Can Urbanites Succeed at Farming in the Countryside?

National land transfer is permitted, which in other words allows capital to move into rural areas and integrate rural resources. This has been going on for a few years now. Land intensification means consolidating scattered plots into larger ones to enable mechanization, turning individuals into farm owners. The protagonist of this story simply quit his office job, went to the countryside, rented land, and became a boss.

Land cost: 30 mu for two years at 20,000 yuan — that’s over 300 yuan per mu per year. A bit pricey, but acceptable. The agent fee of 6,000 yuan is really steep. If you go to the village yourself and chat with the party secretary, offering a little here and there usually does the trick.

Then comes plowing, tilling, and clearing land. That runs a few dozen yuan per mu. If you know someone in the village, you can often cover it with just gas money, a few meals, and some cigarettes and liquor — especially if the land area is large, you can save a lot.

For weeding and harvesting, hiring help typically costs around 60 yuan per day. Be sure to set performance KPIs to avoid excessive slackening.

Fertilizer is another expensive and hard-to-calculate item.

In short, most people simply can’t farm well. It’s often better to invest as a partner, let someone else do the farming, and split the profits. Better to solve core problems first before jumping in personally.

The protagonist spent 200,000 yuan over six months and, seeing no harvest, returned to his office job in Shenzhen.

I Quit My Job and Returned to the Countryside to Farm — I Lasted Only Six Months