Huanghua Farmers Join with Cows as Shares, Fattening Their Wallets

With the state's support for the dairy industry, Wang Jianyong is full of confidence in the future development of the dairy cow cooperative.

The 24th of every month is the day Wen Rongxiang, a villager of Dazhao Village, Yang'erzhuang Township, Huanghua City, looks forward to most. On this day, his bank account receives that month's dividend of 4,200 yuan on time. "We don't have to feed the cows or manage them, and at the end of the month we can still collect dividends and count the money. Don't you think that's a good deal?" Wen Rongxiang said with a smile. The "good deal" Wen Rongxiang refers to is that he put his family's 18 dairy cows in as shares and joined the Huanghua City Zhenhua Dairy Cow Breeding Professional Cooperative. Calculated at a dividend of 2,800 yuan per cow per year, 18 cows can yield 50,400 yuan in dividends a year.

Previously, Wen Rongxiang and his wife raised cows at home themselves, bearing risks and spending great effort and energy, yet still not earning much over the whole year. Three years ago, the Huanghua City Zhenhua Dairy Cow Breeding Professional Cooperative near the village introduced a trusteeship model, and he "joined with cows as shares," tasting the benefits in the very month he signed the contract. "No longer raising cows, the two of us can free up time to work elsewhere. Working brings in 6,200 yuan a month, plus the 4,200 yuan dividend, that's over ten thousand yuan a month in income," Wen Rongxiang said. Now the couple earns over a hundred thousand yuan a year, and their life gets sweeter and sweeter.

The person paying dividends to Wen Rongxiang and his wife is Wang Jianyong, manager of the Huanghua City Zhenhua Dairy Cow Breeding Professional Cooperative. At present, the cooperative has over 600 dairy cows on hand, one third of which come from small-scale farmers like Wen Rongxiang. The cooperative exercises strict management over all dairy cows, with unified feed, unified epidemic prevention, unified milking, and unified disinfection. "All risks are borne by the cooperative; the farmers just sit at home and count the money," Wang Jianyong said with a smile.

Wang Jianyong, 45 years old, has dealt with dairy cows for nearly 30 years; he began feeding dairy cows at the age of 16. In 2008, Wang Jianyong began large-scale dairy cow breeding. Because the milk was of high quality and all tests met standards, he smoothly signed a contract with a well-known domestic dairy company, supplying fresh milk directly to its processing plant in Hebei.

In 2012, due to improper management, foot-and-mouth disease broke out at Wang Jianyong's dairy farm, causing heavy losses. Afterward, he summed up the lessons, strengthened epidemic prevention, and finally emerged from the trough.

Three years ago, national policy was adjusted to tighten control over the dairy industry, and small-scale dairy farmers were not allowed to raise cows, so some village dairy farmers sent their cows to him. Well aware of the hardships of small-scale farmers, Wang Jianyong drew on others' experience and introduced the "joining with cows as shares" trusteeship model. "You put money in the bank to earn interest; farmers put cows with me to share dividends, it's the same idea," Wang Jianyong said. He signs five-year or ten-year contracts with small-scale farmers, dividends arrive monthly, and when the contract expires, as many cows as were put in are returned, so small-scale farmers need not worry about their "principal."

In the past two years, the national dairy industry has declined, and Wang Jianyong's ability to hold on proves his strength. Even in difficult times, Wang Jianyong still paid the farmers the dividends agreed in the contracts on time, never shorting or delaying a single cent. "Compared with money, integrity is more precious." At present, the cooperative operates steadily, supplying nearly 5 tons of fresh milk to the processing plant every day.

A relevant person in charge of the Yang'erzhuang Township government said that Wang Jianyong's dairy cow cooperative has not only benefited 15 farming households like Wen Rongxiang, but every autumn harvest he also buys the crops of nearby villagers by the whole mu, seeking benefits for the villagers. He has purchased over 2,000 mu of corn fields and over 100 mu of alfalfa fields in total, not only offering a higher price than others, but also organizing machinery to harvest at their doors, saving the villagers any effort.

Because he led villagers to prosperity, in 2016 Wang Jianyong was awarded the honorary title of "Outstanding Young Talent" of Huanghua City. As for the cooperative's future, Wang Jianyong is full of confidence. He said the state's support for the dairy industry is growing stronger, and he plans to bring in a batch of modern equipment and continue expanding the cooperative's breeding scale.