Cattle Farming Leader Feng Lifeng Leads Villagers to Prosperity

In October 2008, Feng Lifeng graduated from the Chinese Department of Linfen College, Shanxi Normal University, and was selected as a college-graduate village official in Dongtaiji Village, Mingjiang Town, Hongtong County, Shanxi.

After taking up his post, he began investigating projects. After going door to door, he decided on raising beef cattle.

With strong support from the town government, not only was 3.5 mu of land coordinated and planned for building cattle sheds, but the rural credit cooperative also issued a loan of 90,000 yuan, and he and two other college-graduate village officials pooled another 70,000 yuan together. The project thus got off to a shaky start.

In October 2009, the cattle shed was built, and he purchased 11 Simmental cattle and 12 Charolais cattle from Shandong and within the province. In March 2010, the beef cattle officially entered the fattening stage.

He thought everything was on track. But in less than half a year, the beef cattle not only contracted foot rot and lay on the ground unable to stand, but also suffered from malnutrition and slow weight gain. Feng Lifeng read farming books while consulting local farming enterprises, becoming a student again.

Foot rot was caused by the dampness of the cattle shed and an imbalance of calcium and phosphorus in the feed. He immediately improved ventilation and lighting in the cattle shed and disposed of cattle manure on a regular schedule.

He gained a lot during that period and figured out some local farming methods. Over the course of a year, Feng Lifeng developed a feeding technique achieving a daily weight gain of 2-3 jin.

In 2011, 16 beef cattle were ready for market, and Feng Lifeng sold them all at a price 0.7 yuan higher than the market price, making a profit of 2,000 yuan per beef cow.

Fattening in the same year and seeing results in the same year, Feng Lifeng's small-scale, refined management approach was the right one. The villagers looked at him with trust, and many came to learn from his experience. "You should use 30 cattle to earn the money of 40 cattle." For investors in farming, he suggested, "Investment cost determines scale; doing it refined and small suits every household."

In 2011, in order to demonstrate and drive more farming households to prosperity, he established the Hengkeng Cattle Farming Professional Cooperative, absorbing 58 member households, with an average annual income of 26,000 yuan per cooperative member.

"In the first year, although the unit price of beef cattle was higher than the market average, overall it was still a loss. The money from sales was not enough to buy cattle, which directly led to a funding gap for purchasing feeder cattle and feed the following year."

Like other entrepreneurs, he had experience and confidence, but lack of funds became the immediate problem facing Feng Lifeng.

In order to ensure normal beef cattle fattening, he began buying beef cattle and feed on credit. Although it was a last resort, doing so allowed limited funds to be used where they mattered most.

Feed went from little to much, and settlement went from one month to half a year to once a year. Feng Lifeng built up credibility through buying on credit, and credibility in turn revitalized his funds, allowing limited funds to produce maximum utility.

What followed was that the cooperative's beef cattle grew from 30 head to nearly 100 head, output value exceeded 1 million yuan, and average annual profit reached more than 300,000 yuan.

From 0 to 1, Dongtaiji Village gained a stable farming industry, and Feng Lifeng also found a business fulcrum through the trials of entrepreneurship.

"With products, how can they be sold more effectively?" In 2014, he founded Canbaobao Culture Communication Co., Ltd., developing agricultural products with regional characteristics and creating a local brand. Its subsidiary Jinbei Agricultural Development Company adopted an order-based agriculture model, dealing in fresh vegetables, meat, eggs and other agricultural products. Zhenfu Zhenye Company combined health care concepts with local pillow culture to create cultural health care pillows.

In 2015, the company generated revenue of 1.1 million yuan. It not only signed supply and demand contracts with surrounding farmers and cooperatives, but also drove a group of farmers into employment.