A New Cash Crop: Rising prices of imported US alfalfa boosts domestic sales

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02:54

You can now add alfalfa to the list of products affected by the newest US tariffs. Farmers agree, alfalfa is the best food for milk cows. And more Chinese cow breeders are turning to the domestically grown kind. But as China imports some 90 percent of alfalfa from the US, how hard is it to find domestically grown ones? CGTN's Hu Chao introduces us to a man who says he's found a cash crop.

Zhu Yuze is busy harvesting his alfalfa. He's a happy man, as he has more orders for it this year than ever before. And with domestic dried alfalfa up to 2,000 yuan per ton since June, when it was only 1,500, Zhu is raking in the profits.

ZHU YUZE CHAIRMAN, BEN KANG FORAGE GRASS DEVELOPMENT "After the newly imposed tariffs, prices of imported US alfalfa have increased from 2,500 yuan per ton to 3,200. It's much more expensive than Chinese alfalfa."

Its rich nutritional content makes alfalfa the best forage grass. Cows that eat it produce high quality milk. Zhu has about 1,000 cows of his own, and says Chinese cow breeders used to import large quantities of American alfalfa. But the latest round of tariffs has reversed the market trend.

ZHU YUZE CHAIRMAN, BEN KANG FORAGE GRASS DEVELOPMENT "Most cow breeders have already reduced their dependence on US alfalfa, some by as much as 80%. I feed my cows with my own alfalfa. And I found the cost of making milk can be reduced by 0.15 yuan per kilogram. That adds up to big savings."

Zhu says in the past, local alfalfa planting was often small in scale and relied on manual work. It led to poor quality, and increased the need for imported alfalfa. But Zhu's latest solution has become his cash cow.

HU CHAO HUAIREN, SHANXI PROVINCE "Since last year, Zhu Yuze has expanded his total alfalfa planting area to 8 million square meters. He also now tends to it with various large agricultural machines. Those two steps have greatly enhanced Zhu's harvest efficiency, and the quality of his alfalfa. In fact all of it sold out ahead of this harvest, proving his consumers are happy."

Zhu says he has harvested 27,000 tons of alfalfa this year. And that will bring him a turnover of more than 50 million yuan.

ZHU YUZE CHAIRMAN, BEN KANG FORAGE GRASS DEVELOPMENT "Now it seems that supply can't keep up with demand. I think the business is promising. And I plan to triple my alfalfa planting area next year."

Hu Chao, CGTN, Huairen, Shanxi Province.