Galaxy 2, August 27.

Oceania, southeast of Kangaroo Country.

This is the core agricultural area of the region, and whether it is wheat or cotton, or sheep pastures, it is highly concentrated in this area.

The climate types here are mainly Mediterranean climate, temperate oceanic climate, subtropical monsoon climate, and subtropical savannah climate.

Core cities such as Sydney and Canberra are also in the region.

It can be seen that the local climate is still relatively suitable for human life.

However, at this time, the kangaroo country is in an extremely dry state, and the southeastern region, which is the core agricultural area and human settlement, has not rained for more than half a year.

If the southeast can still rely on groundwater to support it for a while, then the large artesian basin in the central part will be completely dried up at this time.

Even if deep wells are drilled, there is still no way to alleviate the local drought.

A freshwater lake in the Great Artesian Basin, at this time only the dry and cracked bottom of the lake remains, and there are some weeds that have grown tenaciously from the silt of the lake bottom.

More than a dozen ranches in the surrounding area had to urgently apply to dig wells.

Although the Kangaroo State has strict rules that prohibit ranches and farms from digging wells, especially machine wells, in the face of the current widespread drought, only temporary permits can be issued to dig wells.

Old David, the rancher of Davy's Ranch, was not too happy when he looked at the groundwater coming out of the well.

On the contrary, there was a lingering sadness on his face.

Because the temperature at this time is very low, only minus 11 degrees Celsius, and the latitude of his ranch is around 37 degrees south latitude, which is not so low at the same time in previous years.

This ultra-low temperature has stopped the growth of pasture grass, and even caused low temperature frost damage.

Low temperatures and drought have become common in the southern part of the Great Artesian Basin.

In order to ensure that the sheep that had just been shaved in autumn could survive the cold winter safely, the elder David had to lock the sheep indoors and turn on the heating for more than three months.

"Father! Here's this month's electricity bill. Little David took a bill in the mail and came to old David's side.

Old David glanced at the bill, and his face was extremely painful.

"Father, if this continues, we will go bankrupt."

Of course old David knew that if it went on like this, take the jujube pill.

They raise a total of 8,000 sheep on the pasture, and in winter, the temperature is below zero for a week or two, but now it has been more than three months, and the temperature is below zero, which means that they have been heating for more than three months.

The heating electricity bill has increased by 4~5 times compared with last year, even if it is part of the official subsidy of the kangaroo country, it still increases the electricity bill by about 3.7 times.

In addition, the more serious problem is the insufficient supply of forage on the pasture itself, and it is necessary to purchase a large amount of hay and fodder to fill the gap in the pasture's own forage.

This adds an additional expense.

In addition, the cost of drilling wells is also borne by the rancher himself.

What's even worse is that although sheep can tolerate low temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius, they must be fed in captivity in an environment of 5~minus 15 degrees Celsius, and low temperatures will cause them to grow slowly and wool production to decline.

This year, there are 67 million sheep in the kangaroo country, and the production capacity is not expected to exceed 220 million kilograms.

The roof leak happened to rain overnight.

Due to the severe fragmentation of the global market, global wool demand has been split in two.

Homo sapiens man-made wool is not only self-sufficient, but can also be exported in large quantities.

As a result, the wool of the Kangaroo Country can only be sold to the free world, although the Ceris of the Free World is the world's largest wool importing region, and in previous years, 70~80% of the wool of the Kangaroo Country was sold to the enterprises of the Ceris.

The problem is that the demand for wool in Seris is based on the demand for foreign trade.

Now that the global market is split in two, the demand for wool in the free world is clearly insufficient.

The lack of demand for wool products leads to the lack of demand for wool raw materials, so the price of wool raw materials will naturally not go up.

Production costs have risen, production capacity has declined, and selling prices are still falling, which is a dead end for many sheep farms.

Sheep are not grown with wheat, so there is no way to plant less this year and expand production next year.

Once the number of sheep is reduced on a large scale, it will take several years, or even more than ten years, to restore the scale of breeding in the future.

And there is another problem here, that is, the farm can be less raised, but the depreciation of the infrastructure, and some of the electricity costs, etc., will not be reduced.

If it's just the sheep industry that has a problem, then the kangaroo country can still rely on the support of America's father to survive.

But now it's not just sheep that is a problem, it's grapes, wheat, barley, and pasture.

The southeast, which is a core agricultural region, is suffering from drought and low temperatures, and food production is declining significantly.

Many things often affect the whole body.

The reduction of grain production will inevitably lead to a surge in the prices of feed, vegetable oil, and sugar, and the soaring price of feed will further raise the production cost of the aquaculture industry.

The population of Kangaroo Nation is small, only about 27 million.

can't stand the high income and low prices in the past, so that many people are used to that kind of good life.

Now that unemployment is rising and prices are almost uncontrollable, the problem is beginning to be exposed.

Industries are grossly under-employed, and many smallholder farmers and ranches are in danger of going bankrupt.

The area of the whole Oceania is indeed very large, but excluding the desert and the Gobi Desert, as well as a part of the tropical rainforest, the remaining areas that can be developed are actually the coastal areas and the large artesian basin.

At present, as the mid-latitude coast in the south, it is basically in a state of low temperature and aridity, while the savannah and tropical rainforest in the north have much more rainfall than in previous years.

The rain was falling where it shouldn't be.

The consequence is that arid places are getting drier and drier; Wet places are flooded.

ABCD and a dozen or so large local agricultural companies in Kangaroo Country are facing a very difficult problem at this time.

Sydney.

Bunge Branch Building.

Jiarid, the manager in charge of the Bunge Oceania branch, was very solemn after getting the grain storage inventory report: "There are only 2.47 million tons left in the feed reserve, less than one-third of the same period last year, which is ......."

Anthony, the assistant manager, said with a headache: "Garred, now it's not a problem of inventory, it's a problem of cost. ”

"What is the headquarters doing? Why aren't we allowed to raise prices yet? Do you want us to continue to sell at low prices? Garred grimaced.

Anthony was very helpless: "I have communicated with the headquarters several times, and the headquarters is under pressure from the council, and now the price cannot be increased casually. ”

"Shet!" Garred cursed.

Obviously, the high welfare of Homo sapiens makes the entire free world have to follow up with all their might, otherwise they will admit defeat to Homo sapiens.

Some time ago, the four major forces of the free world joined forces to suppress the soaring prices of grains and vegetables and fruits, which is a manifestation of the difficulty of riding a tiger.

If the current high welfare levels cannot be maintained, then the free world will not be attractive.

Originally, they were inferior to Homo sapiens in many aspects, and now they can't even maintain the high wages and low prices on the surface, so why let ordinary people stay and serve?

Once high wages and low prices are no longer sustainable, the free world will collapse on its own.

Therefore, the four major forces are desperately trying to lower the prices of grain, vegetables and fruits, but it is still unknown how long this strong pressure can be maintained.

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(End of chapter)