Farmer woman earns 1 million yuan raising pigs in half a year, says the key is perseverance

Sister Li started raising pigs in the 1990s, and her pig-raising career has now lasted nearly 20 years. Over those 20 years, pig prices rose and fell continuously, and during that time Sister Li had both losses and gains in pig farming. She believes that raising pigs depends on perseverance, and that only by treating pig farming as a career and giving it her all can she make money. Pig prices began to rise steadily in the second half of 2015, and for a period the price even stayed above 10 yuan. Pig prices rose for a full year, and Sister Li not only earned back all the money she had lost, but also made a fairly good surplus.

Raising pigs is a common phenomenon in rural areas. Most rural pig farmers treat pig farming as a side business: they raise pigs when the market is good and stop when it is bad. Sister Li, however, does not do this. She believes that raising pigs depends on perseverance, and that only by treating pig farming as a career and giving it her all can she make money.

Sister Li started raising pigs in the 1990s, and her pig-raising career has now lasted nearly 20 years. At first, Sister Li and her husband went to Liaoyang to raise pigs for others, and in the end she took over a small pig farm and began raising pigs for herself.

Sister Li has already made pig farming her career, and the family's daily life is tied to pig farming. The family's expenses, from the children's schooling to oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar, all depend on the pigs.

At the beginning, Sister Li's pig house was just one small building, and her initial stock was 23 sows and 1 boar. In the early years, Sister Li's days raising pigs were very hard. She worked from dawn to dusk, cleaning the troughs and feeding, clearing manure and washing the pens, grinding feed and feeding the pigs, and so on. All the pig-raising work she did herself, and only she understood the hardships of a pig raiser.

Sister Li raised more and more pigs, and the pig farm grew larger and larger, developing to the current more than 300 sows and 10-plus boars, with separate farrowing houses and fattening pig houses. Sister Li also hired people to raise pigs. Raising pigs was no longer so tiring, yet the income from pig farming gradually increased. This year the pig market was good, and in the first half of 2016 alone, her pig farm's net profit already exceeded 1 million yuan.

Sister Li has a very deep understanding of the pig cycle. Over 20 years of raising pigs, pig prices rose and fell continuously, and during that time Sister Li had both losses and gains in pig farming. In the second half of 2013, pig prices began to fall continuously, dropping from more than 8 yuan to more than 7 yuan.

The continuously declining pig prices lasted until the first half of 2015. Not only was the pig price market bad, but feed prices also remained high, with corn at 1.3 yuan/jin. That period was Sister Li's lowest point, and also when she lost the most money in pig farming.

During that period, raising pigs meant losing money every day. The more pigs she raised, the more money she lost, and this lasted for two and a half years. Many pig farmers could not hold on and withdrew from the pig-raising industry one after another. But Sister Li kept persevering, because for her, who had raised pigs for many years, the rise and fall of pig prices was a natural law. It could not keep losing forever, and there would certainly be times to make money. Only by persevering in raising pigs would the low pig price market pass.

After the clouds parted, the sun appeared. Pig prices began to rise steadily in the second half of 2015, and for a period the price even stayed above 10 yuan. Pig prices rose for a full year, and Sister Li not only earned back all the money she had lost, but also made a fairly good surplus.

Sister Li views the rise and fall of pig prices with an ordinary mind. Whether prices drop or not, she still raises pigs, and she still reasonably controls the number of pigs raised according to her actual situation. She perseveres in raising pigs consistently, and her pig-raising business keeps getting better and better.

Finally, Sister Li summed up her insights from many years of raising pigs:

1. Choose good breeding stock. With good breeds, pigs have strong disease resistance, grow quickly, and fetch a higher selling price;

2. Do a good job in management. You must manage the pig herd well, especially the piglets. No matter how many piglets a sow gives birth to, you should do your best to keep all the piglets alive, which also increases the profit margin.

3. The key is perseverance. This is also the most important point: pig farming is not something you do today and stop tomorrow. Since raising pigs should be viewed from the perspective of long-term benefits, treat pig farming as a career, and you will not be far from making money from raising pigs.