This shepherd is proud of achieving full mechanization in sheep farming

This “shepherd” is very proud of full mechanization in sheep farming


Workers are using a feed processing machine to make sheep feed. Photo by reporter Long Danmei and correspondent Li Shuang
Report (by reporter Long Danmei and correspondent Li Shuang) Recently, when the reporter met 50-year-old villager Gao Zhenyuan in Jiangdong Village, Heqian Town, Kaixian County, he insisted on taking the reporter to see his sheep farm.

This sheep farm was built by Old Gao after spending all his savings from 7 years of working away from home. Unlike most other people in the village, who mostly raise sheep by hand, Old Gao's sheep farm has achieved full mechanization, which makes him very proud.

When the reporter arrived at Gao Zhenyuan's sheep farm, the workers were busy cleaning the sheep pens. Gao Zhenyuan walked into a small room next door. In this room were monitors, with a nine-grid display showing real-time footage from every part of the sheep pens. This device was the digital monitoring and management system that Gao Zhenyuan had specially installed for the sheep farm. Gao Zhenyuan skillfully operated the keyboard and clicked open one of the images, and immediately a scene appeared of a ewe gently licking her newborn lamb.

Gao Zhenyuan told the reporter that ewes that have just given birth are easily startled and often trample the lambs to death, but by using this monitoring and management system to constantly “watch” the ewes, he can ensure the “safety of both mother and child”.

Just as he was speaking, a “beep” “beep” sound suddenly rang out in the monitoring room. The reporter saw from the monitor that bursts of “smoke” began spraying from above the sheep pens. It turned out that this was an automatic disinfection machine installed in the sheep pens, spraying disinfectant solution on the pens at set times.

After walking around the sheep farm, the reporter found that in addition to cameras, every room in the farm was also equipped with speakers. As long as Old Gao pressed the broadcast button in the monitoring room, he could assign work to the workers. Add in the fully automatic disinfectors, feed processing machines and so on, and no wonder Old Gao kept saying “mechanization” at every turn.

“He raises sheep, and he spent all the money he earned from working away from home.” Villager Liu Yuanfu quietly told the reporter: “Everyone says he is foolish!”

So, is Old Gao really foolish? “Although the investment in mechanization is high, it also saves a lot in labor costs.” Old Gao said that after returning home from working away last year, he, with only an elementary school education, spent all of the more than 100,000 yuan he had saved from 7 years of work on purchasing mechanized equipment. But after carefully doing the accounts, he still saved quite a lot of money. For example, the farm currently has 500 sheep. Under the traditional model, he would need to hire 8 people, at 1,200 yuan per person per month, which would be 115,200 yuan a year in wages alone. But after mechanized operation, only 4 people are needed to keep the sheep farm running, so he can save half of the labor costs every year.

On May 1 this year, Gao Zhenyuan had just sold his first batch of 100 sheep, making a net profit of 15,000 yuan. He did not deposit this 15,000 yuan in the bank. Instead, he transferred land and started growing red-fleshed kiwifruit and grapes in the village. Old Gao's calculations are quite shrewd, because in this way, his sheep manure would have somewhere to go.