Four years ago, he gave up the comfortable lifestyle of a coal boss and went to the Zhongtiao Mountains in Xia County to start raising organic wild boars in a free-range manner. He poured his entire fortune into it. He advanced through trial and error, and summed up experience as he moved forward, and his life was rewritten from then on. He is Yang Tianzhen. Some people said his brain had been kicked by a donkey. His wife, with tears in her eyes, urged him to stop before it was too late, and his friends earnestly advised him to return to the “coal” business. He endured this arduous road of raising pigs. His perseverance brought a turning point. In March 2010, his pork obtained organic product certification. In major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, as soon as his pork arrived, it was snapped up, and the price rose from 80 yuan per kilogram to 120 yuan.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
CCTV-2“s ”Road to Wealth“ program came to interview him, and pig farmers from all over the country also came to learn from his experience. Those who had once mocked him began to reexamine his ”deep-mountain pig-raising approach."文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Making a fortune by plunging into coal and coke文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
A baby face, a crew cut. Sincere, stubborn, and straightforward, Yang Tianzhen's personality traits are vividly displayed on his face. He speaks briskly and walks briskly, as if he has endless things to do.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
He is from Zhangcun Town, Pinglu County, and is 47 years old this year.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Twenty years ago, he was an employee of the Pinglu County Air Compressor Accessories Factory. As the enterprise was in decline, he resolutely resigned and went to work for a coal trading company in Sanmenxia City, Henan Province, just across the river.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
He was diligent and shrewd, and was valued by the company boss, taking charge of various matters related to railway freight. In the early 1990s, his salary was more than 800 yuan, which was a high income. It was just that, dealing with coal all day long, he could never spit out all the coal dust in his throat, and there was always black grit in his eyes that he could not rub away.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
The business world is full of variables. The coal trading company where Yang Tianzhen worked went bankrupt due to poor management. He analyzed the reasons for the company's failure and, using the network of contacts he had made during his work, went to Hejin City to secure several long-term coal and coke transportation deals.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Yang Tianzhen was generous by nature, and with his dedicated management, business became increasingly busy. Over several years, he accumulated a huge amount of capital and became a well-known figure in the coal and coke transportation field in Yuncheng City. Amid the wealth built on “black gold,” Yang Tianzhen bought land and property, rode in a Mercedes-Benz, ate lavish meals, and associated with major bosses in the coal and coke industry. His life was the envy of others. He was a man of true temperament, yet different from ordinary passionate people: he loved to ponder things.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
“The drawbacks of long-term excessive mining of coal resources in our province were exposed one by one. Contradictions such as environmental pollution, resource destruction, and unbalanced economic development in coal-producing areas were reported by the media one after another. Starting in September 2005, our province adopted measures to close illegal coal mines, upgrade small coal mines, and promote the development of large groups. In 2006, it also implemented the ‘New Coal Policy’ and established sustainable development funds. I realized that money in the coal industry was no longer easy to make. If I did not do this line of work, what else could I do?” Yang Tianzhen pondered.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
One day, he had a gathering with a group of coal bosses. While eating delicacies from land and sea, the bosses sincerely reminisced: “We can never again taste the flavor of the pork from the kind of pig slaughtered once a year in the village when we were children. How fragrant it was!” The others just said it casually, but Yang Tianzhen kept turning these words over and over in his mind.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
“If green pig farming can be achieved, safe pork will certainly win consumers” favor and will surely also have economic benefits." A simple concept surfaced in Yang Tianzhen's mind.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Creating a nationwide model文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
One day in 2007, a friend who had once borrowed 50,000 yuan from Yang Tianzhen came to see him. “Look, I've invested so much money without seeing any returns, and now I have no money to buy feed. If this won't do, then you and I should do it together.” The friend was from Xia County, and he sincerely invited him. Yang Tianzhen, who was planning a transformation, drove with this friend to the pig farm in Sijiao Town, Xia County.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
It was exactly the season of singing birds and fragrant flowers. The mountains were lush and green, and springs murmured among the mountains, like a fairyland on earth. Yang Tianzhen took a walk around the mountain, and the wild fruits all over the hills fascinated him. The chestnuts were not large, but so sweet that people smacked their lips, and the wild strawberries in the valleys were also a delicacy in the world.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Yang Tianzhen, who had dealt with coal yards for half his life, fell in love with this place from the bottom of his heart. Looking at several hundred domestic pigs penned in pigsties, squealing from hunger, he said, “Pigs can indeed be raised, but not this way.” If he wanted to engage in breeding, he had to take a path different from others. He wanted to release the pigs to the mountain to be raised freely, with the pigs not eating feed but wild fruits and drinking mineral water. Especially in autumn after September, ripe wild chestnuts, walnuts, persimmons, and jujubes could provide abundant food for the pigs.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Had anyone ever raised pigs this way? He did not know. The muddleheaded Yang Tianzhen set off. He drove to all parts of the country to learn from others.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
