The Inspiring Story of a College Student Who Started a Pig-Farming Business

At the foot of Mufu Mountain, where the borders of Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan provinces meet, in Gangkou Village, Gangkou Town, Xiushui County, there lives a young couple who, after graduating from university, did not go to a big city to find work, but returned to their hometown to become "pig herders." Both husband and wife graduated from a vocational college in Chongqing. The husband is named Lu Dan, born in 1986, a native of Gangkou Village, Gangkou Town. The wife is named Zou Lingli, two years older than Lu Dan, from Anqing City, Anhui Province.

It was the dead of winter when the reporter came to Gangkou Village. Standing on a high ridge, following the direction Lu Dan pointed, the reporter saw many black-and-white spotted pigs emerging among the green grass. At noon, as the owner rang a bell again and again, all the spotted pigs ran toward the pig pen from different directions to enjoy the food the owner had put out... This is the "Mucun Family Farm" built by Lu Dan and his wife.

After graduating from university in 2007, Lu Dan and Zou Lingli returned to Lu Dan's hometown of Gangkou Town to marry, and that same year they had a son. By a chance opportunity, the couple completed a live pig deal and made a net profit of 10,000 yuan. Having tasted success, the couple felt that pig farming was a very promising industry, so they changed careers and began raising pigs. At the end of 2007, the couple borrowed money here and there, raised 50,000 yuan, built more than 200 sq m of pig sheds, and raised 60 live pigs, all of which were smoothly sent to market 5 months later. However, because the cycle was too long, they did not achieve a profit. After analyzing the reasons, the couple believed the main problem was still a lack of experience, technique and pig-farming knowledge. From then on, they read online and researched in bookstores, studying pig-farming techniques day and night. Through constant exploration and experimentation, in 2008, Lu Dan, now skilled in pig farming, purchased 20 lean-type sows from Anhui, each averaging 13 piglets per litter, and 9 months later all were smoothly sent to market. At that time, the live pig market happened to be doing well, and in less than 1 year they made a net profit of more than 1 million yuan.

At the end of 2008, Lu Dan and his wife's pig-farming business had begun to take shape, but they felt a sense of crisis - competition in the pig-farming industry was fierce; besides them, many large groups were also in this business, and if they continued this way, it would probably be hard to grow. "In terms of strength and scale, we definitely cannot compete with large groups. We must compete on distinctive features. There is not much else here, but there is plenty of mountainous land, so we might as well raise ecological pigs on the spot, commonly known as 'native pigs.'"

In 2009, the couple leased a piece of mountain forest and began raising "Mucun Black Spotted Pigs." At first the scale was not large, but because the meat tasted good and had an authentic flavor, the black spotted pigs they raised sold quickly. To build their own distinctive brand, Lu Dan and his wife put in extra care. For daily feeding of the black spotted pigs, they used natural feed such as corn, bran and sweet potatoes, and when the pigs got sick they fed them Chinese herbal medicine for treatment. Conditions in the mountain forest were complex; some pigs ran in and never came out again, so the breeding cost was high, and the pork price was twice that of ordinary pork. Once the price was high, voices of doubt arose. Some customers said, how do we know this is ecological pork? To let customers see for themselves, the couple thought of many methods. Near the forest land where the pigs were raised, they opened a small farmstead so customers could go and watch the breeding process of the black spotted pigs, and at the same time they offered some rural leisure projects. While touring the mountain, people saw the breeding process of the black spotted pigs with their own eyes, and no longer had doubts about the pork price, and the pork sold better and better.

After several years of effort, "Mucun Black Spotted Pigs" now slaughter 3 to 5 spotted pigs for sale every day. Because they are green and pollution-free, with rich, tender meat and a smooth taste, they are deeply loved by consumers. At present, the couple's pig-raising forest land has reached 1000 mu, the annual sales volume of black spotted pigs is more than 4000 head, and sales revenue is nearly 10 million yuan.

Speaking of future plans, Lu Dan said: "We plan, through 3 to 5 years of effort, to promote 'Mucun Black Spotted Pigs' to the whole city and the whole province, and in the future perhaps to the whole country, making the enterprise bigger and stronger."