In midsummer, when you enter Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Wuwei City, Gansu Province, you will be in an ecological picture. When the towering and mysterious Ma Ya Snow Mountain hits the eye, the green and brown of the mountain and the white of the snow will be seen; On the green carpet spreading grassland, purple firewood flowers are in full bloom, and the trees on the hillside are lush; From a distance, the leisurely white yaks and sheep are like white pearls.
It's a good time for grazing! In Tucheng Village, Saishi Town, Tianzhu County, Liu Guijun, head of the Malaga Specialized Breeding Cooperative, drove more than 100 white yaks and 300 sheep into the grassland. "Now we only herd in the grassland for three months in summer, and the rest of the time we live in captivity." Liu Guijun told reporters that there was little grass in the mountains. Previously, we used to herd all year round, and we could feed less than 100 animals. Cattle and sheep run all over the mountain. When it snows in winter, livestock still suffer losses.
Although the grazing time is short, Liu Guijun's livestock is sold more. "When grazing throughout the year, it is enough to prepare more than 1000 jin of highland barley for supplementary feeding in winter, but the income is also small." Liu Guijun calculated the account and said that in the nine months of last year, captive breeding alone cost more than 300000 yuan, but more than 1000 cattle and sheep were sold throughout the year.
In Tianzhu County, many herdsmen, like Liu Guijun, are experiencing changes brought about by the model of "breeding in pastoral areas, fattening in agricultural areas, and complementation between agriculture and animal husbandry". In the past five years, Tianzhu County has invested 170 million yuan in animal husbandry development, supported the cultivation of 40 leading agricultural enterprises, 504 farmers' professional cooperatives, 2787 family farms, and built a total of 28000 breeding greenhouses, laying a solid foundation for the development of grassland animal husbandry.
Grassland lightening
Tianzhu County is located at the eastern end of the Hexi Corridor. Qilian Mountain National Nature Reserve and Liancheng National Nature Reserve account for 64.4% of the county's land area, and their ecological status is extremely important.
It is understood that grassland is the largest surface resource type in Tianzhu County, but the natural grassland area is only 5.871 million mu, of which the grass livestock balance area is 4.271 million mu, and the theoretical livestock carrying capacity is 823000 sheep units. In addition, there are 1.71 million mu of shrub grazing forest land, and the theoretical livestock carrying capacity is 400000 sheep units. These natural grasslands can only carry 1.223 million sheep units every year.
"In addition to the grassland livestock balance area and shrubbery grazing forest land, we also have a theoretical livestock carrying capacity of 300200 sheep units in 300000 mu of artificial grassland, 202600 sheep units in the theoretical livestock carrying capacity of crop straw feed utilization, and the theoretical livestock carrying capacity of the whole county has reached 1725800 sheep units." Qi Wanzhen, deputy director of Tianzhu County Animal Husbandry Technology Promotion Station, said, In 2023, the actual livestock carrying capacity of the whole county will be equivalent to 1.6307 million sheep units, and 951 thousand sheep units will be under loaded. The grass and livestock will maintain a dynamic balance.
From the actual situation, Tianzhu's animal husbandry not only has no "overload", but also has a little "surplus" space, which benefits from the transformation of the development mode of animal husbandry and the promotion of the model of "breeding in pastoral areas, fattening in agricultural areas, and complementation between agriculture and animal husbandry".
An Weiguo's fattening farm is built on a vacant land in the suburb of Huazangsi Town, Tianzhu County. At present, there are more than 600 yaks in stock. "These shelf cattle are purchased from the pastoral areas. If only grazing, the yaks grow slowly, and the yaks aged 3 to 5 only have more than 200 kilograms." An Weiguo said that he buys them every year when the yaks are fat, and fattens them for half a year. The weight of the yaks can double to more than 400 kilograms.
