Blog #6: Seeing Xi'an‏

Sunday, May 17th 

One of the first attractions we saw in Xi'an was a feed mill, only for pigs.

For ya'll who want to compare US with China:

-$11 a bushel for corn
-10,000 tons of feed a month produced
-The biggest pig farm they supply is 1,000 slaughter pigs.
- The farthest farm they deliver is 1,200 miles away. 

Next, we got more into my area: beef cattle.
The first place we visited was a cattle farm under the company King Bull.
-10,000 head resided on the facility.
- The company had been around since 2004, but the farm we visited had been around since 2014.

There breeding technique was three breed rotation. 

Bull--Angus cross with Waigu (Japanese breed)
Cow--local breed

-The cattle are 1,760 lbs at 27 months.
-They are fed wheat straw and recycle manure for hay.
-50,000 tons of fertilizer per year. 
-Their breeding used to involve shipped semen, but now they have their own bull.

-Cattle are exercised with a hot walker because it's supposed to make them stronger and the meat better.
-King Bull introduced more than 2,000 black Angus from Australia in 2 years.
-They have their own slaughter facility.
-The beef crosses through 21 different quality checks. 

After visiting King Bull, we traveled to a feedlot with a different breed of cattle. 

-They wean their calves at 4-6 months.
- They produce 700 tons of silage per year to feed the herd. 

The facility itself was very different from USA's own feedlot. They had the cattle and calves on cement rather dirt. It's easier to gather manure, but harder on the animals. The calves are not separated so there is no calving pens. If a calf gets scoures, every calf is probably going to get it. There are no chutes, only head gates. The cattle are bred in the pen where they usually are, only locked in the head chute while try eat. The silage has nothing added to it to protect it against bacteria. 

As someone raised on pasture cattle, it was very interesting. There could definitely be improvements made, but China is still building and rapidly increasing in their knowledge of agriculture. We'll see where China is in only a couple years. 

My only wish is they would slow on their improvement of beef and realize they need beef imports from US. Selfish, I know, but as a consumer it's a serious wish.