Dare to change to get rich

In the middle of the vast lowland fields at the end of Nhan Dao village, the old Hoang Dao commune (now Hoang Hoa commune) - which used to be a swampy land, with ineffective rice cultivation and abandoned, has now become a comprehensive farm of nearly 5 hectares with a profit of hundreds of millions of dong each year. That is the result of the persistent and determined "sowing" journey of Mr. Le Van Long (born in 1977) and Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy (born in 1984) - simple farmers, with the desire to get rich from agriculture.

Báo Thanh Hóa•04/12/2025

The family farm of Mr. Le Van Long in Nhan Dao village, Hoang Hoa commune.

On the vast surface of the pond, each ripple reflecting the sunlight, Mr. Long was quickly pulling the net to harvest giant freshwater prawns. The busy appearance of the farmer made the space bustling with life. While gently picking up the big, strong prawns and putting them into the net, Mr. Long told about his family's arduous yet determined journey to start a business.

Born in the old Hoang Hai commune (now Hoang Tien commune), having worked hard in many places, he and his wife finally "fell in love" with this land to start their dream of starting a business. The story of starting a business was not easy at first. Around 2008, with the intention of producing construction materials, his family bought land from households in Nhan Dao village to make a production site, but the plan failed due to changes in the market and regulations of the State.

It was thought that it would have to stop there, but with his quick wit, he and his wife boldly changed the model, becoming one of the pioneering households to farm in this rice field. After 3 times of buying land from households and renting public land from the State, the family finally had a land area of nearly 5 hectares to build a farm. For convenience in production and supervision, in 2010 the whole family moved to live on the farm.

“Many people at that time told me to take a risk, to go to the wilderness to work on a farm when I was in a stable place, but thinking back, if I hadn’t started then, I wouldn’t be able to do it now,” Mr. Long said in his simple, honest, but decisive coastal accent.

Having enough land, the couple pooled all their savings to rent an excavator and dig 7 aquaculture ponds with a total water surface area of up to 3.5 hectares. Along with that, they built more pig pens, filled the land to create a dragon fruit garden, and covered the embankment with coconut trees. The land will not fail the person who works. That once abandoned land, with perseverance and determination, has brought a stable source of income for the family.

What is special about this farming couple is their flexibility and daring to change to adapt to the market. Three years ago, recognizing the new trend, Mr. Long learned and changed direction to experiment with raising giant freshwater prawns on an area of 1 hectare. Seeing the economic efficiency, from 2023, he expanded the farming scale to 2 hectares. This is a species that requires a long time to raise (6 - 8 months) but is suitable for the environment here, easy to care for and has high productivity.

Mr. Long shared: “The yield of each crop can be 1.3 - 1.4 tons/ha. After deducting expenses, with favorable weather, each shrimp crop can earn over 200 million VND in profit. This year, there were continuous storms and floods, so the damage was severe and the yield was not as good as previous years. But storms and floods are inevitable, so we have to accept it, many places are in more difficult situations than us.”

To overcome the damage, Mr. Long continued to invest in 70,000 white-leg shrimp to raise in time for Tet, and at the same time, he constantly looked for new opportunities. His family farm no longer raised pigs like in previous years but switched to raising goats. In 2025, he boldly invested more than 400 million VND to build high, clean barns and bought 21 goats to test raising in a barn style. The dragon fruit garden is also gradually being converted. Under the canopy of the garden, he also raises nearly 60 bee colonies for honey, each year collecting about 400 liters of honey, earning nearly 100 million VND in profit.

Over 15 years of building and developing the farm, going through many hardships and difficulties to have the "foundation" as today. Mr. Long and Ms. Thuy have always maintained an optimistic and persistent spirit of hard-working farmers, who dare to change to get rich. The economic story of Mr. Long's family has become a living proof that, from difficult lands, "golden harvests" can still sprout if there is perseverance, determination and the right direction.

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