Chapter 48: Farm Upgrade (5)

TL: Hanguk

When you’re betrayed by someone you trusted, anger naturally surges more than at any other time.

Frederick first sent Raymond home.

“Sir, please listen to me first.”

“Just go home for now. Once I understand the situation, I’ll contact you.”

So as not to give him any time to possibly destroy evidence, Frederick took his two kids and me and stormed into the office Raymond had been using.

“If we compare the paperwork and the actual inventory, we’ll find out what’s going on.”

“Right.”

Just like that, Frederick and I gathered up everything in the office, from purchase orders and delivery slips to invoices. Naturally, Brandon and Chloe carried the load. Then we went back to the warehouse where the fertilizer was stacked.

“Match everything, from last year through this year.”

Even at a glance it seemed that way, but when I checked each label one by one, most of them were marked [UREA 46-0-0].

“Just as I thought... it’s all urea.”

Looking at the purchase orders and invoices, they clearly said [SOP 0-0-50], and it showed that 50 bags had been ordered, but in the corner of the warehouse there were only about 10 bags left.

“Look here. The documents say 50 bags. In reality, it’s 10 bags.”

Frederick frowned when he heard me.

“That’s right.”

Chloe’s eyes widened in shock.

"So he brought in large quantities of cheap urea, bought only some of the expensive SOP, and pocketed the difference?"

“To be precise, he billed your father at the expensive price, but in reality he ordered mostly cheap fertilizer. DAP is cheap, so he did stock some of it... but it looks like the cheapest urea makes up more than 70% of the warehouse, doesn’t it? At least there’s some lime and gypsum.”

As I finished sizing things up while looking over the warehouse, Frederick suddenly asked, as if curiosity had struck him.

“In your view, what’s the optimal ratio?”

“It depends on the timing, because what you need to apply changes. For example, in winter you have to apply lime and gypsum to correct soil acidity and supplement calcium, so the fruit sets firmly. In spring, you have to apply even trace amounts of things like boron (B) or zinc (Zn) to stabilize flowering and pollination and develop the leaves and stems.”

Frederick, who had been listening, glanced at Brandon as if to tell him to listen carefully.

“And?”

“In early spring, you need to apply phosphorus like DAP or MAP (monoammonium phosphate) to help early growth. Right after bud break, you apply nitrogen (N) like urea to develop new shoots and leaves, and from after flowering you need to apply potassium (K) like MOP (potassium chloride) or SOP (potassium sulfate) so the fruit grows and you can balance sugar content, color, and firmness. Because he only gave things like urea during this period, that kind of situation happened where aphids surged.”

Around 2004, there were virtually almost no farms that applied fertilizer this thoroughly according to each season. Just looking at the fact that he ordered 50 bags of SOP, it was obvious he didn’t properly understand its importance. Around this time, cherry farm owners strongly believed that if they only applied nitrogen, the trees would grow well and farming would go well.

As he murmured in admiration, I shrugged and asked Chloe.

“Did you write it down?”

“... No.”

“Tsk tsk tsk...”

“Say it again.”

“I’m thirsty, so at least give me some juice while you ask.”

“Then should we? Dad, let’s go home now.”

At his daughter’s suggestion, Frederick left the warehouse with a heavy expression. Then, driving back home, he said to me.

“If it weren’t for you, I could’ve ended up in serious trouble. Thank you.”

“It wouldn’t have been an enormous problem. Even though there were fluctuations every year, it wasn’t like the farm would go under.”

“I also receive training every year at the Agricultural Extension Office at UC Davis. I learn fertilizer-related knowledge there, and they said exactly what you just said. What I did wrong was that even though I learned it, because a certain amount of harvest came in every year, I left it as it was and entrusted that part to Raymond.”

As expected, since he had learned it at the UC Davis Agricultural Extension Office, it seemed he had prepared things like lime, gypsum, and SOP to some extent. As for DAP, thinking it was just cheap nitrogen, he would have stocked an appropriate amount. Raymond didn’t properly understand it and simply saw it as an opportunity to skim.

Frederick looked at Brandon in the back seat through the rearview mirror and said.

