Bei'an farmer Lü Xuedong gets rich raising pigs with the help of the internet

    Recently, farmer Lü Xuedong of Jianmin Village, Chengjiao Township, Bei'an City, Heilongjiang Province happily drove a brand-new small van back from town. He happily told this writer that the more than 40,000 yuan for buying the vehicle was all earned from raising pigs on the "net."  

Lü Xuedong began thinking about getting rich by raising pigs in 2000. At first, because he was operating on a small scale and did not grasp market information in a timely manner, his returns were mediocre. In the spring of 2004, he learned elsewhere that surfing the internet by computer not only made it very convenient to look up price information related to live pig sales, but also allowed him to learn about raising and breeding for free. So, despite his family's opposition, he spent 5,000 yuan to bring home a brand-new computer and got a broadband connection. At the same time, he expanded his scale and also took up self-breeding and self-raising. Early that winter, live pig prices slid. Most pig farmers in the same village sold at the "tearful price" of 4.80 yuan per kg, but Lü Xuedong, by following "China Pig Raising Network" and communicating with pig farmers elsewhere, believed that the market price of live pigs would rebound substantially before long. Facts proved his judgment correct. More than half a month later, the market price of live pigs gradually rose to 6.60 yuan per kg. Lü Xuedong chose the right moment to sell and made a profit. That year, more than 10 farming households in the whole village all gave up raising pigs because they had lost money that year.  

In the early winter of 2006, Lü Xuedong learned online that because swine fever had appeared in many areas, the live pig inventory had fallen sharply. He once again increased his investment, buying 10 sows in one go, and carried out scientific management according to the pig disease prevention knowledge he had learned online. In the early spring of 2007, live pig prices rose again as expected, and in just one spring, Lü Xuedong earned more than 20,000 yuan. Today, Lü Xuedong has not only become a major farming household in the village, but also the village's pig-raising expert. Led by Lü Xuedong, the number of households in the village that have bought computers has increased to more than 20, and more than 10 have gotten broadband connections, embarking on the road to prosperity on the "internet."