Chapter 69

Yang Teng listened with a straight face, without refuting.

Yang Yiqing hugged Yang Teng's shoulders. "Thank you, Dad. My dad loves me the most."

Yang Teng: "Eat quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold."

As the family ate their meal, Feng Chunzhu pushed the mutton towards Yang Yiqing, saying, "Tell me, how does your boss raise these sheep? They're so fresh, tender, and fragrant! At lunchtime, your aunt and the others couldn't believe it was mutton. You should eat more."

Yang Yiqing picked up a piece of lamb chop. "That's why I say my boss is really something. He sells his lamb in City B for 130 yuan a pound."

Feng Chunzhu was startled. "So expensive?! Doesn't that mean the lean meat costs five or six hundred yuan per catty?"

Yang Yiqing shook her head, indicating that she did not know.

Yang Teng: "For this quality, five or six hundred isn't expensive. Look at those imported lambs, they can sell for thousands of yuan per kilogram just by adding a gift box."

Feng Chunzhu: "They all rip off rich people."

Speaking of mutton, Yang Teng added, "The mutton market isn't doing well this year; prices haven't been high. Next year should be better."

Yang Yiqing nodded. "My boss and the others also think this way, and they're planning to raise more sheep next year."

Yang Teng became interested. "Will he still raise fat-tailed sheep next year?"

Yang Yiqing: "Pretty much, but we might raise some more cattle. Dad, speaking of which, how's the beef cattle market in China?"

Yang Teng put down his chopsticks. "Your boss wants to raise beef cattle? The low-to-mid-end market for beef cattle in China is developing quite well, but he still can't break into the high-end market."

"N City is quite remote, so it's difficult to transport milk out of there," Yang Yiqing explained, Shi Wen's desire to raise beef cattle. "Brother Shi is currently looking to raise some higher-end beef cattle."

Yang Teng started a small livestock company, which is one of the reasons why Yang Yiqing would work in the related industry.

He was very familiar with cattle and sheep. When he heard "beef cattle," he didn't answer but instead asked, "Does your boss have any breeds he's interested in?"

Yang Yiqing: "He didn't say anything specific, but from what I heard, he's quite interested in Simmental cattle. If nothing unexpected happens, he should start contacting Simmental cattle next year."

Yang Teng praised, "A wise choice."

Yang Yiqing: "I think it's a bit of a waste of his talents to raise Simmental cattle."

Simmental cattle, a breed used for dairy, meat, and draft purposes, are widely distributed throughout the world.

Cattle farmers also speak highly of it.

However, it is distributed too widely and too evenly, so it probably wouldn't fetch a good price if sold.

Yang Yiqing prefers those well-known high-end varieties.

Whether a cow is raised for two years and sold for 800 yuan per kilogram or 800 yuan per kilogram makes a big difference.

Yang Teng saw through his daughter's thoughts and said, "You think it's not high-end enough?"

Yang Yiqing: "I think it lacks brand recognition, and the cost-effectiveness of raising it isn't very good?"

Yang Teng: "In fact, there are many crossbred Simmental cattle breeds, and many of them have developed very well in recent years. For example, here, Simmental cattle have been crossbred with our local yellow cattle, and the results are excellent for both dairy and meat production."

Yang Yiqing: "I've read the paper. I also noticed that it hasn't yet expanded beyond our local market."

Yang Teng: "It never targeted the high-end market, so it's normal that it couldn't expand beyond that. Its advantages lie in its strong adaptability, low price, and ease of cultivation. In just a few decades, or even a decade or so, it has completely adapted to our local environment."

Yang Yiqing nodded thoughtfully.

Yang Teng: "In my opinion, Simmental cattle have another major advantage—they are cheap, or rather, they have a low premium, giving them strong market competitiveness. This is crucial for a ranch that is in its startup phase, as it gives the owner more room for trial and error."

Shi Wen was unaware of the conversation between the Yang father and daughter, but he shared similar beliefs with Yang Teng.

During the startup phase, be frugal where you should and spend money where you should; it's best not to move too fast.

Shi Wen they want to buy Simmental cattle to breed a breed suitable for ranches. Besides economic reasons, there's also ambition involved.

He had been running a ranch for more than half a year and was quite familiar with the domestic animal husbandry industry.

China's beef cattle industry started relatively late, and many places still need to import frozen semen, embryos, and bulls from abroad. Moreover, after importing bulls, the cycle of importing, degenerating, and then importing again occurs every few years, indicating a high degree of dependence on foreign countries.

Shi Wen hopes that his generation of livestock farmers can change this situation.

Leaving aside the long term, he hopes to breed suitable beef cattle within five years and carry out regional herd improvement of local beef cattle.

The reason for choosing Simmental cattle is that among the high-quality beef cattle in China, the Simmental breed is the most numerous, its localization has been the most successful, and it pairs well with local Brown cattle. Choosing other breeds would require applications, contacting foreign ranches, and importing at great expense, which would be too wasteful of time, energy, and money.

Chapter 69

As the Lunar New Year approached, A Sai and his renovation team had some unfinished work and couldn't continue, so Shi Wen to finish up the remaining tasks next year.

Only Shi Wen and Yan Kexing remained on the ranch, but there were a whole bunch of animals—sheep, pigs, fat-tailed sheep, brown cattle, pigeons, geese, and dogs were kept in the barn, and Cong Zai and Hu Zai were kept at home.

Wolf King has now completely integrated into the Shi Wen family. He now hangs out with the dogs and has become their unofficial working dog, named Wolf King.

As for whether it can become a formal working dog, we'll have to wait until next spring, when there are more livestock on the ranch, and then we'll see how it performs.

Shi Wen had a feeling that this guy was probably fine.

There aren't many people in the family, but there are many small animals such as cats, dogs, Hu Zai.

With so many little ones, it's almost like having a bunch of kids at home, so naturally we'll celebrate the New Year in a lively and festive manner.

I've always Shi Wen that I spend the Lunar New Year alone and have little interest in it.

This year, with Yan Kexing, he took Yan Kexing to the city to buy New Year's goods.

Sunflower seeds, candies, roasted nuts, dried fruits, etc. are a must, as are red paper, incense, and candles. Then, check what's available at the market and buy some as you go.