Goat farming makes Chen Yansheng rich in Fanggaoping Town, Tuanfeng

Chen Yansheng is an ordinary farmer from Chenwan Village, Fanggaoping Town, Tuanfeng County. Ever since the township called on farmers to develop animal husbandry, he made up his mind to raise goats. With a streak of "daring," "drive" and "tenacity," Chen Yansheng not only made a success of it himself, but also set up a goat farming cooperative, leading the villagers along the road to prosperity.

In Chenwan Village, Fanggaoping Town, Tuanfeng County, most farmers rely mainly on growing crops. To change the single cropping model and give farmers more ways to make a living, Fanggaoping Town actively sought various preferential policies and guided farmers to develop specialty breeding. Chen Yansheng is one of the beneficiaries.

Chen Yansheng, chairman of Hubei Mingfeng Goat Farming Cooperative: (When I first started raising goats) there were only 4 or 5 of them, a very small scale, and I never escaped poverty. (Until) 2009 (with the village's help) when the Mingfeng Goat Farming Cooperative was established, and in 2013 more than 1,000 goats were added, especially in 2014 when it reached more than 8,000.

Chen Yansheng's son Chen Weiming: Last year we sold almost 7,000 head of goats, of which more than 4,000 were sold online.

People who know Chen Yansheng well know that he loves goats as his own life and spends all day with them. Not only did he give each goat a nickname based on its traits, such as "Big Foot," "Flower Face," "Limp Leg" and "Greedy Mouth," he also taught himself scientific goat-raising knowledge and gradually worked out his own "goat-raising guide." His reputation as the "Goat Commander" grew louder and louder.

Chen Yansheng, chairman of Hubei Mingfeng Goat Farming Cooperative: By going to other places for on-site study tours, seeing how others did their breeding, and then drawing experience from it, I gradually built things up. Now it feels like the goats support us, and we even have money left over. In the past, talking about buying a car was something we wouldn't even dare to imagine.

Chen Yansheng's goat farming developed better and better, and his family's living conditions improved. He not only bought a computer and a laptop, but also bought a truck and a sedan, and the whole family's life became prosperous. His son, who worked as an enterprise supervisor in Shenzhen, also took a fancy to the broad market prospects of specialty breeding and came home to start a business together with his father.

Chen Yansheng's son Chen Weiming: Back in the 1990s, I remember my mother and I went to sell mutton. At that time mutton was 2.5 yuan per jin, and pork was 4 yuan per jin. At that time pork was priced higher than mutton, and mutton wouldn't sell. But now, mutton is more than 40, and pork is only just over ten yuan per jin. As for this goat farming industry, it's quite promising, it has a future.

Chen Yansheng told reporters that the national goat market demand is very large. Last year, from the 15th to the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, in just 12 days, he sold more than 130,000 yuan worth. In 2014, the sales of the goats Chen Yansheng raised himself reached more than 2 million yuan, with a net profit of 440,000 yuan.

Chen Yansheng, chairman of Hubei Mingfeng Goat Farming Cooperative: In the past I raised goats; now the goats support me. Now the goat sheds, dormitories and factory buildings together are more than 4,000 sq m, with fixed assets of more than 1 million. To be honest, my greatest hope is that all the poor households in Chenwan Village raise goats.

Besides actively providing improved breeds, Chen Yansheng also provides free technical services to these farmers, hoping to help the villagers escape poverty and become prosperous. Under Chen Yansheng's leadership, the village now has more than 20 specialized goat-farming households, and most of their goat-raising scale has reached more than 30 head.