Introducing improved cattle breeds fulfills the dream of getting rich by raising cattle
Recently, a reporter walked into Hujin Village, Jiangchi Town, and saw more than ten cattle wearing yellow-and-white "flowered coats" grazing leisurely in the mountain hollow. After making inquiries, the reporter found their owner, Xiang Yunfeng.
Returning home to raise cattle and sheep, yet becoming a poor household
With in-laws over 80 years old above and a 12-year-old child below, in 2013, Xiang Yunfeng, who had worked in Chongqing for many years, gradually realized the importance of accompanying his family, resolutely returned from the bustling city to the quiet mountain village, determined to create wealth in these hills and fields.
During those two years, mutton prices kept rising and the market prospects were good, so Xiang Yunfeng bought more than 10 lambs and 2 local cattle, wanting to make a go of it in breeding.
A year passed, and the sheep grew up, but because mutton prices had previously been high, more farmers had also started raising sheep. For a time, supply exceeded demand, and mutton prices fell rapidly. Watching the sheep depreciate day by day, Xiang Yunfeng was very helpless: "At that time, who knew anything about supply and demand? I just raised them when the market was good, and it turned out everyone thought the same way, which led to an imbalance between supply and demand."
Because of this matter, Xiang Yunfeng and his wife had different opinions. His wife advocated selling the sheep, while Xiang Yunfeng insisted on keeping them and expanding the scale through breeding.
"Mutton prices fell, but cattle sell very well, right? Otherwise, why would there be more than ten cattle in the mountain hollow?" the reporter asked. Unexpectedly, Xiang Yunfeng shook his head, saying the cattle simply could not be sold. At the time, he did not know the reason; in short, no one bought them.
Just like that, Xiang Yunfeng was unable to sell the cattle and sheep, and he became a registered poor household in the village.
Learning techniques in Shizhi, introducing improved cattle breeds
"I was very distressed and did not know how to move forward in the future." Xiang Yunfeng admitted that after enduring two years, he could not see the direction of the future and often asked himself whether his decision to return home to do breeding was correct, until the village's breeding cooperative was established.
Last year, poverty alleviation work in our county was carried out one after another, and the poor households in Hujin Village, Jiangchi Town, welcomed hope for escaping poverty. Gu Qingbin, the united front committee member of Jiangchi Town, proposed establishing two cooperatives in Hujin Village, one for breeding and one for planting, to drive the villagers out of poverty.
After the cooperatives were established, they immediately began assisting the village's poor households. At the end of last year, Xiang Yunfeng and 8 other breeding households, under the leadership of the cooperative, came to a cattle farm in Shizhi Town to learn techniques. It was also there that Xiang Yunfeng became acquainted with Simmental cattle.
Xiang Yunfeng believed that the previous failure in raising cattle was first because the techniques were not up to standard, and second because the cattle breeds were poor. To get rich, he had to raise improved breeds of cattle. He immediately asked the cooperative to introduce 7 cattle of 3 breeds, including Simmental cattle, from Northeast China, Shandong and other places for him, and spent the stress response period at the cattle farm in Shizhi Town. Twenty days later, Xiang Yunfeng and the other breeding households happily led the cattle back to Hujin Village.
Expanding the scale, earning over 100,000 yuan in one year
After returning home, Xiang Yunfeng let the cattle graze freely in a mountain hollow of about 800 mu. Walking there from home took more than half an hour, and he went to check only once every month or two, which was very convenient. Xiang Yunfeng introduced that the local cattle he had raised before could grow to only three or four hundred kilograms at most, while these improved-breed cattle generally could grow to five or six hundred kilograms in about 10 months, increasing the net profit per head by 50%.
So Xiang Yunfeng could not wait to apply to the cooperative to introduce several more improved-breed cattle. After multiple introductions, Xiang Yunfeng had already raised nearly 20 improved-breed cattle, all of which could be sold within the year. After repaying the loan borrowed from the cooperative when buying the cattle, he would have an income of nearly 100,000 yuan this year.
While Xiang Yunfeng planned to expand the scale, a shortage of funds became his weak point. The cooperative once again stepped forward and provided him with a 100,000 yuan assistance fund in two installments. Gu Qingbin introduced that the town used assistance funds to support local villagers in starting businesses, lending to them interest-free, to be repaid after the villagers became prosperous. At present, this model has achieved relatively good results.
In addition, driven by the planting cooperative, Xiang Yunfeng also planted several mu of Chinese medicinal herbs, which were sold directly to Taiji Group. The stalks of the medicinal herbs could also become the cattle's staple food in winter when forage was insufficient, thus organically combining breeding and planting. It is understood that the whole village currently grows nearly 500 mu of Chinese medicinal herbs, whose stalks can feed 100 cattle.
"The dozen or so sheep raised in previous years have now bred to more than 60, and after the New Year they are estimated to breed to 100." While rejoicing that he had not given up breeding because of poor market conditions, Xiang Yunfeng calculated the returns brought after the cattle and sheep were sold, and could not help but beam with joy.