Farmer Han Jun of Qing'an County builds his fortune through cattle farming

In Tongqing Village, Tongle Town, Qing'an County, Han Jun's name carries real weight. In the past, he was just a farmer who plowed the fields behind an ox, his face to the yellow earth and his back to the sky; now, he is a well-known large-scale cattle farmer living a relaxed and comfortable life. In his own words, whether past or present, it is cattle that made him, so he intends to keep this "impressively bullish" enterprise going for as long as he can.

Recently, when this writer arrived at Han Jun's home in Han Huajiang Hamlet, Tongqing Village, he was in the newly built cattle shed feeding grass to 47 head of cattle.

Han Jun, 50 this year, is a native of Tongxing, and looking at his "impressively bullish" enterprise now, you might not guess that he was once a migrant worker who left home to make a living.

Han Jun said that although his family had raised cattle before, it was for plowing the fields, and their main source of income still came from soybeans and corn. "Back then the family had five or six head of cattle," he told this writer, explaining that they kept so many because the family had 30 mu of land. "Growing corn, soybeans and so on, over a year, the per capita gross income was just over 2,000 yuan."

Later, Han Jun's son gradually grew up, his father was elderly and often ill, and household expenses grew larger and larger. "Relying only on the money from selling grain definitely wasn't enough," Han Jun said, so they had no choice but to sell the calves born to the family's cows, at prices ranging from 500 to 1,000 yuan each. "Over a year, the per capita gross income increased several times, reaching more than 3,000 yuan."

As living standards rose day by day, Han Jun increasingly felt that income could not cover expenses: "My son needed to go to school, my father was ill and needed money for treatment, money was needed everywhere." In early 1997, Han Jun decided to go out to work. In Fujian Province, he applied for a job as a brick carrier at a brick factory, earning more than 10,000 yuan a year.

In 2002, the financial pressure at home eased, giving his shoulders a little relief, so he thought about returning home to start his own business. After discussing it with his wife, Han Jun returned to his hometown and began raising beef cattle.

Han Jun threw himself into the work with full energy, doing everything himself, and even bought books on farming to read. "The first batch was 30 calves, which cost 150,000 yuan, all my savings," Han Jun said. With careful attention, the calves grew very well. By the end of the year, he kept the cows for breeding and sold all the beef cattle. "I sold nearly 10 head of cattle, large and small, for an income of more than 100,000 yuan." His efforts had paid off, and it also strengthened his confidence to keep the cattle business going.

In the second half of 2012, Han Jun built a beef cattle farm covering nearly 10,000 sq m, and received 35,000 yuan in support funds.

"I took that money and bought six or seven calves and some feed," Han Jun said. Because of the limited capacity of the cattle pen, his total number of cattle is kept at around 30 to 40 head; when he sells some, he brings in new ones, and when calves are born, he sells them in good time. Today, he sends at least nearly 30 head of beef cattle to market each year, earning more than 300,000 yuan; after deducting farming costs, his net income is more than 200,000 yuan.

Han Jun admits that in the early days of starting out he encountered many difficulties, but hard work ultimately pays off, and now his sales channels are open and his annual income is very stable. "My cattle are raised with a combination of free-range grazing and grain feeding, so the meat quality is good and people like it. Agricultural products should also pay attention to quality," Han Jun said cheerfully.

Now, nearby villagers all come to Han Jun to "learn from his experience," and he is happy to pass on his cattle-raising know-how to everyone and help them start their own businesses. "I plan to set up a cooperative next year with two other cattle-raising households in the same village, and expand the cooperative's farming scale to 500 head within the next 3 years," Han Jun said. He will do his best to help everyone raise cattle together and achieve shared prosperity.