Eight years of pig farming through three ups and downs, never forgetting the original aspiration of entrepreneurship, hoping to realize the dream of prosperity
Flashback
Tong Xiulan, a villager from Zhangkeng in Huangbei, Xingning, runs an ecological family farm focused on special wild boar breeding nearly 40 km from the urban area of Xingning, and it is Xingning's first certified family farm. The special wild boars produced by this family farm are raised in a pollution-free environment, and the free-range method lets the pigs run all over the hills, giving the pork good taste and high nutritional value. In 2008, Tong Xiulan returned home with more than 100,000 yuan in funds and began her road to prosperity through pig farming, but in 2011 she was worn out because the pigs sent to market would not sell. Tong Xiulan, who was "fighting with her back to the river," saw a turnaround in 2012, when she sold one million jin of pork, demand exceeded supply, and she was dubbed the "Pork Champion." In 2013, she planned to establish an ecological pig farming cooperative and develop an agricultural eco-tourism project. On November 19, 2013, this newspaper first reported her entrepreneurial story.
Follow-up visit
"Watching my nearly 1,000 pigs run all over the hills and knowing everyone can taste fresh, healthy pork, this is the thing I have always been happiest and proudest about." Seeing the reporter, Tong Xiulan excitedly spoke of the results that made her proud. At that moment she was getting ready to feed the pigs corn and other feed for the evening. After washing her hands, she grabbed the reporter and took them to tour her family farm.
In 2003, Tong Xiulan persuaded her husband to borrow money to start fishpond farming, but a heavy rainstorm washed out the fishpond and also washed away the family's livelihood. The couple wanted to cry but had no tears, and with no other option they went to Shenzhen to work, saved 100,000 yuan, and returned home to start a business again. In 2008, Tong Xiulan began her pig-farming path, and by a stroke of luck she learned the "secret recipe" for free-ranging second-generation black-skinned wild boars. Unexpectedly, when the pigs were sent to market at the end of 2011, they would not sell. Under heavy pressure and unable to think things through, Tong Xiulan jumped into a river and was fortunately rescued. Having survived the disaster, she changed her thinking, and with help from many sides opened up sales channels, which also brought the result of one million in annual sales, and for a time she was hailed as the "Pork Champion," with boundless glory.
In another interview, Tong Xiulan talked about yet another rise and fall in her life. In 2014, because she lacked understanding of market operations and customer relationship management, the partner merchants of the family farm she founded kept decreasing one after another. In an overall environment where pork prices plunged, this made things worse, and unsold pork appeared again, causing heavy losses. But this time Tong Xiulan did not try to end her life again. Instead, she kept summing up experience and humbly learned from and consulted local agricultural science experts and experienced market merchants, and she quickly adjusted from the failure and returned to the track of normal operation. During this period there were still ups and downs, but she persisted all the way through, and in the blink of an eye it has been 8 years since she started the business. Today Tong Xiulan has a complete industrial chain, has founded her own breeding company, and her whole family coordinates and cooperates, forming a one-stop model from feeding to sales.
After this setback, Tong Xiulan added a new breed, the small fragrant pig (miniature pig). The small fragrant pig is a miniature pig breed with characteristics such as thick lean meat, fine fibers, small fat particles, a rich fragrance, early maturity and easy breeding, and it rarely exceeds 30 kg in weight. She said that adding small fragrant pigs was partly because this breed's pork is more tender and smooth, tastes better, and has crisp yet thin skin, and partly because the original free-range model of large numbers of wild boars running all over the hills could easily cause some damage to nearby villagers' crops. "At present my farm mainly has four major types of pigs. Small fragrant pigs account for 50%, second-generation wild boars and crossbred pigs each account for 20%, and the remaining small portion is local pigs." Tong Xiulan said, however, because this new breed has high costs, its pork is more expensive than other types, and everyone is still unfamiliar with this kind of small fragrant pig, so sales have still not fully opened up.
In 2013, Tong Xiulan's ecological breeding family farm was successfully certified. Now there are about 1,200-plus pigs on the hills, and more than 2,500 mu of mountain land, worth no less than 5 million yuan. At present she is preparing to attract investment and joint shareholders, establish an agricultural eco-tourism project, and develop rural tourism. Tong Xiulan hopes that through development in multiple aspects, she can not only promote her own authentic pork, but more importantly make a greater contribution to her hometown.
As a conscientious seller, Tong Xiulan frankly said that much of the food on the market now is not hygienic. "I do not extravagantly hope that my business will be brilliant, and I do not want to earn too much, but I will work hard so that everyone can safely eat fresh, healthy pork at the dining table, and with a clear conscience guarantee the safe source of the food." This is also the principle she has adhered to for many years. It is expected that during this year's National Day Golden Week, she will open an experience store in Yide City, Xingning, so that everyone can taste the distinctive fresh pork for free. She hopes to make the business bigger and drive the surrounding villagers to work hard together and develop together, forming a unique new industrial model and promoting the prosperity and development of her hometown.