Crossbred cattle turn into cash cows

ZHENGZHOU－Zhang Shichun decided to raise cattle seven years ago so the herd would consume the corn stalks on his farmland. Today, the cattle are cash cows.

Zhang, a former migrant worker, now has 10 cows at his farm in Biyang county, Henan province, that earn him 100,000 yuan ($15,480) a year.

Biyang is the birthplace of Xianan cattle, a locally developed beef cow breed. It was successfully created in 2007 by crossbreeding French Charolais cows with Nanyang cattle, a breed primarily used as a draft animal in China.

The income from the herd has helped Zhang put his children through school and take care of his family. "Dealers come every year to purchase cattle. I have not had any sales problems," he said.

Lin Fengpeng, a member of the research team that developed the breed, said that a Xianan cow can reach over 750 kilograms in seven to eight months. "The cattle are strong, and provide more high-quality beef," he said.

A Xianan cow can bring in an additional 2,000 to 3,000 yuan compared with traditional breeds, Lin said. Qi Xinglei, leader of the research team said, "We aimed to develop the breed into a brand to help expand the local economy."

The team is developing a new variety of the Xianan breed, temporarily named "hornless Xianan cattle", whose larger body can yield more high-quality beef, Qi said.

In a bid to further complete the industry chain, the local government in 2017 invited Hondo Beef to establish operations. The company has driven the development of associated industries and built a modern agricultural industrial park in Biyang.

The industry chain involves research and development, farming, slaughtering, meat processing and sales as well as manure processing in the county, where 395,000 cattle are raised.

These sectors bought in 15 billion in revenue by the end of last year, and created over 100,000 jobs, said Wang Huaijun, an official in charge of the county's animal husbandry affairs. Some 30,000 people have been lifted out of poverty thanks to the cattle industries, Wang said.

China has decided to set a five-year transition period for counties that have shaken off poverty, and will gradually shift the policy focus toward comprehensively promoting rural vitalization, according to an annual central rural work conference that concluded in Beijing in December.

By 2025, Biyang plans to further invest 3 billion yuan in expanding the business clusters related to Xianan cattle, Wang said.

Song Renqi, 28, is among the migrant workers who returned from bigger cities to work in the cattle industry. He now earns 4,000 yuan a month working as a quality inspector at Hondo Beef. "I have no doubt the future of Xianan cattle will prosper, and so will mine," Song said.

Xinhua