Recently, when a citizen was eating barbecue with his family, he found that a barbecue restaurant used corn kernels as fuel, and after posting this situation on the Internet, it quickly aroused heated discussions.
As we all know, summer is the season to eat barbecue, and the common fuel for barbecue is coal or electric roasting, while it is not very common to use corn kernels as fuel.
According to the citizen, in the process of eating barbecue, he found that a lot of corn kernels were placed in a trough of the oven, and at first he thought it was for popcorn, but after asking the waiter, he learned that these corn kernels were originally fuel for barbecue. The clerk also said that it was a specialty, and the meat grilled with corn kernels had the fragrance of corn.
In this regard, netizens have different opinions. Some netizens believe that this practice is not advisable, food cannot be used as fuel, and a porridge and a meal should not come easily; Some netizens believe that this is a market behavior, not a waste, and farmers can sell corn to cash in, as long as they are not cheap farmers.
The wheat green storage incident and the corn as fuel incident
Before this happened, that is, in mid-to-late April, the matter of wheat green storage was once again hotly discussed. On the one hand, the wheat is cut off before it is ripe and used as green storage, and on the other hand, the corn kernels are not used as feed as fuel, and it is difficult not to compare the two together.
From April to May 2022, a news of wheat green storage not only attracted the attention of farmers, but also attracted the attention of relevant departments. At that time, some farmers believed that the income from the green storage of wheat had exceeded the income from the sale of wheat grains, and they should be allowed to approve of it. However, some peasant households believe that wheat cannot be used as a grain ration and cannot be used as a green reserve, which is related to food security.
In the end, the relevant departments of agriculture gave the result, strictly prohibiting the behavior of cutting green and destroying wheat, and made strict penalties for this, and the matter came to an end.
As for the corn kernel fuel incident, from the current point of view, the staff of the agricultural department said that it is not advisable to promote the use of food as fuel in stores, and there is no initiative to strictly prohibit it for the time being.
Unlike wheat, which is used as a food ration, corn is mainly used for feed and industrial purposes (corn can also be used as an alcohol, but also as a fuel).
Wheat is related to food security, if most farmers go to sell green storage, the output of wheat will inevitably decline that year, or will lead to the price of flour rising, the price of various pasta food will also rise, and then drive the price of other daily necessities to rise, the follow-up is unimaginable.
Since 2006, the state began to launch the minimum purchase price policy for wheat, and it is still being implemented until 2024 (1.18 yuan / kg this year), and the purpose of implementing the minimum purchase price is to protect the interests of farmers.
Since 2008, the mainland has also launched the minimum purchase price policy, but in 2016, the minimum purchase price policy for corn was cancelled and changed to a new mechanism of "market-oriented purchase" and "subsidy".
There are strict requirements for corn procurement standards
In this corn as fuel incident, a clerk said that some farmers used corn as feed for chickens and ducks, and the quality did not meet the purchase requirements, so they bought it as fuel to help farmers. So what kind of corn quality can meet the purchase requirements?
Some enterprises divide corn into first, second, third, and fourth, and some companies divide corn into general corn, high-quality corn and super-high-quality corn. The classification standard mainly refers to four aspects, namely moisture, impurities, mildew, and bulk density.
For example, from the perspective of moisture alone, some companies call the moisture content of no more than 14% as super high-quality corn, no more than 14.5% as high-quality corn, and no more than 15% as general corn.
In terms of impurities, impurities of no more than 0.5% are called super high-quality corn, no more than 1% are called high-quality corn, and no more than 2% are called general corn.
In terms of mildew, the mildew content of no more than 2% is called super high-quality corn, no more than 3% is called high-quality corn, and no more than 5% is called general corn.
This standard will also change according to the requirements of different enterprises, some enterprises have relatively strict requirements, and some enterprises have relatively loose requirements. Take a standard for the latest acquisition of corn by deep processing enterprises:
Moisture ≤14.0%, no deduction; 14.0% < moisture ≤ 15.5%, over 1 deduction 1.2, moisture > 15.5%, refused.
