Rural women strive to be leaders in getting rich through hard work, proving that women are no less capable than men

Hardworking and prosperous, bold and decisive - when such words are used to describe a woman, they only bring to mind the saying "women are no less capable than men." At the Fifth Company of Sanping Farm, there is such a female worker. Her name is Ma Xiufang, of Hui ethnicity, 49 years old this year. In recent years, she has been bold in exploration and taken the lead, and through her unremitting efforts and hard work, she has become a leader in getting rich, achieving a moderately prosperous life ahead of schedule.

Difficult exploration, daring to lead

Like every ordinary worker at the Fifth Company, contracting land was also the work Ma Xiufang first engaged in. But with social development, changes in the surrounding environment, and instability in market prices for agricultural products, she - who had always been farsighted - began to consider how to change her family's economic conditions and how to work hard to give her family a prosperous life. With the implementation of the farm's policy of diversifying workers' income, her thinking broadened. "Why can't I use the convenient resources available while farming to do some livestock breeding?" This idea sprang into her mind, and she acted on it immediately. After some investigation and deliberation, she decided to raise dairy cattle, which was rarely done at the time. Even among workers who did engage in livestock breeding, most raised sheep. Raising dairy cattle, first, required more initial investment than sheep, and second, few people raised dairy cattle, so there was little experience to draw on. However, as people's living standards improved, fresh milk became something most people wanted to buy but found hard to find, and at Sanping Farm the market prospects were far better than those for mutton. Seeing this, Ma Xiufang acted decisively and began her journey of raising cattle.

But everything is difficult at the beginning - raising funds, figuring out breeding methods, and so on. All kinds of difficulties stood before her like a boulder, leaving her, who had never raised dairy cattle before, completely in the dark, not knowing where to start. Through fundraising, the funding problem was temporarily solved, but then new problems arose. At first, due to lack of experience, improper feed mixing over a long period left the dairy cattle undernourished. When it came time for milk production, the per-cow yield was very low. Add to that limited market sales channels, and difficulties came one after another, catching her somewhat off guard. Yet she did not retreat, but faced the difficulties head-on. She learned feed mixing from experienced cattle raisers and re-explored and researched new feed formulas; she sought sales channels from retailers and buyers to ensure timely sales of fresh milk... Through constant exploration and constant effort, her cattle-raising path slowly got on track.

Perseverance, prospering through hard work

Seeing her business gradually get on track, Ma Xiufang began thinking about expanding the scale and reaching a higher level. But problems arose again. That year, because she increased the number of dairy cattle, and it happened to coincide with changes in the market economy, milk prices fell sharply. For a time, an economic crisis emerged, funds could not be turned over, and pressure from all sides left her feeling somewhat powerless. But she did not give up. She believed that as long as she kept persisting, there would always be a turnaround. Indeed, just when she was at her wit's end, the farm's support funds gave her hope again. "This really is timely help. The farm's support funds came at just the right time - simply a timely rain." With the funds in hand, she began adjusting her production structure, increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, improving feed processing methods and mixing methods, saving costs while improving feed quality and increasing nutrition, and strengthening breeding management, thereby raising healthier dairy cattle and improving both the yield and quality of fresh milk at the same time. In every production step, she personally took part and worked diligently, and ultimately things turned around and her business reached new heights. A portion of cultivation brings a portion of harvest. Seeing her hard work receive satisfactory returns further strengthened her confidence in raising cattle.

Leading the way to prosperity, stepping into moderate prosperity

Due to relocation and other reasons, the several dozen dairy cattle Ma Xiufang raises are now housed at the Sanping Farm cattle farm. The average yield of her dairy cattle has increased by more than two kilograms per cow per day compared with before, with per-cow yield reaching about 25 kilograms. Now, while ensuring her own annual income of at least 80,000, she has also helped a small number of people find reemployment and get rich together.

"I am very grateful to the farm for helping me when I was in the most difficult time, enabling me to overcome the difficulties. The farm's support gave me great motivation and confidence. In return, I will work even harder in the future at my dairy cattle breeding business, play a leading role, and drive everyone to get rich together!"

Persistence is victory, and hard work creates wealth. She is strong and courageous, unyielding, and she is also grateful and leads others to prosperity. In her, we truly understand what it means that "women are no less capable than men"!