After making a round through Fujian and Shandong, various novel and unusual pig-raising methods broadened his horizons, but there was still no farm that raised pigs on the mountain. A Shandong breeding expert asked about the environment around Yang Tianzhen's pig farm and then said, “Internationally, organic pigs are very popular, but there really are no organic pigs that eat wild fruits and drink mountain spring water. If you really produce completely pollution-free, original-ecology organic pigs, your pork will be number one in the world.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Number one in the world! Yang Tianzhen was extremely excited and eager to try. In fact, when Yang Tianzhen thinks about it today, when he first asked the professor what the standards for organic pigs were, the professor had also been momentarily speechless. A detail that was overlooked at the time actually led to Yang Tianzhen's original organic pig breeding model.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Back in Xia County, Yang Tianzhen invested more than one million yuan to build a pig farm. The forest area of Sijiao Town in the Zhongtiao Mountains was still more than ten li by car from the nearest mountain village, and Yang Tianzhen's pig farm was located within the forest area, remote and inconvenient to access. In order to build the pig farm, Yang Tianzhen lived on the mountain every day and dug stones and built foundations together with the workers. He contracted more than ten thousand mu of mountain land and bought several hundred domestic pigs, beginning the road of organic pig breeding.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Villagers from surrounding villages rushed over to watch the joke. With such a big mountain, could pigs be raised there? During the interview, Sun Sanyuan, secretary of the Party branch of Xigou Village, recalled, “When we heard that a coal boss had come to the mountain to raise pigs and even wanted to release the pigs on the mountain, the villagers all found it very strange. Is there something wrong with this person? If the pigs run around every day and do not gain meat, how can he make money?”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Once suffered heavy losses文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
In the summer of 2008, his partner suggested driving the pigs up the mountain, “and after autumn, just gather the pigs back like harvesting crops.” Yang Tianzhen, who had no experience, did so dubiously.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Over the past six months, Yang Tianzhen had been constantly pondering the standards for organic pigs. He stored pig feed—organic corn—and also installed pollution-free fermentation beds in the pigpens, busy beyond measure every day. Winter was approaching. Suppressing the joy of harvest in his heart, he hired a group of villagers to go up the mountain to “collect the pigs.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
They searched and searched. Dozens of villagers exhausted themselves and found more than 600 pigs. “That's not right. When they went up the mountain, there were more than 1,000. How come now there are not more, but fewer?” Yang Tianzhen did not know whether to laugh or cry. He and his partner went up the mountain overnight, flashlights in hand, searching frantically everywhere for traces of the pigs.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
After several days and nights, Yang Tianzhen drove a few more pigs down the mountain, disheveled and dirty. After coming down, he sat down heavily on the ground, and at that moment he truly felt like giving up. After a long while, he came to his senses and understood that he was already on the bowstring and had no choice but to press forward.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Poor management was the reason for the failure of this free-range model. Subsequently, Yang Tianzhen hired more than ten free-range keepers, driving the pigs up the mountain in the early morning and back again in the evening, counting the number every day and providing focused supervision.
Yang Tianzhen's domestic pigs ran up the mountain and fell in love with the wild boars in the forest, and after coming down the mountain they produced the fruit of their love. These were the second-generation wild boars. The second-generation wild boars had enhanced climbing ability and combined the advantages of both parents, and their meat quality was clearly superior to that of domestic pigs and pure wild boars. “In 2008, the cost of one kilogram of his pork already exceeded 60 yuan, while ordinary pork was less than 20 yuan. Tell me, how could he make money?” said Yang Tianzhen's friend. His thinking was very advanced. He said that pollution-free green pork would be the darling of the future meat market, and within three years it would surely open up the market.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Infrastructure required money, hiring people required money, and launching projects required money. Yang Tianzhen invested large sums of money into the mountain. “Investment could not keep up, so he mortgaged his house and car for loans and put another large sum of money into the pig farm. During the hardest days, the family's monthly living expenses were less than 300 yuan, and his wife's meals every day were steamed buns and pickles. His wife did not understand and shed tears. She asked him: What are you doing this for? You had a perfectly good money-making business, but you would not do it, and instead wanted to raise pigs? Raising pigs is fine, but other people's pigs go to market in 3 months, while yours take 12 months. Other people feed feed at one yuan per kilogram, while you feed organic corn at four yuan per kilogram. Other people just build a pigsty, while you spend hundreds of thousands a year on fermentation beds. Tell me, what exactly are you trying to do?” “My friends did not understand, my wife did not understand, and I silently bore it all. I myself knew clearly that what I was doing was meeting organic standards. If I do not do this thing, others will do it too. This is the future development trend. The more serious the pollution becomes, the more organic food will be respected. Organic pigs have high requirements for pens: zero pollution, zero emissions. The fermentation bed is produced by fermenting sawdust and straw, quickly transforming manure and urine and other waste. The high protein and fungi it produces are beneficial to the pigs.” Yang Tianzhen explained.