Shandong Leling pig farmer Zhang Qinghe gets rich and does not forget his neighbors
Mention Zhang Qinghe of Lvmenlou Village, Kongzhen Town, Leling City, and there is no nearby villager who does not praise him. From initially feeling his way through raising 12 small white pigs to now having a pig farm with more than 50 pigs on hand alone, 48-year-old Zhang Qinghe can be described in the eyes of the villagers as a pig-raising "expert."
A unique eye discovers a pig-raising business opportunity
In 2003, Zhang Qinghe, who was idling at home, always wanted to figure out something to do. Later, after many investigations, Zhang Qinghe found that the development space for pig raising seemed to be quite broad.
Zhang Qinghe quickly bought 12 small white pigs from the market, but for Zhang Qinghe, who had no pig-raising experience at all, 12 was not a small number. From feeding the piglets to cleaning the pens, Zhang Qinghe "waited on" them carefully. Because he lacked experience, Zhang Qinghe bought a large number of books on pig raising, and from time to time went elsewhere to investigate and learn experience, always maintaining telephone communication with "experts." In this way, although Zhang Qinghe did not have much confidence, gradually, in his first trial raising, Zhang Qinghe tasted the sweetness of success.
In the early days of starting the business, he knew the bitterness involved
Although raising pigs is not difficult for farmers, wanting to make something of it is not an easy thing.
When the pig farm had just started, because Zhang Qinghe could not set his mind at ease about the pigs in the pens, he guarded the pigsty almost every day, and later he simply moved his luggage to the pig farm, eating and living there while watching over the piglets in the pens. Not going home for one or two months was a common thing for Zhang Qinghe. He told reporters that out of 365 days a year, he spent nearly 300 days at the pig farm.
In 2010, because prices of raw materials such as vitamins, amino acids, soybean meal, fish meal and corn rose, pig feed prices rose, but the market price of pigs did not rise but fell. "During that period, my heart really felt awful. After working so hard, not only did I not make money, I kept losing money." That year, Zhang Qinghe's pig farm lost more than 10,000 yuan.
Supplementing knowledge to develop scientific breeding
From having no technology and no scale to now being a major pig raiser with more than 50 breeding pigs on hand, more than 40 sold per year, and an output value of nearly 80,000 yuan, Zhang Qinghe poured all his effort into the pig farm.
When talking about delivering a sow for the first time, Zhang Qinghe did not show the slightest joy on his face. Because he lacked experience in delivering piglets, he could only deliver them in a muddled way while calling others to ask. But after all the busy work, the newborn piglets still died litter after litter. "If I had known the knowledge for delivering piglets earlier, would this not have been avoided?" Zhang Qinghe, who had only a junior high school education, noticed the losses caused by lacking knowledge, so he began to read a large number of books and consult materials. But unexpectedly, the piglets that he had finally kept alive with the knowledge he learned began to die one after another again a few days after weaning. In order to find the cause, Zhang Qinghe squatted in the pigsty for a whole night at a time. By comparing what he observed with book knowledge, Zhang Qinghe finally found the cause and came up with countermeasures.
Repaying his neighbors, rated as an agricultural technology star
"It is not enough for only myself to become rich. I also want to lead the whole village to become rich." Zhang Qinghe said this and did the same. "Now as soon as I hear that someone else's piglets have problems, I go over immediately, because I can always remember the difficulties I encountered when I first raised pigs and the help others gave me. If I can help others, I will do my utmost to help." Zhang Qinghe said.
On October 20, just after dawn, Zhang Qinghe's farm was surrounded by farmers who had come to learn. "Pigs in autumn are the easiest to fatten. The inside and outside of the pig house and the whole body surface of the pigs must be disinfected regularly. Sewage ditches, water storage tanks and feeding troughs must also be cleaned in time, and no dead corners can be left..." Zhang Qinghe explained clearly and methodically, while villagers stood beside the pigsty one by one holding paper and pens, carefully recording autumn pig-raising techniques.
Now Zhang Qinghe has become the "star" of pig farmers in the surrounding villages, who rush to seek his "secret to wealth," and he also spares no effort in answering people's questions. In October 2015, Zhang Qinghe was rated as an "agricultural technology star" by Kongzhen Town and was formally included in Kongzhen Town's rural talent pool. He not only could receive regular expert training, but also received a bonus of 2,000 yuan from the town government.
In recent years, the Party committee and government of Kongzhen Town, in order to give play to the leading role of rural people who have become rich, have devoted themselves to selecting talent in many areas, such as production-oriented, business-oriented, technical service-oriented, social service-oriented and skill-driven types. They not only hire experts to train them regularly so that they can make further progress, but also ensure that they in turn train grassroots farmers and lead villagers to become rich together. Now the "agricultural technology stars" of Kongzhen Town have trained more than 500 grassroots farmers, solved more than 120 difficult problems, and helped villagers launch more than 30 new projects to become rich.