Abstract:In recent years, the animal husbandry industry in mainland China has maintained a stable development trend, and the scale of cattle and sheep breeding has continued to expand, which has led to the expansion of forage demand. Although the mainland has issued a series of policies to encourage the development of the domestic forage industry, due to the limitations of domestic population, land, resources and other aspects, the scale of forage produced on the mainland is not enough to meet the needs of high-yield dairy cows, and China needs the United States, Australia, South Africa and other countries to import a large amount of forage grass every year, especially high-quality forage. In 2023, the mainland will import a total of 1.0715 million tons of hay, a year-on-year decrease of 44.8%, the import value will be 537.9543 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 45.7%, and the average CIF price will be 502.04 US dollars/ton, a year-on-year decrease of 1.7%.
1. Definitions and Classification
Forage refers to a variety of cultivated and wild annual or perennial grasses that can be used for livestock feeding or as feed. There are many classification methods for forage, which can be divided into annual forage grass and perennial forage grass according to the service life, cold-season forage grass and warm-season forage grass according to the suitable growth temperature, and grassy grass, leguminous forage grass and Asteraceae forage grass according to plant type.
Second, industry policies
1. Competent authorities and regulatory system
The main regulatory authorities of the forage industry are the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the agricultural departments at all levels. The main responsibilities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs are to study and formulate agricultural and rural economic development strategies and medium- and long-term development plans, and organize their implementation after approval; to draw up agricultural development plans and supervise their implementation; to study and formulate agricultural industrial policies, and to guide the rational adjustment of the agricultural industrial structure, the rational allocation of agricultural resources, and the improvement of product quality; to put forward policy proposals on the prices of agricultural products and means of agricultural production, tariff adjustments, circulation of bulk agricultural products, rural credit, taxation, and agricultural financial subsidies; to organize the drafting of agricultural crops, animal husbandry, fisheries, and agricultural financial subsidies; Draft laws and regulations on township enterprises and other agricultural industries.
The Grass Industry Branch of China Animal Husbandry Association is an organization of forage industry associations. Founded in May 2010, the Grass Industry Branch of China Animal Husbandry Association is a second-level branch of China Animal Husbandry Association, which is a national grass industry association engaged in the combination of production, learning, research and management of grass industry and related industries.
China Animal Husbandry Association Grass Industry Branch is a social organization of the industry, the main task is to serve enterprises, serve the government, serve the society, serve users, is a bridge to connect domestic enterprises and foreign cooperation and exchanges, through the association, safeguard the rights and interests of enterprises, self-discipline enterprise behavior, strengthen international cooperation, and guide industrial development.
2. Industry-related policies
The sustainable and healthy development of animal husbandry is inseparable from the support of grass development, especially high-quality forage. The "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the National Forage Industry" issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs proposes that by 2025, the pattern of coordinated development of forage production, processing and circulation will be initially formed, and the gap of high-quality forage will be significantly reduced. The national output of high-quality forage has reached 98 million tons, the demand guarantee rate of forage for cattle and sheep has reached more than 80%, the overall self-sufficiency rate of forage seeds has reached more than 70%, and the mechanization rate of feed (grass) production and processing has reached more than 65%. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on the implementation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on learning and using the experience of the "Thousand Villages Demonstration and Ten Thousand Villages Renovation" project to effectively and effectively promote the deployment of the comprehensive revitalization of the countryside proposes to promote the stable development of animal husbandry, solidly promote the transformation of grain to feed, build a high-yield and stable-yield forage base, and thoroughly implement the reduction and substitution of soybean meal for feed.
