A new model of ecological pig farming: pigs raised this way can sell for double the price
The core of the series of policies recently introduced by the state is to restore hog production capacity as quickly as possible and promote the healthy development of the entire hog industry. The state is calling on you to raise pigs - do you have the confidence to resume restocking?Today, we have put together a few pig farming case studies for you! Not only are the pigs raised well, but their selling points are no small matter either!
No.1
Fruit-eating piglets become “internet celebrities”, selling for twice the price of ordinary pork
In Yujia Village, Mushishihe Town, Changchun, Jilin, a cooperative has 6 mu of orchard land planted with crabapples and apple pears, but the fruit is not picked for sale - almost all of it is eaten by the pigs raised by the cooperative. These pigs have been named “fruit fragrant pigs”, the brainchild of cooperative founder Kang Dandan.
Kang Dandan, 35, returned to her hometown in 2016 to start a business, and successfully bred a cross between northern wild boar and southern fragrant pig. The pigs are kept free-range in the orchard, where they can eat not only grain and vegetables but also fruit.
These “fruit fragrant pigs” take an average of more than 1 year to reach market weight, and sell for 30 to 48 yuan per jin, more than 2 times the price of ordinary pigs. Kang Dandan posts videos of the pigs eating fruit, playing and sleeping on social platforms for promotion, making the "fruit fragrant pigs" a product sold far and wide across many parts of the country.
Growing your own crops and raising your own livestock can maximize returns. If you do not grow fruit yourself but still want to feed pigs with fruit, will costs rise? He Xinde, a farmer in Youfangdian Township, Zhengyang County, Henan, has his own clever approach. He Xinde says that after autumn each year, he specifically buys “fallen fruit” such as apples and pears, that is, small fruits that cannot fetch a good price, and hauls in some lower-priced small carrots, cabbage and the like from outside, washing them and feeding them to the pigs. Each time he feeds the pigs to 30 to 40 percent full, then feeds them feed.
He says that because the pigs absorb a certain amount of vitamins and other nutrients from the fruit and vegetables that are not present in the feed, the pork quality is also relatively good, and consumers who know the situation are willing to buy his live pigs at prices above the market.
No.2
Ecological piglets that live in dormitories and listen to music, with consumers scrambling to buy
Wang Xiaoshan, born in 1992, graduated from Zhejiang Wanli University with a degree in computer science. Through his own efforts, he built his own career in the IT industry. Just when he was preparing to go all out, his father, who ran a pig farm in his hometown of Kaihua, Zhejiang, was injured. He had no choice but to set aside his career and return home to take over the family pig farming business. Unexpectedly, he forged a new path.
In early 2016, considering the current layout of the pig farm, Wang Xiaoshan and his friends gave the farm a name —— Shanxigu, meaning good mountains and good water raise good pigs. With a brand in place, it had to be operated. Using his experience in online operations, he set about building the brand online. His friends were also very supportive, and a stylish, substantial CI design was produced. He beautified the pig farm's appearance step by step, building the pig houses in Huizhou-style architecture, simple and spacious; planting lawns and setting aside exercise yards for the pigpens, one wave of innovative ideas and methods followed another. “Raise happy pigs in a happy environment.” That is what he thought, and that is what he did.
When it came to pig farming, Wang Xiaoshan, an outsider, began to study and investigate continuously. In 2017, he visited Sichuan, Jiaxing in Zhejiang, Chun'an, Jinhua and other places to investigate excellent meat pig breeds, learn advanced pig farm management and operation models, and, combining this with what he had learned, a “company + base + specialized households + sales stores” business model emerged.
“Speaking of pig farming, I really was an outsider at first. But I know that for pork to have good quality, the pig's growth is especially important.” Shanxigu's pigs include Jinhua's Two-End Black pigs, Anhui's spotted pigs, Jiangsu's three-way cross pigs, and others. No matter the breed, Wang Xiaoshan keeps their “dormitories” clean and tidy; they eat ecological pig grass and cornmeal; they drink mountain spring water piped in from the back hill, and they get 1 hour of exercise time every day, in the exercise yard the pigs either run joyfully or root around eating grass, endlessly happy.
To open up the market, Wang Xiaoshan went to Quzhou Oriental Commercial Building, Century Lianhua Supermarket and RT-Mart Supermarket to investigate the market and opened experience stores. On site, he used Shanxigu pork to make baozi and dumplings for customers to taste, and the high-quality pork won unanimous praise from the customers present, thus smoothly opening up the market.
Speaking of future development, Wang Xiaoshan is full of confidence. “I plan to adopt a model combining agriculture and tourism to enhance on-site experience and bring more consumer groups to Kaihua. Breathing the freshest air, drinking the cleanest water and eating the safest pork is my future development direction.” Wang Xiaoshan plans to deeply process some pork products, add farm experience activities and build walking paths within Shanxigu, beautify the site, make production more scientific and more environmentally friendly, make processing more transparent, manage Shanxigu with a standard corporate model, bring more good products to market and let more people eat safe, reassuring pork.
No.3
Running piglets taste even better
Furong Village, Xinqing Town, Teng County, Guangxi, is located in a remote area surrounded by mountains, with lush, verdant mountain forests, a natural oxygen bar, and uniquely advantageous conditions for raising black mountain pigs. A chance trip away from home let villager Tang Fude discover this business opportunity, so relying on his hometown's ecological treasure land, he began the road to prosperity by raising “mountain-walking pigs”.
At the Furong characteristic pig breeding demonstration park in Xinqing Town, Teng County, small groups of black fragrant pigs and black native pigs dart around the farm, looking all around. These “little fragrant pigs” are the apple of villager Tang Fude's eye, and to develop his own farm he spent no small amount of thought and effort. To make the black native pigs of higher quality, the black native pigs Tang Fude raises must go up the mountain to “run” for at least two months. During the breeding process, he feeds them red elephant grass, sweet potato leaves, corn, soybean meal and tofu residue, and free-ranges them in the wild for three months before sale, to ensure the fragrant pigs are green and healthy, with delicious meat and pure flavor.
These green, pollution-free black fragrant pigs and black native pigs quickly won consumers' affection, and Tang Fude's pig farming scale gradually expanded. The demonstration park now has pig houses of 6000 sq m, has achieved an annual output of 5000 head, and generates annual revenue of 12 million. Tang Fude has become the village's pig farming leader, driving the development of characteristic pig farming in two surrounding villages and promoting an increase in villagers' net income.