In the opinion of An Weiguo, although the cost of house feeding and fattening is high, it has a quick effect. "The feed I use is mainly corn, bran, straw and silage. Although a cow costs about 16 yuan a day, its meat yield is far higher than that of grazing, and it can be sold in half a year." An Weiguo believes that combining traditional extensive grazing with fine house feeding and breeding is equivalent to transferring the consumption of livestock on grassland to the pen. Not only is the income good, but also the pressure on the grassland can be greatly reduced.
In recent years, Tianzhu County has continuously expanded the scale of forage planting. The planting area of oat grass and other forage grass has expanded from 30000 mu in 2005 to 300000 mu in 2023, and the rate of improved forage varieties has reached 85%. The output of crop straw in the county is 183000 tons, and the feed utilization rate is 72.6%.
Not long ago, Tianzhu County was selected as one of the national grassland animal husbandry transformation and upgrading project counties. It is understood that Tianzhu County will focus on strengthening the protection and restoration of natural grasslands, building a high-quality forage base with high and stable yield, building a modern grassland ecological pasture and large-scale breeding farms, building a base for the expansion of fine breeding livestock and forage seeds, and building a "five system project" of forage storage and transportation system for disaster prevention and mitigation.
With the implementation of the project, it is estimated that by 2027, the comprehensive vegetation coverage of natural grassland in Tianzhu County will increase from the current 88.6% to more than 89%.
Increase income of herdsmen
"In the past, many people were unwilling to breed in captivity, on the one hand, because of the tradition of grazing, on the other hand, because of the high cost and large investment of breeding in captivity." Yang Rujie, vice president of Tianzhu County Breeding Animal Breeding Research Institute, analyzed that it is necessary to protect the grassland ecology, but also to ensure the income of herdsmen. While changing the breeding mode, it is necessary to find ways to broaden the channels for people to increase income, "Tianhua mutton sheep" It is for this reason that we are nurtured.
In March this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released a batch of new breeds and supporting lines approved by the National Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources Committee, among which Tianzhu "Tianhua mutton sheep" was included. This means that the first new breed of mutton sheep adapted to alpine climate in China, which was bred by Lanzhou University and Tianzhu County for 15 years, has an "ID card".
"Tianhua mutton sheep takes Gansu alpine fine wool sheep as female parent and South African meat Merino sheep as male parent, both of which have excellent genes, and are suitable for breeding in northern pastoral areas and farming pastoral areas." Yang Rujie said that under the same feeding conditions, the 6-month old Tianhua mutton sheep can produce 1 jin more wool and 20 jin more meat than the original alpine fine wool sheep, and the lambing rate of basic ewes can reach 135%. This is equivalent to an increase of about 200 yuan for a commodity sheep, and 900 yuan for a basic ewe.
Qin Yuliang, a herdsman in Duolong Village, Dachaigou Town, Tianzhu County, witnessed and benefited from the birth of Tianhua mutton sheep. "I have more than 1400 sheep, but only more than 2000 mu of grassland. The sheep will not grow meat well if they are not fed enough on the mountain. In house feeding, there must be a good breed." Qin Yuliang said that since 2013, his farm has been involved in the improvement and expansion of Tianhua mutton sheep. "This breed has a large size, high meat production rate, high wool production, and high twin birth rate, which can basically achieve three lambs in two years." 。
In the pen, Qin Yuliang pointed to a group of Tianhua mutton sheep who were eating feed and said, "This is the lamb that was born last winter. It has grown to more than 60 kg in seven months. Previously, the winter lamb of alpine fine wool sheep was only 20 to 30 kg by this time. Previously, a 6-month-old sheep could produce 30 kg of meat, which was a good sheep. Tianhua mutton sheep could produce 60 kg of meat. Do you increase your income obviously when you calculate this account? "
In recent years, Tianzhu has carried out the expansion of Tianhua mutton sheep in the whole county. At present, the number of new breeds has reached 400000. "A good ewe is a good nest, and a good ram is a good slope," Yang Rujie told reporters that Tianzhu County will be paid by the government to provide free breeding rams for the masses to self breed. At present, Tianzhu County has set up 308 groups of Tianhua mutton sheep in 19 townships.
