An outsider's path to wealth through farming, beginners can make money raising livestock too

Walking into a farm at the foot of the mountain in Haojiamao Village, Gushan Town, the reporter did not smell the stench of manure they had expected. The clean and tidy environment was completely different from the messy, fly-infested traditional farms, which left a deep impression. This place is the New Hope Farm.

Wang Fei, 47 years old this year, is the owner of this farm and has a son and a daughter. Before getting into farming, he was a long-haul truck driver. His family always said that driving long distances was too tiring, and that they worried about him being away from home alone. Later, after repeated deliberation with his family and on-site investigations, they found that the farming industry had relatively large profit margins, so he decided to change careers and go into farming. After on-site visits to the Lijiawa chicken farm and the Miaogoumen cattle farm, in February 2011, Wang Fei officially changed careers and opened a farm. He chose the site in a mountain valley flat far from the town and surrounded by mountains on three sides. The pen and housing area totaled 12 mu, and the initial investment was 2 million yuan. At present, the farm has a total of 65 cattle, 230 sheep, more than 40 pigs, and 2,000 chickens. The highest price for a slaughter-ready cow is around 13,000, and free-range eggs also sell for 2 yuan each. The farm has brought considerable economic benefits to the family. This makes Wang Fei feel that changing careers back then was a very correct decision.

According to Wang Fei's recollection, he had never had any contact with the farming industry before and could basically be called an outsider. In the early days of starting out, he knew nothing about many professional breeding techniques, so he had to put in more effort than others. He got up at 5 a.m. every day to feed the animals in the pens. Because he had no experience, he had to run over again and again every day to observe their condition, and he could not rest until after 10 p.m. Sometimes at night he would worry so much that he could not sleep, and then he would put on his clothes and run to the pens to take a look before he could sleep with peace of mind. Because his family's economic conditions were poor when he was a child, Wang Fei dropped out of school after the second grade of primary school, so being unable to read became a very troublesome thing for his farming. Understanding written farming knowledge and techniques was harder for him than reaching the sky. His children were often away at school, so each time he could only take books to ask others for help. Later, by chance, he saw experts explaining farming techniques on the Agriculture and Forestry Satellite TV channel. From then on, he would sit by the television on time every day and study carefully. It was much more convenient than holding books and figuring things out on his own every day. Because his abilities were limited, after a long time, Wang Fei felt that one person was a bit too busy to handle everything, so he specially hired a technician from Shanxi. During that year under the guidance of a professional, Wang Fei changed from boss to student, learning how to feed properly, disinfect, vaccinate... The situation gradually improved, and the scale of farming gradually expanded. In order to reduce farming costs, he planted more than 70 mu of corn and 20 mu of potatoes himself, and when that was not enough, he would go to Shanxi to buy more. Under the technical guidance of professionals from the county animal husbandry station, Wang Fei vaccinated and disinfected the livestock and poultry once every half month, and each time strictly used an electric sprayer to disinfect according to the ratio. Finally, he strictly controlled the hygiene and epidemic prevention. The farm was regularly cleaned, washed, and disinfected with chemicals, and the pens were kept dry, ventilated, and hygienic for a long time. After these several rounds of technical guidance, the current Wang Fei has already become a person who understands farming techniques very well. Without needing a technician, he can manage the farm well by himself. "The livestock and poultry I raise rarely get sick, and they have never been affected by an epidemic!" Wang Fei proudly told the reporter. The farm gradually began to improve through Wang Fei's efforts.

However, in the summer of 2013, an unexpected accident that was impossible to guard against shattered everything as it was. A flood destroyed Wang Fei's home and collapsed the pens. Facing everything before him, Wang Fei did not complain about heaven or blame others. With the spontaneous help of the villagers, he rebuilt the pens, and they were twice as large as before. Regarding how to run the farm well, Wang Fei talked about the following three points: First, value talent and adopt scientific farming. Wang Fei hired professional technicians in animal husbandry to strictly control the technical aspects of farming management, making farming move toward standardization and scientific management. Second, carefully select feed and strictly control the feed. He fed them with grass, corn, potatoes, straw, and so on. This method of exchanging grass for meat and distillers' grains for meat implemented a positive agricultural ecological cycle, which is both green and environmentally friendly and reduces feeding costs, achieving the greatest benefit from farming.

Now the farming situation is excellent. As a newcomer to farming, Wang Fei makes good use of scientific concepts and strictly controls the technical aspects. The new normal development trend of farmers in the new countryside is reflected in him.