“Brandon! Do you understand now why I told you to learn well?”

Brandon seemed to have been caught off guard as well, having had a dazed expression the whole time, but then answered with a look of coming to his senses.

“Yes!”

“Then from now on, get your head on straight and learn well from Brian.”

When I wiggled my eyebrows as I met Brandon’s eyes, Brandon answered obediently, looking wronged but compliant.

“Okay.”

With a satisfied look, I grinned and said to Frederick.

“From that perspective, Mr. Frederick is actually pretty lucky. Because you’ve formed a strategic partnership with us. From now on, even if Brandon and Chloe want to forget, they won’t be able to, and a lot of knowledge will pile up in their heads. Knowledge learned through the body is hard to forget.”

At those words, a faint fear showed on Chloe and Brandon’s faces as they guessed what their future would be like.

***

In the end, it was discovered that Raymond had been skimming $20,000 every year for the past three years. Frederick handed all the documents to a lawyer for review and then had him file a report with the police. Considering that Raymond had worked at the farm for a long time, he said he would write a clemency request if Raymond returned the embezzled money. Unlike his appearance, he seemed to be a sentimental person.

The person most affected by this process seemed to be Brandon. Brandon, who used to pout and openly show his reluctance even with a little work, these days did what he was told to do quite well. His grumbling had also decreased significantly.

“Something is definitely different.”

Frederick bent at the waist, scooped up a handful of soil, and murmured in mild admiration. Instead of the rough sand grains, soft, fine soil trickled down between his fingers.

“Right?”

“It wasn’t this moist before.”

As he muttered admiringly, Chloe and Brandon also gave small nods as they stepped on the ground or touched it.

“It really is different.”

“Mmm... it feels kind of springy?”

Smiling, I walked over to the open space. Today, it was time to show something new.

“Now, take a look.”

What I took out was a soil moisture sensor, a tensiometer. When I pushed it deep into the soil, a number immediately appeared on the small screen. Beside it, I set up an EC meter (Electrical Conductivity, a device that measures the salt concentration in soil through electrical conductivity).

“I told you it grows in stages, right? The first stage for developing the farm was the soil. And we finished it well. From now on, if you just apply fertilizer at each time as I told you and manage it properly, next year’s yield will increase quite a bit compared to this year, and the condition will be good, too. Now then, this is the second stage. It’s moisture.”

Like I was teaching students in a lecture, I continued my explanation very slowly and in detail.

"Until now, moisture management in farm management was probably mostly based on experience. Like what your father just did, touching the soil and watering when it seems dry. That's how it was, right?"

Frederick nodded without thinking.

“Th, that’s right.”

“Good. But that isn’t very efficient. First, you end up using a lot of water. So you waste groundwater, and salts build up in the soil.”

“Salt builds up in the soil?”

“Ah, you didn’t know. In the groundwater of California’s Central Valley and delta regions, there are small amounts of salt (NaCl), sulfate (SO₄²⁻), and bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻). And river or canal water can also end up with a higher salt concentration as it goes through evaporation and mixing while being used as agricultural water.”

“Ah... I see.”

“Because what the trees mainly absorb is pure water, the dissolved salts in the water remain around the roots and build up in the soil. When that happens, osmotic stress occurs, and as a result it becomes harder for the trees to absorb water.”

Frederick focused as if spellbound by my lecture.

“Now then, what should we do? The optimal method is not to water based only on intuition, but to check with numbers through equipment like this and manage it. Then what improves when you manage it like this? First, your water bill goes down. It drops by about 30 to 40%.”

“O-”

“What was one advantage we got from laying down charcoal? Because charcoal holds onto moisture and nutrients, we can use less fertilizer. Costs go down. This is the same. Charcoal already holds not only fertilizer but also moisture, and on top of that you use even less water, so your annual fixed costs go down. I told you that costs go down while production goes up, right?”

Frederick nodded.

“That’s because of things like this. It wasn’t nonsense. Then what’s the second advantage you get from moisture management? It’s an increase in fruit quality.”

