Landes goose farming helps farmers increase income, Liang Kun leads villagers onto the road to prosperity

Walking into "Anhui Tiange Goose Industry Co., Ltd." in Guohe Town, Lujiang County, Anhui Province, one sees flocks of gray Landes geese foraging and playing leisurely under the trees, by the ponds, and in the fields. "These 2,000 geese are about to enter the force-feeding and fattening stage." Liang Kun, the company's chairman, grabbed a handful of green grass and threw it toward the flock, and the geese immediately rushed over to snatch it.

Why force-feed them to fatten them up? Wouldn't it be simpler to just sell the geese directly?

"Weraise geesenot to sell live geese, but to extract the foie gras." Liang Kun explained. "This kind of goose is called the Landes goose, originally from France, with grayish-brown feathers, and is a specialized breed for producing goose foie gras."

Liang Kun once worked as a farm manager at a Landes goose farm in Beijing, where he not only mastered Landes goose farming techniques but also gained a good understanding of the foie gras market. "In 2004, the market gap for foie gras was very large. Domestic foie gras production was less than 200 tons a year, but domestic demand at that time was about 600 tons. The selling price was all decided by the producers, and 1 kilogram sold for 240 yuan to 260 yuan."

Liang Kun did the math: "The total farming cost of one goose adds up to more than 130 yuan. The goose body and goose feathers can sell for 50 yuan to 60 yuan, plus the liver can sell for more than 150 yuan, so the profit margin per goose is 50 yuan to 80 yuan."

In 2005, Liang Kun invested 3 million yuan to establish a goose industry company in Guohe Town, Lujiang County, signing contracts with farmers to raise Landes geese.

"We provide goslings and feed to the farmers, and guarantee a profit of 10 yuan to 15 yuan per goose." Liang Kun promised that the goslings and feed would not be charged for upfront, but deducted from the sales proceeds when the geese are collected, and that farming techniques and medicines would all be provided free of charge by the company. But Liang Kun required that farmers must graze the Landes geese in places with abundant water and grass, feed the geese concentrated feed regularly, and that 1 goose must weigh no less than 4 kilograms.

After Liang Kun collects the geese in batches, they undergo two weeks of pre-feeding, then concentrated force-feeding, feeding the Landes geese corn soaked in boiling water and cooked to three-tenths done, with each goose force-fed at least three times a day. After the force-feeding period ends, they enter the purely manual slaughtering stage. After slaughter, the Landes geese must be pre-cooled for 8 hours in a cold storage at 1°C to 5°C, and the liver can only be taken once it reaches a certain hardness. "The liver of a force-fed goose should be above 1000 grams."

Liang Kun cooperates with farmers in 5 townships in Lujiang County that have grazing conditions. At present, the farming volume reaches 150,000 geese, and more than 300 farming households have participated in Landes goose farming. At the same time, the quality of the produced and processed goose foie gras has improved compared with before, with an annual output of 110 tons to 120 tons, accounting for 15% to 20% of national output, and sales revenue approaching 100 million yuan.