It is understood that Tianzhu County has established a three-level breeding system of "core breeding farm+breeding and reproduction farm+population (household)", and 129 artificial insemination sites have been established throughout the county. Through demonstration and promotion of "synchronous estrus+artificial insemination" breeding technology and "early weaning of lambs+rapid fattening" whole house feeding and fattening technology, "two years and three yields" have been fully implemented High quality and efficient breeding and scientific and efficient ecological breeding mode of "breeding in pastoral areas, fattening in agricultural areas, and complementation between agriculture and animal husbandry" enable more farmers to enjoy the achievements of scientific and technological transformation.
Yang Rujie said that he would accelerate the expansion and promotion efforts, and set up 500 groups of Tianhua mutton sheep new breed sheep expansion and promotion groups by 2025, with 800000 new breed mutton sheep raised, driving the transformation and upgrading of the sheep industry and high-quality development of the county.
Industrial quality improvement
Xu Shitao is the head of Haoshunyuan Family Farm in Tianzhu County. At his bedside, there are thick production data books and breeding files. Open these folders, and the type, flower pattern, calving condition of each basic cow, and the variety, fertilizer use and growth condition of each crop are clearly recorded in the book. Through years of continuous attempts, observations and improvements, Xu Shitao has found a way of self breeding and self marketing.
"Feed used to come from outside, so the logistics cost was too high." Xu Shitao told reporters that he planted 500 mu of oat grass last year, and the nearby supply reduced the breeding cost. Moreover, compared with ordinary straw, oat grass has higher nutritional value. This year, he transferred the land and planted 2300 mu of oat grass. "In the semi agricultural and semi pastoral areas, exploring ways to combine planting and breeding can improve breeding efficiency."
In Lanzhou New Area, which is more than 100 kilometers away from Tianzhu County, Xu Shitao also opened four mutton steamed buns shops. Through the videos of the shops, we can see his breeding base in Kercha Village, Saishi Town. "Last year, more than 4000 sheep were sold, most of which were used in my Paomo Restaurant." Xu Shitao said that in the traditional industrial model, lambing in winter, grazing in spring and summer, and concentrated selling in autumn. Now people's concept is gradually changing. Through breeding in pastoral areas and fattening in agricultural areas, we can achieve off peak selling and perennial supply.
Xu Shitao's exploration is a microcosm of the transformation and upgrading of grassland animal husbandry in Tianzhu County. In the next few years, Tianzhu County will further extend the industrial chain, and lead the development of the whole industrial chain of animal husbandry, such as breeding, planting, breeding, processing, and marketing of fine varieties, by cultivating leading enterprises in the intensive processing of Tianzhu white yaks and Tianhua mutton sheep, to create a plateau featured modern animal husbandry industrial park dominated by cooperatives and family farms.
According to the implementation plan of the National Grassland Animal Husbandry Transformation and Upgrading Project in Tianzhu County, 50000 mu of forage will be planted in 16 townships, including Haxi, Songshan and Dachaigou, and relevant ancillary facilities and equipment will be provided; One forage storage, transportation and distribution center will be built in Huazangsi Town and Songshan Town respectively; At the same time, 190 modern grassland ecological pastures and standardized scale farms will be built.
In addition, Tianzhu County will greatly improve the market competitiveness and product added value of plateau featured livestock husbandry by establishing a modern deep processing production line. It is estimated that by 2027, the annual slaughter and processing capacity will increase from 75000 to 220000, and the processing output value will increase from 54.2 million yuan to 95 million yuan. Qi Wanzhen introduced that after the completion of the project, the scale of house feeding and breeding in the county will increase by more than 10%, and the per capita disposable income of farmers will increase to 15535 yuan, of which the income of herbivorous animal husbandry will increase from 41% to more than 45%. (Economic Daily reporter Chen Shifa)
Editor: Qi Zhi Jiwang News Hotline: 0431-82902222
