The old sheep farmer led a team of "sheep people" and everyone got rich

"If 'Old Man Yi' hadn't encouraged me to raise sheep, there's no way I could have embarked on the road to prosperity." Speaking of the sheep-raising industry, Ding Zujiang of Shangyizhai Group, Houba Village, Pingzhuang Town, Cengong County, Guizhou Province, talked on and on, saying that this winter he expects to sell more than 70 commercial sheep, earning at least 50,000 yuan.

The "Old Man Yi" Ding Zujiang mentioned is none other than Yi Zhongxiang, an old Party member of Xiaohexi Group, Houping Village, Houpingzhuang Town. Talking about his experience raising sheep, Yi Zhongxiang, now 66 years old, delightedly said that Houping Village has more mountains and less land, good vegetation and a beautiful environment, making it suitable for breeding. Before Liberation, his elders had also herded cattle and raised sheep for landlords and rich peasants, so from childhood he had a deep affection for raising sheep and also accumulated a lot of experience in sheep raising. In 2007, in order to develop the industry, at the initiative of the village Party branch, Yi Zhongxiang, who had more than 30 years of Party membership, took the lead in developing the local goat breeding industry, investing nearly 20,000 yuan to build pens and purchase more than 20 ewes to raise. In just one year, his sheep inventory reached more than 100. Afterward, as the scale of his sheep inventory continued to grow, his annual income from selling commercial sheep reached about 60,000 yuan. Because the local goat he raised was fresh, tasty and of good quality, it was highly favored by the market. He established supply and marketing outlets with bosses in Kaili City, Tongren City and Huaihua, Hunan, and the products were in short supply. In 2015, his sheep inventory reached more than 120, and he sold nearly 100 commercial sheep annually, achieving an income of 80,000 yuan.

"I really thank 'Old Man Yi' for providing me with technical guidance and also helping me sell commercial sheep." Yi Deyong of Xiaohexi Group, Houping Village, said gratefully that in 2011, with Yi Zhongxiang's help, Yi Deyong took up sheep raising. At the beginning, he lacked technical knowledge of sheep raising and did not understand epidemic prevention. Once, 30 goats he was raising came down with mange, and some were already at death's door, so he immediately asked Yi Zhongxiang for help. After Yi Zhongxiang diagnosed them, he gave him a prescription for treatment. In less than two days, the 30 sheep he was raising began to eat grass and pulled through, saving him economic losses of more than 30,000 yuan.

In order to advance the pace of poverty alleviation, drive more people to prosperity, and achieve "group" industrial development, Yi Zhongxiang actively mobilized poor farmers around him to raise sheep. When some people had no capital to buy ewes, he sold them his own ewes on credit to raise; when some people had no skills, he taught them sheep-raising techniques without reservation. At first, "Old Man Yi's" children did not understand him, believing that helping other villagers raise sheep would take away business and was not worthwhile; some neighbors also laughed at him for being foolish, saying that selling ewes to villagers not only earned no money but also required helping with epidemic prevention and management... Facing all this, he just smiled and said: "Being rich alone does not count as being rich; only when everyone is rich does it count as being rich."

In recent years, under Yi Zhongxiang's leadership, a "sheep people" team has emerged in the whole village. At present, the village has 9 sheep-raising households, with nearly 700 sheep in inventory, generating more than 700,000 yuan in income each year for poor breeding households, and the people respectfully call him "Old Man Yi."

According to Ran Mengping, Party secretary of Houping Village, the village has 588 households and 2,431 people, with 111 poor households and 424 people, and was listed by the county as one of the villages to be lifted out of poverty this year. In the future, relying on the sheep-raising foundation laid by Yi Zhongxiang, the plan is to develop another 10 poor sheep-raising households, with more than 1,500 sheep in inventory, annual income of about 1.5 million yuan, and drive more than 20 poor households and nearly 100 people to achieve the goal of poverty alleviation.