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Twelve months later, the improved second-generation wild boars were ready for market. He gave the pork to friends to taste, and all of them smacked their lips and said “fragrant.” “Pigs that exercise every day have more lean meat, and the pork is relatively chewy.” Yang Tianzhen was very confident about this point.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Second-generation wild boars, free-range raising, eating wild fruits, drinking spring water, sleeping on fermentation beds, eating organic corn... These were Yang Tianzhen's key words regarding organic pigs. What are the organic standards? Yang Tianzhen thought about them all the time. When people get sick they take medicine, and when pigs get sick they also have to take medicine. If pigs take chemical drugs, can they still be called organic pigs?文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Yang Tianzhen denied it. Pigs that take medicine could not be called organic pigs in his view. He constantly adjusted his new standards. He traveled far to Fujian and invited traditional Chinese medicine veterinary expert Lan Bingrong. The 70-year-old Mr. Lan had spent many years researching projects using traditional Chinese medicine to prevent livestock diseases.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
With a monthly salary of 6,000 yuan, this old man, who had been worrying that he had no place to use his talents, took root in “Jianxin Breeding Cooperative.” Nearly 20 varieties of medicinal herbs unique to the mountain, including Forsythia suspensa, Polygala tenuifolia, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Gentiana macrophylla, hawthorn, peach kernel, wild jujube seed, Polyporus umbellatus, Schisandra chinensis, and Anemone altaica, became regular supplementary ingredients for the organic pigs. “I plan, once I have funds, to introduce a set of equipment from abroad so that organic pigs can die without pain. Then their bodies will not accumulate any toxins, and they will better meet the standards.” In this way, Yang Tianzhen created his own organic pig breeding model and launched an ambitious sprint toward the title of “number one in the world.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Leading villagers to prosperity文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
In March 2010, all the organic product certification procedures were completed. That day, Yang Tianzhen's 3 pigs sold for 20,000 yuan. This news was like dropping a bomb in the deep mountains. The surrounding villagers were shocked and came one after another to inquire, also wanting to raise organic pigs.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Leading poor villagers to prosperity had always been Yang Tianzhen's dream of “benefiting the world.” But he was unwilling to let these kind and simple villagers bear risks. He was waiting for an opportunity. Once his products thoroughly opened up the market and the market matured, he would guide the villagers onto a road to prosperity.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Therefore, he made up his mind, borrowed money, and invested in a assembly line, packaging pork into bags. He carried the products himself to various science and technology trade fairs, step by step opening up the market. Effort always brings rewards. More and more people began to pay attention to green food.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
Around the Spring Festival in 2011, sales of 5,000 kilograms of organic pork gave Yang Tianzhen reassurance. He knew that a shift in concepts was the supporting point for the rise of the organic industry. “Before leading the villagers to prosperity, I have to consider many issues. How can economic development proceed without destroying the primitive natural environment of the Zhongtiao Mountains? I brought in forestry experts, and after a long period of investigation and demonstration, found that pig manure can add fertilizer to the forest area, and pigs will not gnaw on trees. They focus only on acorns, wild fruits, and similar food on the ground, which indirectly benefits the soil in the forest area to some extent. Having reached this conclusion, I was reassured. I can plan a broader environmentally friendly organic path.” Yang Tianzhen's manner of speaking and way of thinking showed that he is a businessman with a sense of responsibility.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
At present, Yang Tianzhen's company has two free-range bases, five breeding farms for breeding pigs, and one slaughtering factory. It is the largest organic wild boar breeding base in the province.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
He is planning a road to prosperity for the people of the Zhongtiao Mountains. He hopes everyone will first plant organic corn to solve the feed problem for organic pigs, then raise organic pigs according to his standards, and next transform the fertilizer in the fermentation beds into an organic fertilizer production line. Finally, he also wants to develop eco-tourism. “The Zhongtiao Mountains are the forest area with the most tree species in Shanxi, with a forest area of 24,700 hectares and a coverage rate of about 40%, mainly deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests dominated by oak species and Chinese pine forests, and also containing precious Eucommia ulmoides, black catalpa, and lacquer trees. Local farmers can raise organic pigs while also running farmhouse lodging and dining. Tourists from all over can come here to enjoy the scenery, taste organic pork, taste wild fruits, and drink mountain spring water.” Yang Tianzhen imagined.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
On February 6, under the glow of the setting sun, the free-range keepers whistled, and groups of organic pigs ran back to their pens with great strides from the steep mountain. In the office, Yang Tianzhen and several farmers were filling out survey forms for organic corn planting. A green road to prosperity extended into the distance from beneath the feet of this coal boss.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/
(Source: Sanjin Metropolis Daily, February 9, 2011, 10:16)文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11286/