Third, the development process
Since the 80s of the 20th century, the mainland's macroeconomy has developed rapidly, the demand for dairy protein has increased rapidly, animal husbandry has begun to develop rapidly, and the mainland's forage industry has begun to develop initially. Since the 90s of the 20 th century, the forage industry on the mainland has achieved rapid development with the support of the country's policy of developing the western region on a large scale, returning farmland to grassland, and returning grazing land to grassland. After 2005, due to the influence of national policies such as subsidies for improved seeds, subsidies for returning farmland to forests, market prices and other factors, the industrial development fluctuated greatly, especially due to the impact of grain subsidy policies, and the forage planting area dropped sharply. After the "infant milk powder" incident in 2008, the Chinese talent re-examined the key position and role of the forage industry in the safe production and development of dairy cows, and the development of the forage industry in the mainland has been highly valued by the Party Central Committee and the State Council. Especially since the "13th Five-Year Plan", the state has successively implemented policies and measures such as subsidies and incentives for grassland ecological protection, grain to feed, and revitalization of dairy alfalfa development, and the intensive development of grass-fed animal husbandry has accelerated, and the demand for high-quality forage has increased rapidly, and the development of forage industry has achieved positive results.
Fourth, industry barriers
Although the forage industry is gradually forming market-oriented competition, each enterprise operates independently for the market, and there are no legal and policy restrictions. However, for the rapid development and growth of enterprises in the industry, enterprises outside the industry will still face the following barriers to enter the industry and become a forage business enterprise with strong profitability:
1. Scale barriers
The scale effect of the alfalfa industry is obvious, and a larger scale can reduce the cost of product production and operation and ensure the profit margin of the enterprise. The existing small, medium and micro enterprises have not been able to break through the restrictions of production, storage, transportation and sales and grow rapidly, and it is more difficult for new enterprises to enter the industry to form a scale. Therefore, the scale barriers in the alfalfa industry are more obvious.
2. Supply barriers
The pastures for forage production are scattered in various regions, and the traditional small forage trading markets are formed in each region, so it is difficult to form a stable supply and demand relationship under the effect of regional competition mechanism. In addition, due to the constraints of capital, management capabilities and other factors, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are unable to control a large area of grassland and form a stable source of self-produced goods. Therefore, the source of goods is a barrier to the industry.
3. Barriers to management ability
The pasture and pasture in the pastoral area are highly dispersed, and the transfer process of pasture from pasture to pasture involves the transportation and storage management of pasture. When the forage enterprise reaches a certain scale, it needs to form a scientific business process design, scientific warehousing site selection and professional management team to improve operational efficiency and control operating costs, so as to achieve sustainable development. In addition, transportation and warehousing is an important part of forage circulation, and the costs incurred account for a large proportion of the cost, and if scientific and effective management cannot be realized, it may lead to large costs and inability to achieve profits or even losses. Therefore, management ability is one of the barriers to entering the industry.
4. Financial barriers
Forage management enterprises must have a certain financial strength to ensure that they can break through geographical restrictions and achieve large-scale cross-regional operations. With the continuous expansion of the planting area, the company's capital investment in leasing land, purchasing agricultural materials, machinery and equipment and personnel will continue to expand. Due to the characteristics of the industry such as seasonal procurement and agricultural material circulation, the company also needs to concentrate funds for light storage and sales, establish grass storage warehouses, etc., which require the company to maintain sufficient working capital in daily operations.
Fifth, the industrial chain
1. Analysis of the industry chain
The upstream industries of forage include grass seeds, agricultural machinery and fertilizer industries, while the downstream industries are mainly for animal husbandry and feed processing industries. Grass species are an important factor restricting the development of forage industry in mainland China. Since 2022, major grass seed production areas such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu, and Qinghai have launched major projects related to the grass seed industry, which has increased the number of excellent native grass varieties, and some varieties have entered the stage of original seed expansion and large-scale planting of production seeds. In terms of agricultural machinery, there is still a certain gap between the overall equipment and technical level of forage sowing, harvesting and processing in the mainland and the global agricultural machinery power, but in recent years, the emergence of various local forage machinery enterprises and the promotion of the national agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy have gradually improved the mechanization level of forage production in the mainland, which is conducive to the growth of the supply scale of commercial forage in the mainland. The mainland is a large fertilizer producer, and the supply of various fertilizers is sufficient, which is conducive to the development of the forage industry.
Forage is the main source of feed for animal husbandry in mainland China, and the better the quality of forage, the better the quality of herbivorous animals such as cattle and sheep and their derivatives. Therefore, in the daily operation process, the forage industry has a high voice in animal husbandry.
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