People's Daily reports: Following the association saves worry and makes money

Professional services save effort and worry

“In the past I had to worry about everything, big and small. After joining the association, raising pigs has become easier and less worrisome.” After raising pigs for more than 20 years, Li Meisheng says he has only now really found the knack.

Zhangshu City in Jiangxi Province is a major national pig-producing county, with more than 1 million pigs sent to market annually, and pig farming is an important source of income for farmers.

In 2004, because Li Meisheng had not done a good job of disease prevention, swine fever struck and more than half of the pigs about to be sent to market died, costing him more than 70,000 yuan in one blow. In 2007, he joined the Changfu Town Pig Farming Association, and epidemic prevention and vaccine injections were handled by the association through Lühuan Animal Husbandry Group, which arranged for professionals to provide door-to-door service. Not only was epidemic prevention less worrisome, buying feed also saved money. “Call one day, and the next day the company sends a truck over. A truckload of feed is more than 70 yuan cheaper than on the market.”

Old Li also experienced the benefits of standardized farming. “The standardized pig house has a good environment, so the pigs eat well, sleep soundly, and get sick less often. The cycle for sending them to market is half a month earlier than before, and each pig costs more than 100 yuan less on average.”

What made Li Meisheng even happier was that the breed was improved. “With the old native pigs, a sow gave birth to only seven or eight piglets a year. With the new breed, each sow can give birth to as many as 16 piglets a year, and the feed-to-meat ratio is high. Raising one pig can save more than 70 yuan in costs, and when sent to market it also brings three to four jiao per kilogram more than ordinary pigs.”

“In recent years, with Jiangxi Lühuan Animal Husbandry Group as the leader, we have promoted the ‘company + association + farming households’ business model. More than 30 pig farming associations have been established across the city, and more than 70 percent of farming households have joined. Using pig farming associations as a link, we have improved the degree of organization in pig production and reduced their farming risks.” said Zou Shaolin, director of the city's Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Bureau. At present, the coverage rate of improved breeds and improved methods in pig farming across the city has reached 70 percent, sows produce an average of 12 piglets a year, and the pig mortality rate is kept below 5 percent.

Market-oriented services solve the difficulty of selling

Pigs must be raised well, and market risks must also be avoided, so that farming households can make money.

At the pig farm of Wang Lingang, a large pig farmer in Xibao Village, Lujiang Subdistrict, a group of farmers were busy catching pigs, weighing them, and loading them onto trucks. In a short while, 300 pigs filled 2 trucks. “With the association's market information, this batch of pigs sold for 14.8 yuan per kilogram, 2 jiao higher than the market price.” Wang Lingang said happily.

Wang Lingang said that in the past farmers followed their feelings about pig prices and often failed to hit the right moment. “At the end of 2007, pig prices rose sharply, with live pigs reaching 18 yuan/kg, so I quickly restocked while the market was good. I did not expect that in 2008 the national pig market would have supply exceeding demand, and prices kept falling. That year I lost more than 100,000 in total.”

After joining the Xibao Village Pig Professional Association in 2010, Wang Lingang gained another channel for finding out about pig price trends across the country. “The association set up a sales fleet with 48 transport vehicles and also established 23 long-term pig purchasing points in Liaoning, Shandong, Jilin, and other places.” Wang Lingang said that these sales outlets scattered across the country became the association's “ears on the wind,” and no matter where there was any change in the market, the association could always learn about it first and pass the news on to farming households.

Although the pig market is unpredictable, with the association's help, Wang Lingang still successfully avoided several troughs in pig prices in recent years and recovered more than 300,000 yuan in losses.

It is understood that more than 80 percent of associations in Zhangshu City have set up pig sales teams. The pig sales network covers 28 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, sells more than 1 million pigs annually, and has sales of 1.5 billion yuan.

In recent years, pig prices have been like a “roller coaster,” and Wang Dongxin, president of Lühuan Animal Husbandry Group, who has struggled in the industry for nearly 20 years, also says he cannot make sense of it. He believes that to truly and effectively reduce market risks in pig farming, the key is to change the traditional logistics model dominated by live transport and develop deep-processing industries locally.