In 2015, pig farmers faced a crisis of ambushes on all sides

Every industry has always been a "marketplace like a battlefield," full of hidden dangers, and the pig farming industry is no exception. For the pig farming industry, 2015 is a critical year of life or death for most farmers. In this year, what else do we need to pay attention to? As the saying goes, "Preparation prevents trouble and lets you go far." Let's take a look at these "ten major crises":

1. Environmental protection pressure

The most important issue in 2015 is the environmental protection crisis. The new "Environmental Protection Law" introduced at the very beginning of 2015, and Chai Jing's smog documentary "Under the Dome," which has been widely shared online these past few days, both show the urgency of environmental protection. Therefore, in 2015 farmers must pay attention to the government's environmental protection policies, and their own pig farms must do a good job of environmental protection.  

2. Reduced consumption

People's dietary consumption structure has already changed greatly, and future pork consumption will enter an era of slowing growth. However, demand is something pig farmers cannot control. Paying attention to demand conditions only provides a reference for pig farmers when making choices, such as the fact that consumers now tend to favor local pork and other meats. There is now a strong push to reduce extravagance and waste, and in all respects people no longer spend as lavishly as in the past. With the economy tight for everyone, city dwellers have also begun to budget carefully in daily life, wasteful behavior is gradually improving, and people no longer buy pork in large quantities as they once did.  

In addition, the anti-corruption campaign and the crackdown on spending public funds on eating and drinking were originally meant to benefit ordinary people and contribute to improving the social system. Unexpectedly, this government action has caused pork consumption to decline. Everything has both benefits and harms, but the anti-corruption campaign and the crackdown on spending public funds on eating and drinking undoubtedly do more good than harm. You cannot say that because the unemployment rate is high, drug enforcement has thrown many people out of work; this is the same logic.

And for a long time, multiple incidents involving clenbuterol and dead pigs floating down rivers have greatly jolted consumers' nerves, leaving consumers fearful about pork. Therefore, ensuring that pork is healthy and of good quality is an important key to development.  

3. E-commerce

E-commerce has now entered every industry, and the pig farming industry has also felt the reach of e-commerce. Whether it is WeChat marketing or QQ marketing, both are forms of e-commerce. In the future, more e-commerce will certainly appear in the pig farming industry. Pig farmers must have a sense of "e-commerce" crisis and cannot "pay no attention to matters outside the window while focusing only on raising their own pigs."

4. Increased imports

Domestic pork was already in abundant supply, while continuous pork imports keep hitting the domestic pork market. Some time ago there was also news saying that in the next 10 years China's pork imports will grow by more than 40%.

5. Unstable meat prices

The pig farming industry is always caught in a tug-of-war between "cheap meat hurts farmers, expensive meat hurts the people." If meat prices are too high, ordinary people complain; if pig prices are too low, the pig farming industry will run into problems. There were several peaks in the pig farming industry in 2011. Now perhaps the government will keep meat prices from being so expensive, though later conditions may be somewhat better than in 2014. In the pig farming industry, is it not normal to have "one year of loss, one year of profit, and one year of breaking even"?

6. Rising feed prices

Corn fluctuated greatly in the earlier period and showed an upward trend. Now that grain has again reached the lean season before the new harvest, corn prices may rise. And soybean meal is also rising because of disruption from U.S. soybeans. The pig farming industry is already at a low point. Logically, since many farmers withdrew earlier, feed prices should be low at this time, but now it is truly hard for pig farmers to predict.

7. Expansion of large-scale pig farms

Large financial groups with idle funds are expanding aggressively, preparing to replace free-range pig farming, form a vertically integrated profit model, and encroach on pig farmers' territory on a large scale. Large-scale pig farms have certain advantages in capital, technology, and scale that small-scale and free-range farmers cannot match. Large-scale pig farms can use their own advantages to obtain government subsidies, and this may be just a way for them to siphon off funds. But the small-scale and free-range farmers who truly need this money cannot obtain it because of issues such as scale. Many small-scale and free-range farmers are forced to exit the pig farming industry due to insufficient funds.

8. Talent management crisis

At present, employees at pig farms are increasingly trending toward an "older age structure." Today's post-80s and post-90s generations yearn more for city life and are unwilling to work at pig farms seen as "dirty, messy, and smelly." Agriculture has gradually faded in rural breeding, and the shortage of frontline breeding workers is a prominent problem. Most of those who can accept frontline pig farming work are middle-aged and older people, and their low education levels make management more difficult. Not many college and secondary school graduates majoring in animal husbandry are willing to settle into closed-off frontline pig farming. A high employee turnover rate is a common problem encountered by pig farming enterprises. As a result, it is relatively difficult for pig farms to improve in all aspects.

9. Lack of technology

In pig farming today, technology is becoming more and more important. Why are foreign pig farming costs so low? It is because their technology is strong enough. But this is also related to the overall technological environment of our country. However, as science and technology in our country become increasingly advanced, who can say that pig farming technology will not become more and more advanced in the future?

10. Structural adjustment of the pig farming industry

2015 will be an extraordinary year for the pig farming industry. Whether to stay or go, 2015 appears especially critical. 2014 was a test of farmers' funds, while 2015 is a test of farmers' technology and concepts. Today, in any industry, those who stand still and make no effort to improve will be eliminated, and the pig farming industry is the same.

At any moment and under any circumstances, one should have a sense of "preparedness for danger." The ancient saying "One survives in sorrow and perishes in ease" is no child's play.