Tested models, tech boost Shandong corn harvest

In the cornfields of Shangzhuang town in Rongcheng, a county-level city in Weihai, Shandong province, harvesters rumble back and forth, cutting stalks and threshing ears of corn in a steady rhythm.

The scene reflects a broader push across Shandong, one of China's major grain-producing regions, as the province presses ahead with its autumn harvest.

By Thursday, the province had completed 98.6 percent of its autumn corn harvest, according to the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Corn accounts for more than 90 percent of Shandong's autumn grain output, making it the main crop in the season's harvest.

Located on Shandong's eastern coast, Weihai typically sees a later corn harvest than other parts of the province. Shangzhuang town has 3,240 hectares of corn, with more than half of the crop harvested by Thursday, according to the town's agricultural office.

To improve farming efficiency, the town has been removing field ridges and consolidating small plots, making more land available for cultivation and enabling machinery to operate more easily across larger fields.

"In the past, the plots were fragmented and field ridges took up space, making it hard for large machines to enter. After ridge reduction, the fields are level and connected, and harvesters work much more efficiently," said Ge Yongqing, a local villager. "The local cooperative manages the land in a unified way, and machines have come to help with harvesting, so we have far fewer worries," he added.

In Dalijia village, also in Shangzhuang town, more than 330 hectares of land have been consolidated for intensive corn cultivation through the transfer of land management rights, according to the local agricultural office. By combining small, scattered plots, the village has improved land use efficiency and standardized field management and mechanized operations.

"This year's corn has grown well, and the yield is expected to reach 400 kilograms per mu (about 0.067 hectares). Local authorities have coordinated harvesters to work in different areas at staggered times, allowing us to make the most of the farming season and ensure that all the grain is harvested," said Chang Dajun, Communist Party of China secretary of the village.

A similar model is being adopted in Qianyan village in Sangluoshu town, Huimin county, a county-level administrative area of Binzhou. Rather than farming their land themselves, villagers contribute their land management rights to the village cooperative as shares. The cooperative then hires an agricultural company to handle the entire production process, from plowing and sowing to field management and harvesting.

Under the profit-sharing arrangement, farmers receive a guaranteed income of 1,000 yuan ($150) per mu after planting costs are deducted. Any remaining profits are divided among farmers, the village collective and the service provider, with 60 percent going to farmers, 20 percent to the village collective and 20 percent to the provider. Farmers do not need to pay the production costs upfront.

Grain production trusteeship now covers more than 90 percent of Huimin county's farmland, helping shift agricultural production toward larger-scale, more intensive operations. The county has completed its corn harvest.

Smart farming technology is also being deployed in Zouping, a county-level city administered by Binzhou. At an unmanned farm demonstration base in Jiaoqiao town, autonomous harvesters equipped with the Beidou Navigation Satellite System follow preset routes. Working in coordination, the machines carry out harvesting, plowing and sowing in a continuous sequence across the 1,000-mu demonstration base.

"Our research team has integrated route planning, environmental perception, navigation and positioning, and precision control into a single terminal, effectively installing a smart brain on farm machinery," said Wang Liangliang, a senior engineer at the navigation and remote sensing integration application research office of the Qilu Research Institute.

The base is also equipped with a digital twin-based intelligent management and control system that automatically collects data on crop growth, soil moisture, pests and diseases, and generates plans for farming operations.

"With unmanned operations, comprehensive production costs have fallen by 10 percent," Wang said.