How should the "grain-to-feed" conversion be carried out? Actively explore development paths suited to actual conditions

This year's Central Document No. 1 clearly proposed accelerating the development of the grass-based livestock industry and carrying out pilot projects for grain-to-feed conversion and the integrated crop-livestock model. This year's government work report also made specific arrangements for this. Vigorously promoting grain-to-feed conversion, with the adjustment of corn planting structure as the focus, advancing the shift of grain crop planting toward forage crop planting, implementing matched grass and livestock, vigorously developing the grass-eating livestock industry, and promoting crop-livestock cycling, integrated production and processing, consideration of both grain and feed, and combination of agriculture and animal husbandry, is an important entry point for the adjustment of China's agricultural structure, an important lever for optimizing the structure of the livestock industry, and a rare opportunity to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of modern animal husbandry. It is of great significance to the development of the agricultural and rural economy.

The grass-eating livestock industry is an indispensable part of modern animal husbandry. In recent years, China's grass-eating livestock industry has shown good momentum, but its total production and production methods still clearly lag behind the overall development level of the livestock industry. In particular, the prominent problem of a huge gap between supply and demand of forage seriously hinders the pace of development of the grass-eating livestock industry and even the entire modern animal husbandry sector. At present, China's grain production has achieved “eleven consecutive increases,” but it also faces enormous constraints from resources and the environment. “Adjusting structure and transforming the development model” has become an urgent task for developing modern agriculture, and there is an urgent need to accelerate the building of a new crop-livestock structure that considers both grain and feed, combines agriculture and animal husbandry, and develops cyclically.

Corn and corn stalks are the feed raw materials most in demand by the breeding industry. Taking corn as the breakthrough point and oriented by the forage needs of grass-eating livestock, adjusting the varieties of corn planted and their utilization methods while also developing high-quality forage crops can both meet the forage needs of grass-eating livestock breeding and promote the optimization and adjustment of the planting structure, exploring useful experience for agricultural structural adjustment. This is an important measure for China to currently build a new type of agricultural production structure and accelerate the development of modern agriculture. It can be said to achieve multiple benefits at once, with wins for planting, breeding, and processing.

At present, the pilot work of grain-to-feed conversion is being comprehensively advanced. To promote grain-to-feed conversion, we must firmly grasp the direction of combining planting and breeding, break the original state of separation between planting and breeding, consider the coordinated development of planting and breeding as a whole, establish a complete ternary planting structure of grain, cash crops, and feed, open up the channels for cycling between planting and breeding, extend the industrial chain, and improve comprehensive benefits. It is necessary to reasonably determine the pilot area for grain-to-feed conversion and the total amount of silage forage collected and stored according to the scale of grass-eating livestock breeding in the pilot areas, ensuring that the silage corn and other forage produced by the converted planting have someone to purchase them and cattle and sheep to eat them, achieving nearby conversion and value addition.

To promote grain-to-feed conversion, attention must be paid to giving play to the role of breeding entities. Grass-eating livestock breeding enterprises are the users of silage forage and the driving entities for the conversion and value addition of planted products. Their enthusiasm and initiative should be fully mobilized, and they should demonstrate, lead, and drive farmers to adjust the planting structure and help farmers increase planting income.

To promote grain-to-feed conversion, the wishes of both planting and breeding parties must be fully respected. What forage the breeding enterprises need and how much they need are decided independently by the enterprises; whether farmers change what they plant and which varieties they switch to are decided by the farmers. The key lies in opening up sales channels and improving benefits. Each pilot area should, on the basis of comprehensively considering the region's resource endowments and conditional characteristics, fully respect the wishes of both planting and breeding parties, adapt measures to local conditions, act according to circumstances, plant grain where grain is suitable and grass where grass is suitable, advance pragmatically, and blaze a path of sustainable development suited to regional and industrial realities.

⟦NL> To promote grain-to-feed conversion, farmers must truly receive tangible benefits. The subsidy recipients of grain-to-feed conversion project funds are the collection and storage enterprises. Government departments must coordinate the relationship between enterprises and farmers and herders, and fully take into account the interests of planting households during the collection and storage transactions. Effective measures must be taken to urge enterprises to purchase the full amount according to contract, not to arbitrarily set technical requirements, and not to suppress purchase prices without cause, so that farmers truly enjoy the sunshine and warmth of fiscal funds.

Promoting grain-to-feed conversion and developing the grass-eating livestock industry is a new attempt and proactive action in agricultural policy creation under the current background of agricultural transformation of the development model and structural adjustment. Doing a good job in the pilot work of grain-to-feed conversion and developing the grass-eating livestock industry concerns the transformation of the agricultural development model and structural adjustment, concerns farmers and herders increasing incomes and becoming prosperous, and concerns the integrated and coordinated development of planting, breeding, and processing. It is of great significance and the task is arduous. It is hoped that all localities will seize opportunities, work solidly, truly do a good job in the pilot work, ensure that policies achieve practical results, ensure that demonstration and guidance succeed, actively explore good paths suited to local realities, and make new contributions to vigorously advancing the construction of modern animal husbandry and accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model.