most arable land in the world, mainly concentrated in the eastern and central regions. The areas where the super-long amaranth is flooded are also in the eastern and central parts of the United States, and the three states on the west coast have already appeared, but they are not as widespread as the eastern and central states.

But even if you count the farms in the east and center, there is a market for hundreds of billions of dollars at Link's petty profiteer prices.

Thinking of this, she smiled so hard that her teeth were bared. In particular, she thought that it would be a good thing if she could solve all the problems at once, at least the competitors would not have a chance to appear, and the company would be able to accumulate a lot of capital at one time.

In addition, there are more than 160 kinds of super weeds in the United States, and maybe their company can still do that kind of business.

In the evening, Link and Jessica went home with Florin and had dinner at their house. Link then takes Hannah to the hotel, and Jessica stays home with her parents.

…………

The next morning, Jessica came to the hotel to have breakfast with Link. She was in such a hurry to come over because she hadn't slept well all night because of the virus that can prevent and control amaranth. She thought of something to discuss with Link.

As she ate breakfast delivered to her room, she said to Link, "I talked to my dad last night, and I looked up a lot of information on the Internet. It was found that a lot of farmland was threatened by a single superweed. And next spring, the lab will be able to identify the virus that is the main superweed that is inflicting farmland in the east and center. Most farmlands usually only need three to five different viruses to meet their needs. Some even require only one. ”

Link asked Hannah, who was already full, to play first, and then said, "Then what do you think?"

"In some fields, like soybean and cotton, where the cost of herbicides is $160 to $170 a year to deal with super weeds, if we can guarantee that the field doesn't have a lot of super weeds for more than six years, then we're charging $800 per acre, and we can commit that if we continue to provide control services after five years, we can provide services at $20 to 30 per acre. I think the farmer is willing to accept it. ”

"So we need to monitor those farmlands for five years?"

"Yes, but the point is that a lot of farmers can't afford it, so I think it's okay for them to pay $200 per acre upfront. Your Ozette Investment Bank provides them with a loan to repay in 10 installments. And our company's funds are held in your bank. ”

Link chewed through her proposal and thought it was a good idea. Because Benehans moved to Washington, the company's account was opened at the Ozette Bank. It can be said that the so-called loan provided by the bank is actually lending the money to the farmer with the money he does not have, and then slowly recovering the money.

The bank's margin is insufficient, and of course it cannot make an unlimited loan, but when he takes out the first tranche, Benehans will recover the first tranche of money, which can be used as a reserve to continue the loan, which is certainly not enough. Maybe other banks will grab the business as well. But his Ozette bank can at least get a piece of the pie.

He nodded and said, "I'll talk to them about it." ”

Jessica said with a smile: "I think this business is key to our company, and it will not only make us a huge profit. And it will also give us an incalculable reputation, which will be of great benefit to us in promoting the cultivation of organic agricultural products. ”

Link took a bite of bread and said a little exaggeratedly, "It seems that I have hired a very powerful president, and he is also a very beautiful and lovely president." ”

"yes. You've earned it, and you should have turned my salary a few times. Jessica laughed as she placed a portion of beef on his plate.

In fact, the standards for organic food in the United States are not strict, such as the use of chemical fertilizers, and the use of pesticides are not strict, as long as there are no pesticide residues. Organic foods are non-GMO (genetically modified foods).

So, as long as there are higher-yielding seeds, Link can even promote organic farming across the United States.