Raising Charolais sheep made Tuya and her husband's dream of prosperity come true

In a spacious shed with red bricks and a blue roof, a group of lively and adorable lambs frolic around their owner Tuya. Tuya and her husband Batulijig are feeding these "baby sheep" forage, and with joyful faces they told the reporter: "These Charolais lambs were bred through three generations of crossbreeding and artificial insemination technology."

Tuya is a herder from Alatan Maodu Gacha, Wengong Ula Sumu, Xianghuang Banner. Since the early twentieth century, she began improving livestock by mating German Mutton Merino rams with Mongolian ewes to develop "Charolais sheep" for over a decade. She is a key livestock breeding household at the league level for improved livestock, with a 100% livestock improvement rate, and in the year with the most twins, the twin lambing rate reached 97%. The Charolais sheep she raises have repeatedly won awards in league-wide and banner-wide improved livestock "beauty contests." Despite last winter's severe disaster conditions, her family kept 105 foundation ewes, which produced 162 lambs. Although this was somewhat lower than previous years, the twin lambing rate still reached 65%, and the survival rate reached 100%.

Raising "Charolais sheep" has truly made Tuya and her husband a fortune. Last year, when sheep prices were generally low, the 74 Charolais lambs her family sold averaged 837 yuan each, and the 85 two-year-old foundation ewes sold for a good price of 1,300 yuan each. Moreover, many buyers were animal husbandry departments from ** that purchased them as superior breeding stock for local farmers and herders. Last year, each Charolais sheep produced 10 jin of wool, sold at 11 yuan per jin, which was another considerable income. In response to the severe drought and snow disasters, last year her family spent nearly 70,000 yuan to purchase 78,000 kg of forage and 8 tons of feed. Despite the high expenses, net income still reached more than 90,000 yuan.

Looking at the lambs before her, Tuya said with emotion: "These Charolais lambs are all winter lambs and early spring lambs. The lambing cycle is relatively concentrated, and not only are the survival rate and twin lambing rate high, but it also saves time and effort." Speaking of the banner's support for developing Charolais sheep, Tuya said: "For herders who raise more than 200 Charolais foundation sheep in a concentrated way, the banner subsidizes 200 yuan per sheep, and for breeding and developing Charolais stud rams, it subsidizes 1,200 yuan per sheep. Each adult stud ram can sell for 4,000-5,000 yuan." Tuya was beaming with excitement. Talking about this year's plans to develop and increase income, Tuya told the reporter: "This year, some ewe lambs with good body shape and high quality will not be sold for now; they will be raised into foundation ewes of excellent quality before being sold. The banner's poverty alleviation office has already reserved 100, and this alone can bring in more than 100,000 yuan." Characteristic Charolais sheep breeding has filled Tuya with confidence about increasing income.

It is reported that the banner's "Charolais mutton" geographical indication product has passed national review and certification, and raising Charolais sheep has become a good industry for herders to increase income and become prosperous.