Investing 4 million yuan in sheep farming, leading fellow villagers to get rich together
Jia Xianrong, a villager from Shengli Village, Shangwu Town, Wangcang County, was determined to return to his hometown to change the lives of his fellow villagers after making money working elsewhere, and invested 4 million yuan to go back and start a breeding operation. Since 2013, he has built the largest breeding sheep farm in Wangcang County, enabling 15 poor households in the surrounding area to achieve an annual income of 100,000 yuan.
Returning home to start a business and becoming a "sheep boss"
In Shengli Village, local villagers told this writer that Jia Xianrong gave up his thriving business elsewhere to return to the village to raise sheep, develop large-scale breeding, and lead his neighbors onto the road to prosperity together.
On July 2, in the sheep pen, Jia Xianrong, who was instructing farmers on how to keep the lambs warm, told this writer that he had previously done business in the Qinghai and Lanzhou areas, and had saved up some money over the years. In his spare time, he found in the market that mutton had always sold well and that prices remained high. Thinking of his hometown's unique resource advantages, he came up with the idea of returning home to raise sheep.
"When you have made up your mind about something, do it boldly." Jia Xianrong said that in 2013, he invested nearly 4 million yuan to rent 500 mu of mountain forest in the village, built 4 standardized sheep sheds, and introduced more than 300 Large-Eared sheep, breeding and raising them himself.
"Jianzhou Large-Eared sheep grow and develop quickly, have high reproductive capacity and strong adaptability, and can grow to 50-60 kg by the time they are marketed at one year." He told this writer that at the end of 2013 he hired two professional technicians at high salaries, and in 2014 successfully marketed more than 200 breeding sheep, earning more than 500,000 yuan.
"Last year I expanded the pen area to more than 3,000 sq m, with more than 600 breeding sheep on hand, and my income doubled." Jia Xianrong said he also established a goat breeding specialized cooperative to drive the surrounding people to get rich together.
Leading fellow villagers out of poverty to prosperity
Jia Xianrong, whose pockets were gradually getting fuller, did not forget his fellow villagers. With his help, more than 10 impoverished households in the village also began raising sheep to make "sheep money."
"After Old Jia got rich, he did not forget us poor villagers. It was he who lifted me out of poverty." Gou Guoke, a villager over 60 years old from Group 2 of Shengli Village, Shangwu Town, said excitedly that he and his wife had previously relied on farming a little land to make a living. The year before last, he joined the goat breeding specialized cooperative and raised 40 breeding sheep. By now he has developed to raising more than 100 Large-Eared sheep, marketing 60 goats a year, with an annual income of 100,000 yuan.
In order to help farmers master breeding techniques, Jia Xianrong also patiently taught them knowledge such as goat feeding techniques and disease prevention, and sometimes visited them at home to solve breeding problems for everyone. "He not only sold me several breeding sheep at below cost, but also provided long-term sheep-raising techniques and market information. It is because of him that I have my income today." Zhao Shuping, a villager from Group 4 of Wumen Village in the town, said that the cooperative's unified technical guidance and unified sales gave her confidence in breeding. "At the end of last year I sold 130 Large-Eared sheep and earned 160,000 yuan. I also escaped poverty and became prosperous."
According to reports, driven by the cooperative, 10 poor households in the village and 5 poor households in Baishui Town, Zaolin Village and elsewhere have now taken up goat breeding, with an average of more than 100 raised per household and an average annual income of 100,000 yuan per villager household.
"Next, I will fully promote comprehensive supporting techniques for scientific livestock raising, speed up the construction of standardized goat breeding demonstration farms, build standardized demonstration sites, and radiate to drive 50 surrounding households to raise goats, while providing all-round services such as technology, information and sales, so that everyone can walk the road to prosperity together." Jia Xianrong said.
(Zhou Jun, Chen Shaohai)