continued from previous story in the forage seed business, this isn t the middle of nowhere. it s right in the middle of things.
Cao Chun Hua
call them in China and my mother
worked in a factory that made glass
bottles for medicines like insulin.
It was hardly a promising beginning for
the career of the self-made agriculture entrepreneur
who felt he had it in him to eventually
take a new continent by storm, but
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he got a bit more information on the course
in question, he decided it was his best path
forward. Over the next few years he studied
hard, earned an undergraduate degree, then
a masters degree, including field work in
far-flung and isolated places like Mongolia.
After earning his graduate degree in
the late 1980s, Hua qualified for a short-term
exchange program that brought him
to Canada, where he worked at another
local seed house in Nipawin, about 25
miles from Carrot River. He enjoyed the
work and says he didn t have much trouble
adjusting to the new reality of life
along the treeline of Western Canada.
Sometimes when Chinese come to
can be very hard for them, but I was used
to it because I d worked in Mongolia and
that prepared me for it a bit, Hua says.
Settling in at the seed house, he
first began working in the operation s
lab. Because immigration red tape had
snarled up his entry to Canada, he was
able to arrange a longer stay, and later
was granted another extension by the
Chinese government because he proved
he was learning valuable new skills. His
wife and oldest daughter remained in
China and he always intended to return
until the spring of 1989.
That was when he, and the rest of the
world, learned that Beijing s new-found
tolerance for economic freedom did not
extend to political freedom. Emboldened
Europe, China s students and intellectuals
began protesting in Tiananmen Square,
calling for the arrival of democracy in the
Middle Kingdom.
The regime tolerated it for a few
weeks, then on June 4, the tanks rolled
in to clear the square. By the time order
had been restored, according to an estimate
by the International Red Cross,
3,000 people were dead.
Back in Nipawin, Hua walked into his
boss s office and made a simple request.
I said, I want to stay here, and I want
to bring my family over, and I need your
help, Hua says. They said, Of course.
For the next several years the story is a
quiet one. Hua s young family joined him
at the established seed house, eventually
moving into sales where he made valuable
contacts throughout the industry. And the
story might have ended there, except for
changes at the company.
A large Swedish-based multinational
took ownership of the operation in the
mid-1990s and it wasn t long before the
existing management team was gone,
along with the personal touch of a small,
locally owned company.
With his reputation and skills, Hua
fielded a few offers from other companies,
but decided he wanted to establish
his own operation, which he did
in 1998 with a local partner, whom he
later bought out.
The gambler
Starting a business is one thing. But
and as quickly as this?
First, says Hua, you have to know the
supply end. In fact, you have to know it
better and before anyone else.
In a nutshell, this is why Hua s operation
is located in rural Saskatchewan in
the heart of production country, rather
than at port where he could simply take
delivery of the seed.
I ve had people ask me, Hua, why did
you build this plant here, in the middle of
nowhere? he explains. But in the forage
seed business, this isn t the middle of
nowhere. It s right in the middle of things.
Hua explains that the farmers in the
region have generations of experience
climate of the northern grain belt. They
know what they re doing, and by being
on the spot and engaging with them and
by tracking crop progress, Hua has the
inside track on the production issues that
may move markets.
If there s been a frost the night
before, I can get out and have a look at
the fields right away, Hua explains.
Then on the other end of the equation
there s knowing what the demand side is
likely to do, and anticipating and capitalizing
on any market movers.
The first year I was watching the
dry weather in the western U. S. and I
knew there was going to be some big
(forest) fires, Hua says. Back then that
meant they d buy a lot of crested wheat
grass, which they would sow to hold the
ground down.
In anticipation of this, Hua began
