Returning Home to Raise Cattle Leads to Wealth: Cheng Bingjun of Qiganjide Township, Fuhai County, Forges a Path to Higher Income

"Moo, moo..." Recently, before even stepping into the Jinshan Large-tailed Sheep Cooperative in Qiganjide Township, Fuhai County, the calls from the cattle pen could already be heard. Upon entering, it turned out that Cheng Bingjun from Kezileuyingke Village and his wife were adding feed for the cattle, which set the cows to mooing. Looking at the sturdy brown cattle, Cheng Bingjun said cheerfully: "It's fattening cattle that have changed my life."

Cheng Bingjun feeding the cattle

Cheng Bingjun, a villager of Kezileuyingke Village in Qiganjide Township, Fuhai County, dared to innovate. With unyielding stubbornness and an enterprising tenacity, he became wealthy by raising cattle and became a model for local villagers to learn from.

Before 2013, Cheng Bingjun had always made a living by farming elsewhere. For more than ten years, although the family could not be called wealthy, they lived quite well. Unexpectedly, in 2013, a large-scale red rust disease left the 300 mu of land he had contracted with no harvest at all. So he returned to his hometown, determined to develop the breeding industry. Through analysis, he believed that raising cattle was more cost-effective, as beef is not only delicious but also sells at a higher price.

The idea was there, but he could not find a suitable site. After learning of this situation, the township government actively coordinated and allowed Cheng Bingjun to join the township's Jinshan Large-tailed Sheep Cooperative. After coming to the cooperative, Cheng Bingjun had a breeding site to use for free. In the early days of raising cattle, Cheng Bingjun had neither technology nor experience, and spent a high price to buy 40 calves of not very good breed.

From then on, he learned breeding knowledge while raising cattle. Whenever he had time, he ran to other breeders to learn techniques, beginning a life of spending all day with cattle: on ordinary days, he was a "cattle nanny," caring for them carefully; when the cattle got sick, he was the "veterinarian," personally giving injections for disease prevention. Hard work pays off, and Cheng Bingjun earned 50,000 yuan in his first year.

The "first bucket of gold" let him see the prospects of raising cattle and strengthened his confidence even more. In 2015, with breeding experience, Cheng Bingjun purchased 80 **brown cattle. To do a good job in livestock production, one must first grow one's own feed well. Driven by such a simple belief, Cheng Bingjun and his wife planned and improved the 300 mu of contracted land, planting 200 mu with silage and 60 mu with alfalfa. As the scale of breeding expanded, it brought him great economic returns and let the whole family see the hope of becoming rich through livestock production.

Today, Cheng Bingjun has become a major breeding household in the village. Seeing that Cheng Bingjun improved his quality of life by raising cattle, other villagers have come one after another to ask him about breeding techniques.