From Vendor to Entrepreneurial Leader: A Journey of Transformation

In late autumn, the weather in Yanqi was still cold despite the hint of warmth. Early in the morning on November 8, Mahemuti Aximu skipped breakfast and hurried to the Saikere Fattened Beef Cattle Breeding Cooperative. "A batch of processed meat products is shipping out today. I need to go check on it, or I just won't feel at ease," Mahemuti said.

Mahemuti, 43, is a farmer from Chahanqu Village, Wuhaoqu Township, Yanqi Hui Autonomous County. After graduating from junior high school, he made a living selling beef and mutton at the farmers' market. In 1996, as meat prices rose, Mahemuti's beef and mutton business began to thrive. But sometimes the livestock he bought from suppliers was in poor condition, and after slaughtering, the meat yield was so low that he could only break even. To change this predicament, Mahemuti began raising sheep in his own small yard to supply his butcher shop. Each sheep earned him more than 20 yuan. As his butcher shop business grew, Mahemuti became one of the first well-off households in the village.

By 2009, Mahemuti's breeding operation had grown from the initial few dozen head of cattle and sheep to over a hundred head, making him a true large-scale breeder in the village. As his operation expanded, Mahemuti focused his fattening efforts on cattle. "The profit margin on cattle is relatively large, and market demand is strong, so I ultimately chose to focus on fattening beef cattle," Mahemuti recalled.

In his long years of fattening cattle, Mahemuti always paid attention to scientific feeding. Mahemuti shared his fattening methods: "The feed I use for fattening cattle is a scientifically formulated recipe developed over a long period. Oil residue, cottonseed hulls, forage grass and corn are mixed in certain proportions to make a compound feed. In autumn, I make silage and yellow storage feed. Through fermentation, these feeds have higher protein content. After eating them, cattle not only gain weight quickly, but the meat is tender and of good quality."

In June 2011, Mahemuti, who had already become well-off, did not keep the secret of profitable beef cattle fattening to himself. He joined with 8 farming households from the village to invest 2.74 million yuan, building a nearly 2,000-square-meter cattle pen and a meat processing plant covering 750 square meters in the village. The Saikere Fattened Beef Cattle Breeding Cooperative was officially established.

Cooperative member Aisha Rouzi said: "Because our village has more people and less land, we followed Mahemuti in beef cattle breeding and fattening. We now have 8 households that have joined the cattle and sheep breeding cooperative. Over a year, everyone's income is considerable, and everyone is very motivated. Now the Party's preferential agricultural policies are getting stronger year by year. There are subsidies for both farming and cattle raising, and we feel very satisfied."

Member Wufuer Hailili chimed in: "To support us in developing modern animal husbandry, the county secured 200,000 yuan in project funds from higher levels for our cooperative, plus 90,000 yuan in livestock subsidies."

After the cooperative was established, Mahemuti personally taught members breeding experience and marketing methods. For breeders from other villages who came to him by reputation, Mahemuti also enthusiastically shared his experience, and when he had time, he even visited their homes to provide guidance. Simayi Aishan, a large-scale beef cattle fattening breeder from a neighboring village, said: "All my cattle and sheep fattening techniques were taught by Mahemuti. There are many others like me who went to him to learn techniques. Last year I earned 500,000 yuan from cattle and sheep fattening. Without his help, we wouldn't have the good life we have today."

In early 2014, Mahemuti applied to register the "Saikere Fattened Beef" trademark for the cooperative, packaging and selling beef by category: ground meat, ribs, deboned meat and lean meat, further extending the industrial chain. The cooperative became a one-stop production and processing enterprise integrating breeding, slaughtering, cutting, packaging and sales. It also explored an operating model of "farmers + cooperative + product sales," greatly increasing members' income. In 2014, the cooperative marketed 3,000 head of beef cattle, achieving sales exceeding 5 million yuan.

Mahemuti said: "Our products are not only sold in markets within Xinjiang such as Urumqi and Aksu, but also shipped to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places. Animal husbandry has great room for development and huge potential. As long as everyone pulls together to speed up development, continuously expands the cooperative's breeding scale and further increases the added value of livestock products, it would be hard not to get rich."

Today's Saikere Fattened Beef Cattle Breeding Cooperative has built 3 more fattening cattle barns, bringing the barn area to 2,250 square meters. It has also built a 300-square-meter manure storage yard, and supporting facilities such as a beef cattle slaughterhouse, acid-discharge beef room and cutting and packaging workshop are all fully equipped.

"Livestock and poultry farming has become a major pillar industry for increasing local farmers' and herders' income. Next, I plan to expand the cooperative, recruit more members, and let everyone walk the road to prosperity together," Mahemuti said confidently.