Fish Farming Is Like Trading Stocks: Success or Failure Hinges on Carefulness and Contentment
Summary of the Details of Success and Failure in Fish Farming: Fish Farming Is Like Trading Stocks, Requiring Both Carefulness and Contentment
Southern Rural News report:
"Sharp-minded, careful and meticulous in his work, good at summing up experience, and never fighting a battle unprepared" is how friends around him describe Huang Quangen. An ordinary farmer in Doumen District, Zhuhai City, he has been engaged in aquaculture for more than ten years and has experienced both success and failure. In his view, every experience of success or failure is good material for learning and can serve as a reference and guide for the next success. It is precisely because of this earnestness that in recent years of farming, success has frequently extended an olive branch to him.
Do not covet maximum profit
When selling fish, Huang Quangen generally does not like to follow the "mass line" - selling during the peak fish harvest period - nor is he greedy enough to wait for the fish price to rise another few mao before selling. Instead, he obtains more information about market conditions from fish brokers, feed mills, distributors and other farmers, and after comprehensive analysis and judgment, determines a basic profit range before deciding whether to sell the fish, taking profit when it is good. Therefore, he can always "go empty" at the right time when fish prices are relatively high, and make money.
Take the cold wave in mid-November as an example. Huang Quangen planned to sell the barramundi raised in a clear-water pond at the beginning of the month, and had agreed with a fish broker on a price of 9 yuan/jin. However, because the fish broker had taken too many orders, he did not come to collect the fish for a long time, and the agreed price also dropped from 9 yuan/jin to 8.5 yuan/jin. At this time, the weather also began to turn colder, and based on experience Huang predicted that as the temperature dropped, the cold-intolerant barramundi would suffer frostbite and death, and by then the price would fall further.
"Leave quickly and you'll be fine" - just as the cold wave had only just arrived and many farmers still held onto a fluke mentality, Huang called a fish collection truck and decisively sold at 8 yuan/jin (still profitable). Because the truck could not load it all at once, a few hundred jin of fish were left in the pond. Precisely because of this, during this cold wave only a few hundred jin of fish died from freezing, with a loss of five or six thousand yuan, which was negligible compared with other farmers. Many farmers could only sell at 3 yuan/jin or 2 yuan/jin after the fish were frostbitten, and suffered disastrous losses all at once. Despite this successful "liquidation," Huang Quangen was still not very satisfied: "I was still a bit negligent."
In addition to accurately judging market trends and being content and happy, Huang Quangen believes it is also necessary to choose the right species.
For a long time, the phenomenon of following the crowd in aquaculture has been common in the industry. The phenomena of "rushing in all at once" and "scattering in a hubbub" occur every year. The cause, process and result of the "case" are similar, only the species are different. The blindness of farming has caused many farmers to suffer losses, especially when market conditions are poor. However, Huang Quangen never joins the crowd. Before stocking fry, he always conducts a detailed investigation: which species are suitable for local farming, among these suitable species which ones can make money, and among these profitable species, if others raise a lot of them he raises fewer or none, while if others do not raise them or raise few, he chooses to raise more.
Feed selection: value quality over quantity
Feed is the largest expenditure item in farming costs. Whether the right feed is chosen determines whether costs are high or low. Huang Quangen believes that feed selection is a key link to success: "If the direction is wrong, you could lose several hundred thousand yuan." He has always believed that "you get what you pay for, and cheap goods are not good." After comparing and using feed from multiple brands, he summed up a piece of experience: he examines feed quality and cost-effectiveness from several aspects, such as feed conversion ratio, fish body shape, and physical vitality, among other comprehensive considerations.
He explained that, for example, although some feeds produce very high yields, the fish raised on such feed have poor physique and are often easily injured and lose scales when the pond is seined, and are also prone to dying after netting. Such feed should be excluded from the selection range. "Good feed is not necessarily the one with the highest yield, but it is definitely the one with the most stable effect."
As for choosing feed manufacturers, he favors large manufacturers with strength. In his view, large manufacturers have abundant capital strength, sufficient raw material reserves, and strong scientific research capabilities. They always outperform others in formula research, their feed effects are stable, and overall benefits are high. Moreover, under normal circumstances, large manufacturers have relatively good quality and reputation guarantees: "Working with them leaves fewer worries."
Huang Quangen currently has a farming area of more than 100 mu, mainly raising species such as barramundi, red drum, and terapon. These fish with high economic value eat very aggressively, and daily feed expenses are large. In order to reduce feed costs, he chooses to take goods directly from the manufacturer, saving a few yuan per bag of feed, which adds up to no small amount over a year.
