Ecological black pig farming sets Zhang Kun on the road to prosperity

In Fanjiatun Village, Mishan Town, Wendeng District, Weihai City, Shandong Province, Zhang Kun, manager of Haopeng Green Breeding Farm, arrives at the pig pens at just past 7 every morning to feed the black pigs. Zhang Kun explains that these black pigs are all raised in the traditional way, fed purely on grain, and kept for more than a year before slaughter.

As society develops and people's ideas change, concepts such as "ecological farming" and "green diet" are receiving more and more attention. At present, one kilogram of black pork sells for a good price of 60 yuan on the market, yet demand still exceeds supply. Zhang Kun has raised ecological pigs the traditional way, worked out and summed up a unique set of "farming know-how," and built a green ecological pig farming base.

Zhang Kun explains that to ensure the excellent quality of the pork, the feed uses a traditional formula, mainly corn, soybean meal, bran, peanut vines and sweet potato vines ground up, increasing its crude fiber, so that the pigs grow meat that is delicious and good in texture, letting customers taste the most traditional flavor of pork.

At the time, as soon as Zhang Kun raised the idea of raising pigs himself, he met with opposition from his family. Everyone thought he had no experience in pig farming, and that going into pig raising was not very reliable. To make Zhang Kun give up this "crooked idea," his family brought in relatives to do his "ideological work." But Zhang Kun did not give up because of this. A few days later, Zhang Kun went to nearby pig farms to learn pig-raising methods. At the same time, he looked up all kinds of farming techniques in bookstores and listened to expert lectures, paving the way for his "grand plan" of starting a business.

In 2010, Zhang Kun founded his own pig farm. At first he raised only white pigs that grew up on feed, raising them in whatever way made the pigs grow fast and reach market weight quickly. Ordinary pigs, because they grow fast and produce a lot of meat, have always been the breed used in large-scale farming. Due to factors such as farming costs, market supply and demand, and even seasons and disease, the market price at slaughter fluctuates to a greater or lesser degree. The ups and downs of pork prices made it hard for many farmers to grasp the market situation. Zhang Kun, who loves to mull things over and think, quickly realized that as people's living standards improve, green and healthy food is increasingly favored by consumers, and on top of that the ordinary live pig market changes rapidly and is very unstable, so he began looking in many directions for a new path in farming.

In 2012, he happened to hear that someone had made a fortune raising black pigs, so he made a special trip to "learn from them," studying advanced farming techniques, and finally chose the excellent Licha black pig breed. He also invested more than 2 million yuan to expand his pig farm and build a black pig farming base covering more than 2,000 sq m. In addition, Zhang Kun purchased advanced equipment such as feeders, manure scrapers and automatic waterers, raising the black pigs entirely in accordance with the certification standards for pollution-free livestock products. Cleaning, washing, disinfecting and feeding were strictly controlled at every stage and carefully handled in every link.

Besides the excellent and pure breed, the farming method is also very unique. Zhang Kun says the pig manure at the farm is separated into dry and wet portions. The dry manure is returned to the fields, and the wet manure is purified through a septic tank and discharged only after meeting standards, turning pig manure from waste into a resource and recycling it.

Ordinary meat pigs can be fattened in less than half a year, while black pigs grow slowly and have a long rearing cycle, needing more than 12 months of farming before they reach market weight, so the farming cost is relatively high. But "ecological pork" is green and pollution-free, with tender meat, a delicate texture and high nutritional value, and it tastes more fragrant, tender and smooth than ordinary pork. This fully satisfies consumers' growing demand for green and healthy food, and Zhang Kun's original-ecology, high-quality black pork has become a hot favorite in the pork market.

After years of practice and accumulation, Zhang Kun has successfully figured out the "temperament" of black pigs in farming. The number of black pigs on his farm has grown to more than 200, and it has smoothly passed national certification for pollution-free livestock products, achieving a one-stop operation of breeding, farming and sales.

Zhang Kun realizes that to improve market competitiveness he must also have his own brand, and he is currently preparing to register a trademark of his own. On the basis of the existing scale of black pig farming, he says that next he will introduce some new excellent black pig breeds and expand the scale of black pig farming. At the same time, he will give full play to his expertise and advantages, providing black pig farming techniques and fine breeding stock to surrounding farmers, leading more farmers onto the road to prosperity through black pig farming, and turning black pigs into "golden pigs" that bring wealth to the family.