Raising cattle is a good path to prosperity, says Sainai

Sainai's Simmental cattle.

In the early spring, with the sunshine just right, when the reporter arrived at the home of Sainai, a herder in Bayinwula Gacha, Sangbaolage Sumu, Sonid Right Banner, he was tending to his cattle. The sturdy cattle gathered in twos and threes, basking leisurely in the sun.

Sainai is a major livestock-raising household in the gacha, with sheep and cattle at home and a sizable area of grassland. For many years he has persisted in scientific breeding, practicing rotational grazing by dividing the grassland into sections, and his annual income has been relatively stable. But as sheep prices fell in recent years, the cost of raising sheep gradually rose, and money was no longer as easy to make as before, which prompted Sainai to think about changing the direction of his animal husbandry development. Since he had also always raised cattle in the past and was fairly familiar with cattle habits, his attention gradually fixed on cattle.

After some comparison, and after carefully surveying the current animal husbandry market and conducting a detailed assessment of his grassland's carrying capacity and available labor, he concluded that raising cattle was more suitable than raising sheep. "Now a sheep can sell for at most 500 yuan, while a one-year-old cow can sell for 8,000 to 10,000 yuan. After deducting costs, I can earn 1,000 to 2,000 yuan from a cow, while the cost and profit of raising sheep are basically break-even." Sainai's analysis was clear and logical.

In the autumn of 2016, he made up his mind and sold off all more than 400 sheep. Apart from daily expenses and buying forage, he used the remaining money to buy 10 Simmental cattle. "Simmental cattle are good for both milk and meat, grow fast, adapt well, and tolerate extensive management, so they are more suitable for me than anything else. And with the league's policy of 'reducing sheep and increasing cattle,' I made up my mind to raise cattle." Just like that, Sainai went from a "major sheep-raising household" to a "major cattle-raising household."

A bold change in production methods must be supported by production technology, and Sainai is also a person who loves to learn and is careful. In order to raise cattle well, on the one hand he taught himself breeding techniques and gradually improved local cattle into Simmental cattle, which both saved costs and optimized the herd structure. At the same time, he also actively participated in training courses held at the league and banner levels, and whenever he encountered something he did not understand, he actively sought advice from experts and scholars in the gacha, sumu and banner. Through unremitting efforts, Sainai's herd grew from more than 30 cattle at the beginning to more than 60 now, and the quality of the cattle is getting better and better. In the improved-breed cattle evaluation held by the banner in 2016, his cattle won second prize for breeding bulls in one go and sold on the spot for 10,000 yuan. This was undoubtedly the best reward for Sainai's hard work and scientific breeding.

The more he raised cattle, the smoother it went, which filled Sainai with confidence: "Raising cattle is a good path to prosperity. The policies now are getting better and better too. This year the government even gives subsidies for buying Simmental cattle. I plan to buy 30 Simmental cattle at one time and roll up my sleeves to work hard!"