Yang Tianxiang did not wait or rely on others, and carved out a path to prosperity

Yang Tianxiang, a villager from Cuizhong Village, Jiangtai Township, Xiji County, was elected village director this year. His popularity comes from being the village's major cattle raiser and a leader in getting rich. When asked about his initial motivation for raising cattle, his answer was: follow the policies, but do not wait and rely on others. Having drive yourself is the key to prosperity.

The villagers "enviously" watched Yang Tianxiang raise cattle, which began in 2012. At that time, the villagers' income mainly depended on growing grain and working away from home. Yang Tianxiang had previously run transport. After several years, it sounded like he had made money, but he could not see it - "chasing debts wore him out." He heard that the agriculture department offered subsidies to cattle raisers, with a subsidy of 100 yuan per sq m for pens and sheds, plus discounted loans, so he immediately switched.

With a loan of 30,000 yuan, plus his savings, Yang Tianxiang built a 350 sq m cattle shed and bought 15 head of fattening cattle and base cows. The operation was set up, but the expected subsidy was not paid out immediately. After asking around, Yang Tianxiang learned that applicants had to be paid subsidies batch by batch, and his was relatively far back in line, so it could not be approved anytime soon. Yang Tianxiang, urgently needing money, felt "stuck." He had used up all his savings and was waiting for these tens of thousands of yuan in subsidies to buy forage.

Back home, after pacing around the cattle shed several times, Yang Tianxiang figured it out: "The subsidy has not come through, but I still cannot let the cattle lose condition. The government guiding farmers to raise cattle is certainly a good thing, but you cannot just rely on the government to arrange everything properly." Yang Tianxiang borrowed money from relatives and friends again and devoted all his energy to learning cattle-raising techniques.

Nearly two years later, the subsidy funds were in place. By then, Yang Tianxiang had already become the village's self-taught cattle-raising expert. Seeing that he raised cattle well and made money, the villagers came to him one after another to "seek advice." Yang Tianxiang did not hide anything either, and discussed and exchanged ideas with the villagers on everything from forage fermentation, marketing fattening cattle, cows calving, to disinfecting cattle pens.

In the past two years, targeted poverty alleviation has brought more good news to breeding households. A series of pro-farming policies, including forage subsidies, cattle shed subsidies, base cow subsidies, and subsidies for calves born to base cows, further inspired Yang Tianxiang's confidence in raising cattle. Now the number of cattle he raises has increased to 35 head. He plans to expand the breeding scale step by step and move toward specialized breeding.