A migrant worker youth transforms into a livestock farmer and becomes a leader in getting rich
In Qingshan Village, Chihe Town, Shiquan County, there is a vast concave mountain field where vegetation is lush and insects fly and birds sing. Those who often "deal with" this land are herds of cattle and sheep, and also their owner Tang He. Whenever the weather is clear, about 150 Boer goats and more than a dozen yellow cattle come to the hillside to graze, a rather spectacular sight. Such a large scale of livestock farming is the only one of its kind in the village, belonging to Tang He. Since returning home from working in Guizhou in 2012, Tang He has always played the role of a "desperately hard-working guy" on the road to entrepreneurship.
Talking about the reason for returning home to start a business, Tang He said that he had been out in the world alone for more than ten years, not only without making much money, but also always unable to reunite with his family. This wandering life was ultimately not a long-term solution. Besides, the entrepreneurial environment back home was getting better year by year. Starting a business at home meant both achieving employment at his doorstep and being able to care for the elderly and children, killing two birds with one stone.
Because his family was poor since childhood, Tang He dropped out of school in primary school. After leaving school, he farmed at home, fed pigs, and raised silkworms. At 15, he felt he had grown up and should go out into the world to try his luck. Years of doing hard labor away from home gradually gave rise to the idea of starting his own business and becoming a boss.
In 2014, Tang He returned to his hometown and saw that nearby villagers had all moved away and the surrounding land was all abandoned, so he thought of using these idle resources to develop the livestock industry. His wife strongly opposed this idea: "Other people's entrepreneurship takes them farther and farther away, but you go closer and closer. From Guizhou back to the county seat, and now from the county seat back home. How can others think highly of you? What little ambition!" Facing his wife's discouragement and insufficient startup capital, Tang He did not give up. He secretly encouraged himself: "Now the entrepreneurship policies are so good. As long as I work hard and am willing to do the work, I will definitely find a path to prosperity of my own."
Tang He did not wait or rely on others. Through self-raised funds and a government-subsidized interest-free loan of 210,000 yuan, he built 260 sq m of highly standardized sheep pens. From the first batch of 40 superior Boer goats introduced, after careful grazing and care, the herd has grown to more than 150 today.
Considering that cattle could also be grazed while herding sheep, Tang He boldly introduced 10 Simmental cows and 30 local yellow cattle, built 380 sq m of highly standardized cattle pens, and supported this with a drinking water project for humans and livestock and a 100-cubic-meter biogas construction project.
"At the beginning I didn't understand the technology. When giving birth, some cattle and sheep had difficult deliveries, and some newborns died right after birth. In addition, disease prevention was not done well, and many also died of illness, which caused me huge economic losses." Recalling these terrible past events, the more Tang He thought about it, the more bitter he felt. This was also the lowest point of his entrepreneurial career. He said: "What was worse was that I was deep in debt and unable to repay it. The whole family lost confidence in me and urged me to give up. Because of this, I often quarreled with my wife, and we even nearly divorced." Even so, Tang He still did not give up: if he gave up, how would his family live? How would the debts be repaid? Where would his dignity go? Since he had chosen this path, he had to keep going. Failure was not allowed; only success was acceptable! It was this belief that supported him all the way.
A successful person must have a path to success. Tang He loved to learn, ask questions, and study deeply. Through continuous "recharging" and learning, Tang He understood the methods of scientific livestock farming and animal husbandry. He also often squeezed out time to attend livestock technology training at various levels, making his farming path broader and more solid.
To get rich, first build roads. Qingshan Village is located in a remote area with extremely inconvenient transportation. As the livestock industry gradually grew, the feed needed also increased. Feed such as okara and distillers' grains still had to be purchased far away in Hanyin County. What drove him craziest was rainy days, when the muddy slope roads simply could not be driven on, becoming another major obstacle to the growth of his business.
2015 was a turning year for Tang He's career. He was fortunate enough to become a contact target of Li Qiquan, secretary of the Shiquan County Party Committee. Secretary Li deeply understood what Tang He thought and needed, strongly supported and helped his industrial development, and also coordinated relevant departments to build an industrial road in the village leading directly to his doorstep, instantly breaking the biggest bottleneck restricting development. "Secretary Li gave me tremendous help and support, making me even more confident in developing my business!" Tang He told us with gratitude.
As for the sales of cattle and sheep, Tang He never worried, because the cattle and sheep he raised were of good quality and favored by many traders. In addition, the hardened cement road reached his doorstep, so there was no worry about sales at all. At present, Tang He's cattle and sheep have been marketed in 4 batches, with an annual market volume of more than 80 head and an annual profit as high as 160,000 yuan.
While getting rich, Tang He did not forget his fellow villagers. He made it his wish to lead the villagers to get rich together. He took the initiative to help other villagers who were willing to develop livestock farming, imparted his farming experience and techniques to them without reservation, and even visited poor households to help them raise funds to develop livestock farming. Under his demonstration and drive, 5 large farming households emerged, and two chicken farms with an annual raising capacity of 10,000 birds were built, making him a model in the Qingshan area for getting rich and building a moderately prosperous life.
Yesterday a migrant worker lad, today a livestock farming king. The entrepreneurial story of Tang He, a homegrown farmer and migrant worker, has now become a much-told tale throughout the county. He told this writer that next he will continue to expand the scale, drive more poor households onto the path of getting rich and escaping poverty, and strive to make new contributions to the fight against poverty.