It was a shame there wasn’t a chalkboard in front of me, because I would’ve written it down, but instead, Chloe, sitting behind Frederick, was diligently taking notes.

“As you’ve all heard, a large number of vineyards in the United States place importance on moisture control. But up to now, cherry farms have lagged far behind in that area.”

Even though it was the same period and the same California, many of the well-known vineyards that stayed in good condition placed tremendous importance on irrigation. But cherry farms still weren’t using those techniques.

In reality, it was as late as the early 2020s when SWP began to be introduced to actual cherry farms in a form combined with drip irrigation. Until then, you could say that practically almost all farms didn’t do moisture control.

“Isn’t moisture control something only vineyards use?”

“That’s because people think it only works for grapes, but in truth, that’s not the case. If there’s too much moisture, the fruit can split easily, and on the other hand, if there’s too little moisture, it becomes small and the taste worsens. Maintaining consistent moisture keeps fruit quality consistent, deepens the cherry’s color, and raises its acidity.”

“Oh, I see.”

"Now that you know moisture management helps cherries, you're probably thinking we should introduce a moisture management system, right?"

“Th...that’s right?”

“Now, there’s another hurdle.”

At those words, Frederick immediately frowned.

“Don’t tell me...?”

"That's right. It's money. I can't draw up the estimate myself, but I called and asked roughly before coming... They said it would cost approximately $250,000 to $350,000 to install a drip irrigation and sensor-based system on 200 acres."

“Oh no...”

Frederick made a pained face at hearing he would have to spend more money. By 2004 standards, that was an additional cost of around 300 million won in Korean money.

“So you have to make a decision. As I said, it’s fine even if you don’t apply a moisture management system. If you improve the soil and apply balanced fertilization according to the season, you’ll be able to see clearly improved results from that alone.”

“...... Just by saving on the water bill, we could cover the installation cost, right?”

“When I calculated it, I think in about five years you could recover most of the installation cost. Of course, that’s a conservative estimate, too.”

“Five years...”

Frederick, who had fallen into thought for a moment, soon nodded.

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

“Good. It’ll be better if you look for the relevant companies yourself. Since the area is large, when you negotiate, you’ll be able to bring the unit price down, too. The Agricultural Extension Office will probably introduce you to good companies.”

“I’ll do that.”

After deciding on another round of investment like that, Frederick returned home and sank into thought for quite a while. Since he’d already decided to improve the farm, investing around 300,000 dollars was something he could certainly do, but it would be a lie to say he didn’t feel uneasy, since none of the cherry growers had ever tried something like this until now.

At that moment, he received a phone call. It was William Hartford of the Brentwood Cherry Growers Cooperative.

“My goodness, what did you do to your farm? Are you trying to open a pizza shop to supply all of California?”

It seemed he’d seen the makeshift oven that had been set up in the wide open space.

“Ah, that... I’m trying to introduce a new farming method.”

“Hahaha! You’re doing something pointless. Instead of spending money on this pointless stuff, you know what I told you before?”

"Ah, you mean grouping under the association brand?"

“That’s right. When are you going to give me an answer?”

For several years, William had continuously demanded that they group together not by individual farms but under Brentwood Cherry. He claimed that was how the price would go up, but for Frederick, whose fruit quality was generally not bad among the nearby cherry growers, it was a request he hesitated over.

But now, he thought there was clearly no need to do that anymore. No, it had reached a point where he couldn’t do that.

“Sorry, but we’re going to do it separately.”

“What? Do you think you’ll be able to get a much higher unit price by doing that? If you act like this, it’s a problem!”

Despite William’s coercive insistence, Frederick didn’t back down. How much money and how much resolve had gone into the farming method he was trying now, and he couldn’t share that with other farms.

"I'm sorry, but count us out. I don't want to be evaluated at wholesale level with other farms."

"Hmph! Fine. Let's see how good a price you can get."

At William’s attitude as he hung up forcefully, Frederick felt a bit of pressure, but he soon steeled himself. If he hadn’t started, he wouldn’t know, but since he’d made up his mind to change the farm, he couldn’t retreat.

"Let's see. How this turns out..."