Good at summing up management details
Although there are workers looking after the farm, Huang Quangen has never relaxed management. He eats and lives on the farm and personally oversees 100% of matters big and small. "Which farm owner doesn't have a bit of mud and traces of sunlight on him?"
Under his management, the workers can each perform their duties and manage their own "responsibility fields." "How much feed to put in, what medicine to use, and when to use it - I write it all down clearly on paper, explain it well to the workers, and urge them to do it well." He believes that only meticulous management can lead to success, but it does not mean doing everything personally: "Of course, patrolling the pond every day is also indispensable."
"In management, you must learn to be flexible and not rely entirely on experience and habit." Huang Quangen said. Take this cold wave as an example again. According to past convention, many farmers are used to building winter greenhouses only after two cold waves and in the tenth lunar month. The early arrival of the cold wave caught many people off guard, and quite a few fish and shrimp died. "This year has a leap month, so you cannot still go by habit and lunar calendar time. It is best to cover the greenhouse after the Start of Winter." Because Huang Quangen covered the greenhouse early, the fry that needed to overwinter suffered almost no damage.
In farming techniques, Huang Quangen is also good at summing up. He likes to exchange farming experience with friends in the industry. Through other people's successful and unsuccessful cases, he summarizes which practices are feasible and which are not, so that he can adopt or avoid them in his own farming process. Take raising barramundi as an example: you can only feed them to eight-tenths full; growing a bit slower actually gives them a better physique and makes them less prone to disease. If they eat too full and grow too fast, then when disease invades they are more likely to fall ill, and the mortality rate is also higher. "However, not everyone is willing to tell you all their experience. Often they only tell half and not the other half. The remaining half requires you to go back and think it over carefully, then comprehend the reasoning based on your own experience. Absorb what is useful and discard what is not."
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Practical insights worth learning from.
--------------------------------------
I learned these two points:
Identifying feed: examine feed quality and cost-effectiveness: comprehensively consider feed conversion ratio, fish body shape, physical vitality and several other aspects.
Feeding method: feed to eight-tenths full; growing a bit slower actually gives better physique and makes them less prone to disease. If they eat too full and grow too fast, then when disease invades they are more likely to fall ill, and the mortality rate is also higher. Maintaining a strong appetite in the animals over the long term makes a lot of sense, and is somewhat similar to raising pigs
"Sharp-minded, careful and meticulous in his work, good at summing up experience, and never fighting a battle unprepared" is how friends around him describe Huang Quangen. An ordinary farmer in Doumen District, Zhuhai City, he has been engaged in aquaculture for more than ten years and has experienced both success and failure. In his view, every experience of success or failure is good material for learning and can serve as a reference and guide for the next success. It is precisely because of this earnestness that in recent years of farming, success has frequently extended an olive branch to him.
Do not covet maximum profit
When selling fish, Huang Quangen generally does not like to follow the "mass line" - selling during the peak fish harvest period - nor is he greedy enough to wait for the fish price to rise another few mao before selling. Instead, he obtains more information about market conditions from fish brokers, feed mills, distributors and other farmers, and after comprehensive analysis and judgment, determines a basic profit range before deciding whether to sell the fish, taking profit when it is good. Therefore, he can always "go empty" at the right time when fish prices are relatively high, and make money.
Take the cold wave in mid-November as an example. Huang Quangen planned to sell the barramundi raised in a clear-water pond at the beginning of the month, and had agreed with a fish broker on a price of 9 yuan/jin. However, because the fish broker had taken too many orders, he did not come to collect the fish for a long time, and the agreed price also dropped from 9 yuan/jin to 8.5 yuan/jin. At this time, the weather also began to turn colder, and based on experience Huang predicted that as the temperature dropped, the cold-intolerant barramundi would suffer frostbite and death, and by then the price would fall further.
"Leave quickly and you'll be fine" - just as the cold wave had only just arrived and many farmers still held onto a fluke mentality, Huang called a fish collection truck and decisively sold at 8 yuan/jin (still profitable). Because the truck could not load it all at once, a few hundred jin of fish were left in the pond. Precisely because of this, during this cold wave only a few hundred jin of fish died from freezing, with a loss of five or six thousand yuan, which was negligible compared with other farmers. Many farmers could only sell at 3 yuan/jin or 2 yuan/jin after the fish were frostbitten, and suffered disastrous losses all at once. Despite this successful "liquidation," Huang Quangen was still not very satisfied: "I was still a bit negligent."
