Three brothers partner up in pig farming and embark on the road to prosperity
As the saying goes, when brothers are of one mind, their strength can cut through metal. Six years ago, the three Zheng brothers, who live in Xiquan Town, Fengyang County, all quit their well-paying jobs one after another to return home and engage in large-scale pig farming in order to care for their elderly parents. After enduring years of a sluggish market, the three brothers did not retreat; instead, they forged a path of green circular ecological agriculture.
To care for their elderly parents, the three brothers returned home to start a business
Before 2011, the three Zheng brothers were all working away from home. The eldest, Zheng Shuhui, worked in foreign trade at an enterprise; the second, Zheng Wentao, had been in the decoration business for many years; and the third, Zheng Wenqiang, was a team leader at a garment factory. All three had married. Although their incomes were substantial, they could never stop worrying about their parents back home. "Father used to work on a construction crew and accidentally fell from the top of a house, breaking his thigh, waist and foot bones, and he still hasn't fully recovered. Mother has also always been in poor health," said the third brother, Zheng Wenqiang. After some consideration, the three brothers decided to stay in their hometown and, in October 2011, jointly invested in raising pigs. From building pig sheds and installing water and electricity to scouting the market, the three each brought their own strengths into play and got along very harmoniously.
In the early days of the business, pig prices were not very good. "At the market rate then, each pig could only earn about 200 yuan, far worse than working away from home, and we all felt a bit disheartened," recalled the second brother, Zheng Wentao. After some soul-searching, they all agreed that fluctuations in pig prices are a law of the market, and that to earn greater profits they had to adopt moderate-scale farming.
"If the annual slaughter volume is over 1,000 head, there's a profit of about 200,000 yuan. If we want to expand, we'd need at least 500,000 to keep things running," said the third brother, Zheng Wenqiang, and his words strengthened everyone's confidence. After that, the three families put in all their savings and invested them in the operation.
Pig prices suffered a prolonged slump, and they gritted their teeth through the hard times
In the spring of 2014, pig prices fell to 5 yuan per jin, and in the three years since starting the business, they had not only failed to make money but had lost quite a lot. Desperate, they borrowed from every relative they had before they could pay off the outstanding debts for materials and feed. The neighbors who dealt with them were moved by the three brothers' hard work and honesty, and one after another they lent a helping hand, believing the brothers would surely get through the difficult times.
To recover funds, even though piglets were cheap, they still sold them at a low price. Pig prices were low, but feed prices such as corn remained high. To reduce farming costs, they began contracting land to grow corn. Since they had their own farm manure, not only was the fertilizer cost reduced, but the surrounding ecological environment was also improved, achieving two benefits at once.
They had borrowed from every relative they could, and cut every cost they could, yet pig prices still showed no bottom. At their wit's end, they heard they could apply for a loan, so the three brothers went to Fengyang Rural Commercial Bank to inquire. Unexpectedly, the bank granted each of the three families a credit line of 30,000 yuan, which gave them more confidence.
Hard work pays off, and effort is always rewarded. In 2015, pig prices began to recover and remained high for a long time, and they finally made a hefty profit.
Pursuing circular ecological agriculture, from single farming to diversified operations
The three brothers established the Xinquan Town Xinnong Pig Farm in Fengyang County. Today, on this site covering nearly 30 mu, there are standard workshops of 3,000 sq m, a living area of 400 sq m, and a biogas digester, manure drying yard, re-oxidation pond, disinfection room and medical room, with a full set of supporting functional facilities and a total investment of 2 million yuan.
"Now the annual slaughter volume is over 3,000 head, the annual biogas output is 20,000 cubic meters, and the biogas residue and slurry amount to over 1,000 tons," said the eldest brother, Zheng Shuhui. The surplus biogas is bagged and given free to more than a dozen village households, while the biogas residue and slurry are used by themselves as land fertilizer.
Drawing on years of farming experience, they felt that they had to develop diversified operations to effectively avoid risks. Previously, the three brothers had transferred dozens of mu of land to grow corn, but the plots were rather scattered. In recent years, as they had ample funds on hand, they visited Nanjing, Zhejiang and other places to investigate, and jointly decided to pursue circular ecological agriculture.
Last year, they transferred more than 100 mu of contiguous land from farmers and planted crops such as tomatoes, watermelons, strawberries, grapes and yellow peaches. After a year of cultivation, many varieties had borne fruit and achieved very good economic returns. The three brothers plan to combine planting and farming, pursue circular ecological agriculture, and build integrated agriculture that brings together sightseeing tourism, fruit picking, dining and entertainment, so as to maximize their own returns and also drive local residents to increase their income.