College graduate who returned home to raise goats fulfills his dream of prosperity

After graduating from Xi'an Vocational and Technical College in July 2003, he resolutely chose to return home to start a business, contracting barren hills to raise goats. Although he experienced many setbacks, he ultimately held fast to his dream. He is Zhao Yonggang, a young man from Lyu Village, Yanchi Township, Yao County, Tongchuan City.

Borrowing money to start a goat farm, just to care for his family

When Zhao Yonggang was job-hunting after graduation, with his solid professional skills he smoothly found a well-paid job at a large enterprise in Shanghai. Just as he was full of ambition, an accident at home shattered his ideal. It turned out that his father had suffered from polio since childhood and had difficulty moving, while his mother was ill and unable to care for his father, making an already poor family even worse off. The heavy burden of the family suddenly fell on the thin shoulders of Zhao Yonggang, who had just stepped out of school and had never weathered any storms.

After countless silent tears and painful choices, Zhao Yonggang decided to return home to start a business, caring for his parents while supporting the family through his own strength. After much comparison and investigation, Zhao Yonggang chose goat farming and established Yongzhuan Agricultural Co., Ltd.

In 2005, after the company was founded, it did not receive subsidies from the state or government because its scale was insufficient and its hardware facilities did not meet standards. At this time, goat prices happened to be sluggish. During this period, Zhao Yonggang was run off his feet, yet life became increasingly difficult. But Zhao Yonggang did not give up; he chose to take a temporary rest in order to make a comeback once the market improved.

Zhao Yonggang learned from his bitter experience and believed that he still had great shortcomings in judging market trends and opening up sales channels, so he began reading books on sales, exploring sales channels in many ways, and starting to get involved in online marketing. In 2015, goat prices fell sharply, and Zhao Yonggang thought the time was ripe. He borrowed 600,000 yuan and boldly bought at the bottom, restarting the goat farm. Because of insufficient funds, Zhao Yonggang's goat shed was built very crudely, and as a result, several goats froze to death that winter. With no other way, he covered the goat shed tightly with thatch, but "press down the gourd and up pops the ladle" - several more goats were at death's door and would not eat grass. A professional was called in to diagnose them, and it turned out they had caught an infectious disease because the goat shed was poorly ventilated. Only after great trouble did Zhao Yonggang solve the problem of making the goat shed both ventilated and warm.

Finding every possible way to learn about pest and disease prevention and control

Because the goat shed was small, many goats became infected with goat mite disease, causing large patches of hair to fall out and seriously affecting the goats' growth. The most troublesome thing was goat parasites; acute goat parasitic disease can cause goats to die within a few days. In 2015, 4 goats suddenly died, and only after Zhao Yonggang consulted experts did he understand that after he introduced breeding goats from outside, he had passed the parasites on to the original goats. After consulting a veterinarian, Zhao Yonggang also learned how to prevent and treat goat parasitic diseases.

After learning to prevent and treat common goat diseases, he found that even the seemingly simplest matters of goats eating grass and being fed involve many finer points. In the winter of 2015, because there was no green grass, Zhao Yonggang bought corn stalks and soybean stalks, crushed them and fed them to the goats. As a result, in less than half a month, many goats lost their appetite, gradually grew thin and became weak all over. Only after consulting many people did he learn that long-term feeding of coarse, hard-to-digest feed had caused the goats to develop a stomach disease called rumen atony, and it took great trouble to solve this problem. The following spring, after many goats had grazed their fill on the mountain, they lay on the ground bleating and shivering all over. A veterinarian took a look and said the goats had eaten too much and drunk too little water, causing their stomachs to swell sharply and leading to indigestion.

Firm in entrepreneurial confidence, building a stronger goat-raising business

In just over two years, Zhao Yonggang encountered many problems, and at first he lost more than half of his goats, but he endured it all. From 12 goats in 2005 to more than 300 now, he has made many people look at him with new respect and no longer laugh at him.

Now Zhao Yonggang has become half a goat-raising expert and can solve common problems himself. Zhao Yonggang told reporters that goats eat almost every kind of grass, so he plans to selectively sow herb seeds and other fast-growing forage grasses on the mountain every spring, and rotate grazing among the various mountain forests to ensure the quality of the forage grass while also preventing soil erosion caused by grazing. He is also cooperating with others, preparing to add Chinese medicinal herbs such as lingzhi to dry hay feed in winter when there is no green grass, so as to increase the nutritional value and immunity of the goats.

It has been 12 years since the company was founded. Speaking of his road to success from losing money to making money, Zhao Yonggang believes, "Since goat prices can fall sharply, they can certainly recover."

"Young people who go out to work can save at most 30,000 to 50,000 yuan a year. I raise about 300 goats at home, and after deducting all expenses, I still earn 300,000 yuan a year," Zhao Yonggang said proudly.

Although he has experienced too many setbacks and hardships, Zhao Yonggang has never regretted it. He is now even more confident in his goat-raising business, and his entrepreneurial passion is rising higher and higher...