Post-80s female white-collar worker transforms into a rabbit farmer, starting a new career
Recently, "bunny girl" Xing Cuicui has had a few more worries on her mind. First, the rabbit farming cooperative has accumulated inventory during the process of buying back commercial rabbits, and lacks working capital; second, the 1,200-sq-m rabbit barn is dilapidated and in urgent need of rebuilding; third, she urgently needs to acquire artificial insemination technology for dairy cows.
"These issues all need to be resolved now. I am actively seeking support and hope to get help from the Agriculture Commission and other departments to help the cooperative get through its current difficulties," Xing Cuicui said.
Six years ago, Xing Cuicui, a post-80s young woman who had just graduated from university not long before, gave up her white-collar job in Shanghai with an annual salary of over 100,000 yuan, and without telling her parents came to Baoling Village, Huangpu Town, Qianshan County, Anhui, where she began her entrepreneurial journey on a weed-covered barren hill. Now, facing ever-increasing downward economic pressure, she is trying every possible way to actively respond to the unfavorable situation, and firmly believes the future will definitely get better.
Giving up a high salary to return home and start a business
"I grew up in Qianshan, and I love the environment here, with mountains and water, very beautiful." Xing Cuicui told this writer that she is especially attached to her hometown, and during her school years she would go back to visit her hometown every holiday.
The rapidly changing face of her hometown contrasted sharply with the dull monotony of city life, and Xing Cuicui developed the idea of returning home to start a business. In 2009, amid opposition from her parents and close friends, and the regretful and doubtful gazes of former colleagues, she returned to Baoling Village, Huangpu Town, without telling her parents. After research, she set her entrepreneurial target on rabbit farming.
"At the beginning of the business, I didn't understand anything, so I specially went to my alma mater, Anhui University. The school Youth League Committee helped form a 23-person entrepreneurial team, and based on local conditions and market development trends, we ultimately chose a business plan of raising meat rabbits." Talking about the hardships at the start, Xing Cuicui was quite emotional.
Annual income reaches more than 300,000 yuan
At the very beginning of the business, in order to save costs, she worked as her own laborer, carrying bricks and shoveling sand under the scorching sun. When there were not enough new bricks, she tore them out of old walls. Even tasks like sawing boards and nailing rabbit birthing boxes she completed all by herself.
In October 2009, Xing Cuicui's rabbit farm was basically completed, and the first batch raised a total of 800 meat rabbits. But just before they were due to be sent to market at the end of the year, the rabbits became infected with an epidemic disease and died in large numbers, and the 140,000 yuan invested in the early stage was almost entirely lost.
Just when Xing Cuicui suffered this heavy blow and was almost about to give up, departments such as the Qianshan County Women's Federation and the Youth League Committee promptly lent a hand and helped her obtain a 300,000-yuan government-subsidized interest loan. To support his daughter's business, Xing Cuicui's father took early internal retirement, and her mother also gave up her job, and they came together from Shanghai to Qianshan to start the business with her. All of this strengthened Xing Cuicui's determination to pursue her business.
Xing Cuicui slowly got through the difficulties, and the rabbit farm began to get on track. In 2010, the rabbit farm successively raised 3 batches of breeding rabbits. In 2013, Xing Cuicui also rented more than 260 mu of Huangshan, further expanding the scale of farming. Now, the farm has 6 staff members, annual income reaches more than 300,000 yuan, and it has led many villagers onto the road to prosperity.
Trying things around "Internet Plus"
In order to further expand scale and help more people become prosperous, Xing Cuicui took the lead in 2010 in establishing the Qianshan County Lvye Livestock and Poultry Breeding Professional Cooperative, adopting a "company + farmers" model, providing farmers with breeding rabbits, farming technology, forage seeds, feed and vaccines, and responsible for buying back commercial rabbits. At present, the cooperative has more than 160 member households. Members can learn farming technology at the cooperative for free, with food and lodging included, and no fees are charged at all in between.
64-year-old Jia Furong is a member of the cooperative. She began learning rabbit farming techniques from Xing Cuicui in 2012. Now she raises more than 1,000 rabbits, and last year's profit exceeded 20,000 yuan.
Since 2014, as downward economic pressure has increased, meat rabbit prices have remained sluggish, greatly affecting rabbit farming. Many small-scale households no longer raise rabbits, while some large-scale breeders are in a wait-and-see state. The uncertainty of the market has left many breeders, including Xing Cuicui, feeling unprecedented confusion.
In addition to seeking financial support, Xing Cuicui has also made some other attempts, including establishing dairy cow farming and dairy processing projects. Daily sales of fresh milk and dairy products reach 1,000 yuan, and in 2014 she introduced Anqing's first fresh milk bar, specializing in the sale of fresh milk and dairy products.
Next, Xing Cuicui also plans to make some explorations and efforts around "Internet Plus." "Now, we have already opened a WeChat platform. Using WeChat, we can launch different dairy products for different groups of people and continuously improve product quality," Xing Cuicui said.