Yulin's cattle market outlook is bullish, but cattle farming is far from optimistic

    Although the prospects for beef cattle farming in Yulin City are good, it faces quite a few difficulties. (File photo)

    Recently, the autonomous region launched the Guangxi Southern Modern Grassland Animal Husbandry Promotion Action Project for the first time. If the application is successful, each project will receive a subsidy ranging from 90,000 to 1.7 million yuan. As of the 22nd, only 3 units in Yulin City met the application conditions for this project, namely Guangxi Yibao Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd. and Shengye Improved Cattle Breeding Professional Cooperative in Beiliu, and Guangxi Yulin Guiniu Buffalo Milk Co., Ltd. in Bobai. The reporter learned that the average beef price in Yulin City is still at a high level of 30 yuan/jin, and more and more farmers are optimistic about the development prospects of beef cattle farming, planning one after another to enter the "bull market." However, due to lack of funds, geographical constraints and other reasons, development is very slow.

    Very few units in Yulin City meet the project application conditions

    A staff member of the Animal Husbandry Section of the Municipal Aquatic Products and Animal Husbandry Bureau introduced that the applicants for the Guangxi Southern Modern Grassland Animal Husbandry Promotion Action Project are agricultural and livestock enterprises and breeding cooperatives legally registered within Guangxi and engaged in beef cattle and mutton sheep farming. The operating entities must be lawful and standardized and meet environmental protection requirements. At the same time, there are strict regulations on livestock numbers: the inventory of beef cattle and mutton sheep of agricultural and livestock enterprises must reach 240 head and 1,200 head (equivalent to 1,200 sheep units) or more respectively by the end of June 2014, and the inventory of beef cattle and mutton sheep of breeding cooperatives must reach 160 head and 800 head (equivalent to 800 sheep units) or more by the end of June 2014. In addition, agricultural and livestock enterprises must also have relatively concentrated contiguous contracted and transferred grassland of more than 5,000 mu, while breeding cooperatives are required to have more than 3,000 mu. Only with good infrastructure and production and operation status can they meet the application conditions. At present, among the beef cattle breeding cooperatives and agricultural and livestock enterprises in Yulin City, very few have a beef cattle inventory of more than 100 head, and very few have contracted transferred grassland of more than 3,000 mu, so that only 3 units meet the application conditions.

    For example, the main factory of the eligible Guangxi Yibao Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd. is located in Shui'an Village, Minle Town, Beiliu. It currently contracts more than 7,000 mu of grassland and has 200 dairy buffaloes and 125 yellow cattle. The company's main factory and branch factories are located in mountainous and hilly areas, with no crops within several hundred meters around, making them suitable for cattle foraging. The grassland is also contracted and cultivated by the company itself, mainly distributed in Liuma Town and Min'an Town.

    Although the "bull market" is good, there are quite a few difficulties

    Why are there so few large-scale beef cattle farms in Yulin City? The reporter learned from visits that although many farmers are optimistic about the prospects of the cattle farming industry, it is not easy to expand it.

    Shizuo Village, Xiaopingshan Town, Xingye County, is located in the high mountain area of the Darong Mountains, with much mist among the mountains, high humidity, and abundant rainfall, which is easy for grassland growth and rich in forage, making it very suitable for the development of cattle farming. However, at present the village only raises about 200 cattle in a scattered way, and the farming scale has never increased. In this regard, villager Mr. Yang believes that although Shizuo Village is suitable for cattle farming, in order to avoid damaging ordinary agricultural production, cattle can only be grazed in the high mountains. Each climb to the mountainous area where the cattle herd moves takes 40-60 minutes, and sometimes to manage the herd one goes up for a whole day, not even able to eat lunch. In autumn and winter, the grassland withers and forage is lacking, and the cattle herd will search for forage everywhere, intensifying the difficulty of grazing. Because beef cattle prices are now high, cattle theft also occurs frequently, and a moment of inattention can result in a loss of tens of thousands of yuan. In addition, buying a calf weighing more than 100 jin costs 3,000-4,000 yuan. Shortage of funds and lack of policy support also make it impossible to expand farming.

    Cattle farmer Uncle Niu has been engaged in cattle farming since 2009 and currently raises nearly 300 cattle. Although he has always wanted to expand the scale, due to the large amount of funds needed to introduce calves for breeding and the restrictions on forage sources, it is hard to break through. "Although there are currently relevant subsidy policies for the farming industry, there are basically none specifically for the cattle farming industry," Uncle Niu said.

    Lack of funds and geographical constraints are the main reasons

    Secretary Chen of the Municipal Aquatic Products and Animal Husbandry Association analyzed that cattle are herbivorous mammals and need a large amount of forage for support. At the same time, cattle have a long reproduction cycle and are not as reproductively capable as livestock such as pigs, chickens, and ducks. Usually a cow can only give birth to one calf a year, resulting in a long market cycle for the cattle farming industry and a long cycle for reaping benefits. At present, relevant policy support is mainly aimed at large-scale cattle farming similar to northern grassland pastures, and under such circumstances it is difficult for Yulin City's cattle farming industry to expand production.

    In addition, hills and platforms account for 49.4% of Yulin City's total area, mountains account for 33%, and plains and basins account for only 17.4%. There are no natural pastures. Industry insiders said that at present Yulin City's pastures mainly rely on artificial cultivation. The cultivation of pasture grassland requires flat, moist land with firm soil, but Yulin City has many mountains, making centralized grassland cultivation difficult and inefficient. Once autumn comes, the grassland withers, and storing forage is difficult and costly. Storing pasture grass in autumn and winter generally costs 600 yuan/ton, and freight costs about 700 yuan, greatly increasing farming costs.

    However, fortunately, targeted measures to promote the cattle farming industry have recently been introduced one after another. Relevant staff of the Municipal Aquatic Products and Animal Husbandry Bureau said that the policy for asset mortgage loans on live animals has already been implemented, which brings convenience to farmers in increasing working capital during production. At the same time, it is recommended that cattle farmers improve cattle breeds. At present, Yulin City has projects on cattle breed improvement every year. Cattle farmers can bring their ID cards, household registration booklets and relevant valid documents to their local aquatic products and animal husbandry stations to receive frozen semen for cattle breed improvement, so as to improve the performance and physical fitness of cattle, form a new improved cattle breed system, and promote the development of the cattle farming industry. (Trainee reporter Yang Chuanxia)