In addition to accurately judging market trends and being content and happy, Huang Quangen believes it is also necessary to choose the right species.
For a long time, the phenomenon of following the crowd in aquaculture has been common in the industry. The phenomena of "rushing in all at once" and "scattering in a hubbub" occur every year. The cause, process and result of the "case" are similar, only the species are different. The blindness of farming has caused many farmers to suffer losses, especially when market conditions are poor. However, Huang Quangen never joins the crowd. Before stocking fry, he always conducts a detailed investigation: which species are suitable for local farming, among these suitable species which ones can make money, and among these profitable species, if others raise a lot of them he raises fewer or none, while if others do not raise them or raise few, he chooses to raise more.
Feed selection: value quality over quantity
Feed is the largest expenditure item in farming costs. Whether the right feed is chosen determines whether costs are high or low. Huang Quangen believes that feed selection is a key link to success: "If the direction is wrong, you could lose several hundred thousand yuan." He has always believed that "you get what you pay for, and cheap goods are not good." After comparing and using feed from multiple brands, he summed up a piece of experience: he examines feed quality and cost-effectiveness from several aspects, such as feed conversion ratio, fish body shape, and physical vitality, among other comprehensive considerations.
He explained that, for example, although some feeds produce very high yields, the fish raised on such feed have poor physique and are often easily injured and lose scales when the pond is seined, and are also prone to dying after netting. Such feed should be excluded from the selection range. "Good feed is not necessarily the one with the highest yield, but it is definitely the one with the most stable effect."
As for choosing feed manufacturers, he favors large manufacturers with strength. In his view, large manufacturers have abundant capital strength, sufficient raw material reserves, and strong scientific research capabilities. They always outperform others in formula research, their feed effects are stable, and overall benefits are high. Moreover, under normal circumstances, large manufacturers have relatively good quality and reputation guarantees: "Working with them leaves fewer worries."
Huang Quangen currently has a farming area of more than 100 mu, mainly raising species such as barramundi, red drum, and terapon. These fish with high economic value eat very aggressively, and daily feed expenses are large. In order to reduce feed costs, he chooses to take goods directly from the manufacturer, saving a few yuan per bag of feed, which adds up to no small amount over a year.
Good at summing up management details
Although there are workers looking after the farm, Huang Quangen has never relaxed management. He eats and lives on the farm and personally oversees 100% of matters big and small. "Which farm owner doesn't have a bit of mud and traces of sunlight on him?"
Under his management, the workers can each perform their duties and manage their own "responsibility fields." "How much feed to put in, what medicine to use, and when to use it - I write it all down clearly on paper, explain it well to the workers, and urge them to do it well." He believes that only meticulous management can lead to success, but it does not mean doing everything personally: "Of course, patrolling the pond every day is also indispensable."
"In management, you must learn to be flexible and not rely entirely on experience and habit." Huang Quangen said. Take this cold wave as an example again. According to past convention, many farmers are used to building winter greenhouses only after two cold waves and in the tenth lunar month. The early arrival of the cold wave caught many people off guard, and quite a few fish and shrimp died. "This year has a leap month, so you cannot still go by habit and lunar calendar time. It is best to cover the greenhouse after the Start of Winter." Because Huang Quangen covered the greenhouse early, the fry that needed to overwinter suffered almost no damage.
In farming techniques, Huang Quangen is also good at summing up. He likes to exchange farming experience with friends in the industry. Through other people's successful and unsuccessful cases, he summarizes which practices are feasible and which are not, so that he can adopt or avoid them in his own farming process. Take raising barramundi as an example: you can only feed them to eight-tenths full; growing a bit slower actually gives them a better physique and makes them less prone to disease. If they eat too full and grow too fast, then when disease invades they are more likely to fall ill, and the mortality rate is also higher. "However, not everyone is willing to tell you all their experience. Often they only tell half and not the other half. The remaining half requires you to go back and think it over carefully, then comprehend the reasoning based on your own experience. Absorb what is useful and discard what is not."
--------------------------------------
Practical insights worth learning from.
--------------------------------------
I learned these two points:
Identifying feed: examine feed quality and cost-effectiveness: comprehensively consider feed conversion ratio, fish body shape, physical vitality and several other aspects.
Feeding method: feed to eight-tenths full; growing a bit slower actually gives better physique and makes them less prone to disease. If they eat too full and grow too fast, then when disease invades they are more likely to fall ill, and the mortality rate is also higher. Maintaining a strong appetite in the animals over the long term makes a lot of sense, and is somewhat similar to raising pigs