What are the standards for large-scale farms in 2017?
A large-scale livestock and poultry farm refers to a pig, dairy cow, laying hen, or broiler farm that has been approved by the local agriculture, industry and commerce, and other competent administrative departments and has legal person status. Standardized large-scale livestock and poultry breeding is the only way for the development of modern animal husbandry. So, what are the standards for large-scale farms in 2017?
What counts as a large-scale farm? According to the Notice, Shandong Province clearly specifies the recognized standards for large-scale breeding of pigs, dairy cows, and other livestock species. Among them, the annual slaughter volume of pigs is more than 500 head, the inventory of dairy cows is more than 100 head, the annual slaughter volume of broilers/meat ducks is more than 50,000 birds, the inventory of laying hens/laying ducks is more than 10,000 birds, the annual slaughter volume of beef cattle is more than 100 head, the annual slaughter volume of sheep is more than 500 head, the inventory of rabbits is more than 3,000, and other livestock and poultry are determined by each districted city according to local conditions.
What issues in large-scale breeding require special attention? The Notice points out that newly built, rebuilt, or expanded livestock and poultry farms and breeding communities shall conform to animal husbandry development plans and livestock and poultry breeding pollution prevention and control plans, and shall prepare an environmental impact report or file an online environmental impact registration form strictly according to the breeding scale. Livestock and poultry farms and breeding communities that have not built pollution prevention and control or comprehensive utilization facilities, whose supporting facilities are not up to standard, or that have not entrusted others with the comprehensive utilization and harmless treatment of livestock and poultry breeding waste, may not be put into production or use. Only after the project is completed and passes acceptance inspection may it formally engage in livestock and poultry breeding. Environmental protection departments in all localities must complete the screening of the implementation of the environmental impact assessment system for livestock and poultry breeding projects before the end of June 2017, and investigate and handle projects with problems according to law.
According to the unified deployment and requirements of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Economy of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Department of Development Planning of the Ministry of Agriculture regarding investment issuance, the relevant matters for the application for the 2017 standardized large-scale livestock breeding farm (community) construction project are as follows:
(1) Basic conditions for project application. Implement separation of people and livestock, centralized feeding, and closed management; conform to the overall planning for township land use, and not be located in areas where the construction of farms is prohibited by laws and regulations; after renovation, manure and sewage can be centrally treated, utilized as resources, or discharged up to standard. Dairy cow breeding requires the use of total mixed ration technology (TMR) and complete breeding records; dairy cows that have not tested positive for brucellosis or tuberculosis and have corresponding quarantine qualification certificates. Priority support shall be given to large-scale farms breeding reproductive female livestock and adopting integrated planting and breeding models, and priority support shall be given to eligible family ranches and farms operated by farmers' cooperatives. All localities may no longer apply for large-scale farms (communities) that have already been allocated central investment under this special program.
(2) Funding scale. The scale of central investment subsidies applied for by Xuchang City shall in principle be controlled at around 1 million yuan.
(3) Construction content. Central investment shall be mainly used for manure and sewage treatment and utilization facilities of farms (communities), as well as the construction of forage and feed bases, epidemic prevention, quality safety, and the renovation of production facilities.
(4) Application procedure. Eligible farms shall apply voluntarily, and after recommendation by the township, the township animal husbandry station shall uniformly collect and submit the application, other supporting materials, and the project construction implementation plan (ten copies) to the Animal Husbandry Section of the County Animal Husbandry Bureau before December 19, 2016.