Extending the industrial chain is the only way to increase farmers' income
This year's "Government Work Report" proposed guiding farmers to adjust their planting and breeding structure with an eye on the market, and supporting agricultural product processing, especially the local conversion of grain in main producing areas. Jin Lanying, a National People's Congress deputy who has spent decades working in the breeding industry and is chairman of the Jinlan Dairy Farming Professional Cooperative in Daiyue District, Tai'an, Shandong, has deep feelings about this. "If farmers want to become prosperous, they must extend the industrial chain, otherwise the money they earn is very limited."
The wave of dumping milk and slaughtering cows before the Chinese New Year made Jin Lanying more deeply aware of the underlying contradictions in the development of China's dairy industry. So for a long period before the Two Sessions convened, she began doing a large amount of preparatory work: investigating the current state of China's dairy cow industry, the relationship between dairy companies and dairy farms, and the difficulties of farmers' professional breeding cooperatives, and she completed three proposals related to the dairy industry in a row.
As soon as the Two Sessions opened, Jin Lanying could not wait to speak out. At 70 years old, she acts as if she never gets tired. She says she has this responsibility, for the sake of more dairy farmers and the several hundred to more than a thousand people in the cooperative whose lives revolve around dairy cows.
⟦NL> When the reporter met Jin Lanying, she was taking part in a group discussion. A red top, set off by her graying hair, made her look hale and energetic.
Jin Lanying told the reporter that when the cooperative was first established, development was very difficult. "At the time everyone came together and wanted to do it, but there was no profit. There were only more than 100 cows, and the breeds were no good, so we had to bring in good breeds. At that time, imported good-breed cows were 18,000 each, and everyone put up their own property as collateral and took out loans to buy cows." Even with such difficulties, she accepted any villager from Nigou Village who was willing to join the cooperative.
Jin Lanying said that after the cooperative was established, the government provided support, with the agriculture department supporting 100,000 yuan every year. In addition, because it was a large-scale breeding farm, the province had a modern dairy policy that provided 1 million yuan in support for three consecutive years each year, helping build cow sheds and carry out infrastructure construction.
"On the technical side, we have the support of the Provincial Department of Science and Technology. We also cooperate with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to convert cow dung into bio-organic fertilizer. The fertilizer has now been produced, under the Jinlan brand, and 40 tons have been sold. Sales are still decent," Jin Lanying said.
"The central government now proposes deep integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. I think it must be deeply integrated. Because raising cows is the foundation, do not just sell raw materials; quickly process them into commodities, and once processed into commodities they become industrial products, which is the secondary industry. Then send them to thousands of households, to the dining table; this is the tertiary industry, and it can drive a large number of people into employment." Jin Lanying said, "The same goes for our cooperative's cow dung. Next I plan to make small packages to suit household vegetable and flower growing. Small packages can be sold online and delivered to consumers' homes. Our honey and organic vegetables can also be delivered through this network to households, to ordinary people's homes."
The cooperative now makes a series of products, extending the industrial chain as much as possible. It has its own planting base, its own silage, raises its own cows, and also has its own pasteurized milk processing.
"The name is Yijinlan. The information in this name represents the trust in my brand. As long as there is a problem, people know to look for me, so the demands on our cooperative are also very high. We do not add a single grain of white sugar, not a drop of water, and no preservatives, and it is delivered to the home at seven in the morning. Although it has just started, its credibility is quite high, and everyone feels the taste is very good, as if they are drinking the flavor of the past. We have also opened a fresh milk bar in Tai'an," Jin Lanying said.
However, the shortage of funds is still a major constraint. "If you want to extend the industrial chain, you cannot invest without money, and the profit from raising cows is very low, so we cannot come up with the money, and for loans we do not have that much collateral, so we can only go step by step." Jin Lanying said that the problem of difficult financing for small and medium-sized enterprises has still not been solved and still requires further government support.
In addition, Jin Lanying also has her own views on the development of cooperatives. "The most important thing for a cooperative is the management issue, and then having a good leader. If there is no good leader with ideas, when everyone has gathered around you, how do you lead them? If there is no strict management system, the cooperative's vitality will not be strong."
"Properly speaking, a cooperative should have a team of entrepreneurs. This team needs to be cultivated. You can send them out to study and visit, and this team must be capable in management, finance and development strategy. But now there is still not much training specifically for cooperative chairmen. Whether rural areas take the cooperative path, or family farms, or leading enterprises, without a decent team of entrepreneurs, deep integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries cannot be achieved. Because these entrepreneurs need strategic vision and foresight; the mindset of a small peasant economy can never make it work," Jin Lanying said.