The dream-chasing story of a post-80s shepherd on the road to prosperity through raising sheep

In Zhaoling Village, Liugongmiao Town, Zhangshu City, Huahui Sheep Farm is widely known. Liu Jianghua, a post-80s entrepreneurial young man, gave up job opportunities in a big city and returned to his hometown to become a shepherd, and also became the local "lead sheep" on the road to prosperity.

As soon as you step into Liu Jianghua's family sheep farm, you hear the bleating of sheep. Looking closer, you see Liu Jianghua busy disinfecting the sheep farm, with skilled movements and standardized operations. Since starting the sheep farm more than a year ago, he has grown together with these sheep. Speaking of his feelings about entrepreneurship, Liu Jianghua feels that the happiest thing and the greatest gain is being able to work together with his family, and he enjoys this process very much.

Liu Jianghua said: "In 2013, I accidentally saw a TV program about becoming rich by raising sheep, and found that this market was not bad. I felt that my hometown had such breeding conditions, so at that time I began to have the idea of returning home to start a business." On ordinary days, Liu Jianghua collected relevant information about raising sheep from books and the internet, and also visited Shandong, Zhejiang and other places many times to study breeding technology and business models. In early 2014, Liu Jianghua's family farm opened.

Everything is difficult at the beginning. The hardships of entrepreneurship made Liu Jianghua's father-in-law, Liu Zhifeng, see it in his eyes and feel pain in his heart. "A 30-year-old young man feeds sheep and herds sheep here every day, revolving around the sheep, tanned dark, with no time to take care of himself, looking like an old man."

Raising sheep is not only physical work, but also delicate work. On Liu Jianghua's sheep farm, his wife, father-in-law and mother-in-law are his main helpers, while feeding, epidemic prevention, wool trimming and other work are mainly completed by himself. Liu Zhifeng is a local primary school teacher. Whenever he has spare time, he comes to the sheep farm to help, and sometimes even serves as a technical instructor.

Now, Liu Jianghua's Huahui Sheep Farm has grown from an initial stock of 150 sheep to 700 sheep, and is expected to exceed 1,000 by the end of the year. It is estimated that the annual profit can reach 300,000 yuan. Because of excellent quality and rising market prices, breeding sheep are sold far to surrounding counties (cities).

Those who get rich first lead those who get rich later, and together they stride toward prosperity. Liu Jianghua adopted the business model of "sheep farm + base + farmers" and organized the Huahui Sheep Raising Cooperative locally, attracting 5 local villagers to join the cooperative. Although the scale is small, the establishment of the cooperative effectively solved the problems farmers encountered in the breeding process, such as funds, technology and sales channels. Liu Jianghua's family sheep farm not only enabled his own family to live a good life, but also let the fruits of entrepreneurship benefit the farmers around him.