Impurities ≤1.0%, no deduction; 1.0 %< 3.0% of impurities≤ 1 deduction, 3.0% of impurities >, 0.5% of side by side impurities>.
Moldy granules ≤3.0%, no deduction; 3< moldy particles ≤ 5.0%, more than 1 deduction 1, moldy > 5.0% rejected.
Bulk density below 630 rejection.
Why can some people say that corn can't be sold this year?
Some netizens said that their corn has been stored at home, and no one went to the countryside to collect it, at this time in previous years, there were many grain sellers in the village every day, but this year it is completely different, and I can't see a grain seller in the countryside for a few days, what's going on?
From the point of view of grain dealers, their purpose is to make a profit on the price difference, on the basis of purchasing farmers' corn, plus a few cents per catty to sell to large traders or grain depots. In this process, if you don't make money, or even lose money, no one will go to the countryside to buy corn.
This year's corn market may have this phenomenon, not only for grain dealers, but also for traders, for this year's corn price trend "can't see clearly".
According to the trend of corn prices in previous years, after entering April, corn prices began to rise sharply, but this year's situation is just the opposite, corn prices not only did not rise, but also continued to decline. In April, the price of grassroots corn can still be around 1.10-1.15 yuan/jin, and in May, the price of grassroots corn in many places has fallen to about 1 yuan/jin.
It is precisely because of the declining price of corn that the number of grain sellers who go to the countryside to collect grain has decreased, and the purchase price may be 1.05 yuan/jin today, and it will drop to 1.04 yuan/jin the next day. Instead of taking this risk, it is better not to harvest corn, and it is better not to make money than to lose money.
In this case, some farmers feel that their corn cannot be sold. However, from another point of view, for farmers who still have corn at home that has not been sold, they still think that the current corn price is low, and they are reluctant to sell.
After all, when the corn was just harvested in October last year, the price of corn could still be sold at about 1.25-1.30 yuan/jin, and now it is only about 1 yuan/jin (when the corn price is the highest in 2022-2023, it will exceed 1.50 yuan/jin), the gap is relatively large, and we are still waiting for the price of corn to rise sharply.
There is enough corn in the country, so why import corn?
From the analysis of the current corn market supply and demand, the supply is abundant, while the demand is limited. On the one hand, the aquaculture industry is relatively sluggish, and the willingness of farmers to fill the fence is not strong, and the demand for corn is less. On the other hand, the operating rate of deep processing enterprises in some areas is not high, coupled with the rapid change in corn prices, they will not hoard a large number of corn, but adopt the strategy of picking and using.
According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2023, the national corn output will be 577.68 billion catties, an increase of 23.28 billion catties or 4.2% over the previous year.
According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs, the annual import of corn in 2023 will be 27.14 million tons, far exceeding the import quota limit of 7.2 million. In 2022, 20.62 million tons of corn were also imported, and in 2021, 28.35 million tons of corn were imported.
On the one hand, there is a small purchase of domestic corn, and on the other hand, a large amount of corn is imported, which will make people wonder, why do they do this?
In response to this problem, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs gave a corresponding explanation in January this year, and the mainland implemented a food security strategy of "focusing on me, based on the domestic, ensuring production capacity, moderate imports, and scientific and technological support". The use of international grain sources to appropriately make up for the gap between production and demand of varieties in short supply and improve the structure of varieties has played an important role in ensuring grain supply and stabilizing prices.
The answer in four words is to ensure supply and stable prices, import corn at relatively low prices, increase market supply, stabilize market prices, and ensure food security.
Why are there many proponents of corn kernels as barbecue fuel?
Going back to the beginning of the incident, some growers have expressed their approval of this approach, one of the reasons is that the demand side has increased, which is conducive to raising the price of corn.
At present, if the price of corn wants to stop falling and turn up, it is necessary to change supply and demand, and when the market is oversupplied, the price continues to fall. Conversely, when demand outstrips supply, prices rise.
In the case of sluggish aquaculture industry and low demand from deep processing enterprises, if a large amount of corn can be consumed in the catering industry, to a certain extent, it will also increase the demand of the corn market, which is a good thing for the price of corn.
What do you think?