Yanchi Tan Sheep Leap onto People's Dining Tables

Wang Jianwu is the head of a small ecological ranch in Wanjigou Village, Huamachi Town, Yanchi County, Ningxia. Last year, his more than 40 Tan sheep were purchased by the Wanjigou Village Economic Cooperative and became a "hot commodity" on the dining tables of urban residents. “Our Tan sheep sell easily. Last year, our sales revenue exceeded 50,000 yuan,” Wang said.

Wanjigou Village has a long history of Tan sheep breeding. The traditional family farming model, with varying scales and underdeveloped techniques, had limited the industry's growth. In 2017, local authorities began promoting the transformation and upgrading of Tan sheep breeding by implementing a more refined scientific feeding model. In 2020, the Wanjigou Village Committee and Yanchi Tan Sheep Industry Development Group Co., Ltd. jointly established the Wanjigou Village ecological ranch. The ranch plans to achieve full wireless video surveillance coverage and install automated farming systems, which demand higher levels of power supply.

Since 2022, the Yanchi County Power Supply Company has made significant upgrades to rural power grids, erecting and transforming 10.67 km of 10kV lines and 12.04 km of 0.4kV lines, while adding or upgrading 10 distribution transformers for Wanjigou Village. The company has also established power service points as part of the “Village-Network Co-construction” initiative to provide farmers with electricity inspections and safety training, ensuring a reliable power supply for Tan sheep breeding.

At the automated mutton-cutting workshop of Yanchi Tan Sheep Industry Development Group Co., Ltd., assembly lines precisely cut the mutton and quickly freeze it. Since the launch of the 2024 “Yanchi Tan Sheep” slaughter and purchase campaign, the group has signed order agreements with farmers, using a “collaborative linkage + fixed-point procurement + centralized transportation + unified slaughter” model to address sales and transportation challenges in a one-stop solution. “Every step in the processing and transportation of Tan sheep, from slaughter and cutting to cold-chain packaging, is time-sensitive, so a reliable power supply is crucial,” explained Niu Ruixiang, head of Ruimu Company under the Yanchi Tan Sheep Industry Development Group.

From smart pastures to automated workshops, cold-chain logistics to live-stream e-commerce, power supply services are embedded throughout the entire Yanchi Tan Sheep industrial chain. The Yanchi County Power Supply Company supports this full industrial chain by opening a “green channel” for power use for farmers and processing enterprises, simplifying installation procedures, and shortening processing times to ensure quick and reliable access to electricity.

“Thank you for your on-site service and professional energy consumption advice for our base,” said Shi Zhixiong, head of the Shicheng Ninghao E-commerce Wholesale (Western) Operation Base, to visiting staff from the Yanchi County Power Supply Company on April 15. The company’s account managers used the State Grid Online app to analyze the base’s power consumption data, explained market-based electricity price policies, and offered energy planning solutions, helping clients understand their power usage and reduce operational costs.

As a key e-commerce hub for Tan sheep in Ningxia, the Shicheng Ninghao E-commerce Base depends heavily on electricity. Servers, live-streaming equipment, cold storage temperature control systems and lighting systems all require continuous operation, and any power outages could disrupt order processing. The Yanchi County Power Supply Company has set up regular communication with the base, arranging for staff to inspect safety hazards and resolve power issues on-site.

“Since starting live-stream sales, I’ve sold 150,000 kg of mutton annually, earning 250,000 yuan a year,” said Guo Jiuchang, a villager from Xigou Village, Wanglejing Township, who works as an e-commerce live-streamer at the base. Currently, the base has attracted 130 enterprises, employed 220 people, and generated 92 million yuan in sales of agricultural products like Yanchi Tan Sheep in 2024, with live-stream sales accounting for more than 12 million yuan.

(By Guo Chenchen)