Zhang Xinghai Gets Rich Raising Sheep

For 6 years he has raised sheep, persisting without regret; for 6 years he has pursued his entrepreneurial dream, never swerving from his resolve. He is Zhang Xinghai, a specialized sheep farmer in the Longhe Forest Resource Management and Protection Area of the Amuer Forestry Bureau.

Zhang Xinghai, now 56 years old, was originally a chainsaw operator in the Changshan Management and Protection Area, a post he held for 16 years. In the spring of 2010, recognizing that the goat market price was high and goats bred quickly, he decided to go into goat farming, investing 20,000 yuan to buy more than 30 goats locally and embarking on the road of entrepreneurship.

Although the Longhe Management and Protection Area solved the problem of a goat farming site for Zhang Xinghai, because he had no farming experience, after one year not only had the flock not grown in size, but more than 30 foundation goats and kids had died of disease, a loss of 15,000 yuan.

Where you fall, there you must get back up. Unwilling to admit defeat, Zhang Xinghai began humbly learning farming experience and advanced management methods from other farmers, and consulting professional technicians about disease prevention knowledge. With this technical knowledge, he could vaccinate the sheep himself, administer deworming medicine, and treat sick goats, raising the goat survival rate by 85%-90%.

As the flock grew in size, in 2014 Zhang Xinghai built a new pen of more than 100 sq m behind the original housing, with good ventilation and lighting, and the Management and Protection Area also provided him with more than 200 sheets of tin roofing. The careful support of the Management and Protection Area strengthened Zhang Xinghai's determination to pursue his business, and also strengthened his confidence in following a standardized, scientific farming path. He insists on green farming, grazing the sheep for two hours each morning and evening, letting the sheep freely eat green grass among the mountain forests, which improved the quality of the goat meat and lowered farming costs.

Zhang Xinghai did the math: raising one goat takes two years to reach market weight, and after deducting feed and disease prevention costs, the cost of one goat is about 270 yuan. At the current market price of 26 yuan per kilogram for whole goat, one goat can earn more than 500 yuan, and with more than 30 goats sold per year, that means earning more than 15,000 yuan a year.

Today, Zhang Xinghai's family has nearly 300 goats, making him a major farmer. Having found success, he often shares his "sheep wisdom" with new sheep farmers, helping them get on the road to prosperity. Under his demonstration and guidance, another household in the Management and Protection Area has now joined the ranks of farmers.