SDARL Blog

Photos

2012-02-10T11:19:00.000-06:00

Hotel at Yi Chang

Three Gorges Dam

Ships in lock at dam

Group at dam

Local transportation

Meat, fish in smokehouse on farm

Pot belly pig on farm

Dan, Ms. Vai Hong farmers wife, Rae

Open air market at An Fu Shi

Main Street An Fu Shi

Pigs to market

All aboard high speed train for Guangzhou

(Posted by Cheryl for Dan and Michelle)

Friday, February 10

2012-02-10T11:10:00.000-06:00

Yi Chang City, Hubary Province

Three Gorges Dam (The Golden Water Way), largest in the world, was the first stop Friday. Construction spanned 1993-2009 with the following priorities: flood control, navigation improvement and hydro electric production. Many residents were displaced by the construction and impacted local urban areas by their relocation. This project advanced the area from a 10-year flood zone to a 100-year flood zone.

Traveling on to AnFu shi town, the group met with Mrs. Feng Dai Hong, local business woman and farmer, to tour her farm. Three generations, 5 people, operate 3 Mu (1 Mu = 1/6 acre) with rice being the priority crop. The annual production is 10,000 pounds which is sold at harvest to comply with the government imposed Family Production Responsibility program (crop quota), which is a requirement for them to retain the land. They are very self-sufficient raising bokchoy,spinach, cabbage, mandarin oranges, peanuts, eggplant, and canola, with several pigs and a half dozen chickens occupying “rooms” at the back of their farm house. All their rakes, pitch forks and shovel handles are made from wood harvested on their parcel.

Into the village, the group toured store front shops that ranged from modern shoe and clothing shops to, flea market type store fronts to a food market with fresh produce, fish, turtle, snake and other assorted cooking staples. The group certainly had the attention of the locals!

Photos

2012-02-09T09:17:00.000-06:00

Night food market Beijing

Downtown Beijing

Group at LM Waldo Swine Farm

Meeting at LM Waldo Swine

Hot Pot lunch

Dinner at LiChang

(Posted by Cheryl for Dan and Michelle)

Thursday, February 9

2012-02-09T09:12:00.000-06:00

After checking out of our hotel in Beijing we left the urban area, heading for the LM/Waldo Hog farms. It was a scenic route, as we passed by brick built greenhouses covered with straw mats, villages and even an army base.

The Chinese LM Hog farm and the Nebraska Waldo family are working as a joint venture and operate sixteen farms. Mr. Fu, General Manager, welcomed us at one of the most important hog farms of the nation. LM works with four different varieties of pigs: Duroc, Yorkshire, Landrace and Chester Whites. The first –and most important- farm of the sixteen is located in a Ginkgo tree production forest, operated by a business partner of LM Farms.

This first LM farm is a 1200 head sow operation and includes a nursery and finishing room. Each week pigs are transferred to and from this location. Manure from the farm is used to fertilize the Ginkgo forest, through underground manure lines. Mr. Fu explained that Ginkgo trees are not attractive for birds.

Mr. Fu took us along to a second LM/Waldo hog operation named “Six Horses”. The breeding of pure- bred animals occurs at this location. We were invited to join Mr. Fu in his meeting room with abundant decorations and fresh fruit. He explained about the quality of the animals and the experience of working together with his U.S. partner. Breeding techniques from the Waldo’s, auto-ventilating systems and floors, disease control, genetics, management, safety and nutrition are all following the American pork industry. The U.S. Grain Association has been helpful in building the LM Farms.

At the Six Horses Farms 10,000 sows are being bred and distributed primarily in Northwest China.

According to Mr. Fu the long term goal of the farms is to focus on pure-bred hogs, following growth speed through improved genetics and nutrition. Because of the urbanization, his farms might need to relocate in future. By properly maintaining it, Mr. Fu hopes to keep his farms on the same location for a longer period of time.

It was clear that Mr. Fu took pride in working with the Waldo family and embraced us as Americans with a interest in China agriculture. According to Mr. Fu, modern China has great opportunities for U.S. investors and businesses. His motto: “If you can dream it, you can do it” was a good expression of his faith in international cooperation.

After leaving the LM Farms, we stopped at a building, with a giant decoration of a landscape with sheep grazing in a pasture on its front wall. Lunch was being served. A favorite Chinese meal, Hotpot, was being served. A burner in the center of each table contained a pot with boiling broth, in which meat and mushrooms were being cooked.

We left the Hotpot restaurant for the Beijing airport, to catch our flight to Yichang.

Yichang is a medium-size city (4.1 million inhabitants) in the center of China, located at the Yangtze River. The city is surrounded with hills and mountains. The climate is mild in winter and hot and humid in summer. Yichang is located in the Hubei province. Farmers grow rice, wheat, canola oil, corn, cotton, lotus, green tea and oranges. The river and lakes provide a wide variety of fish and aquaculture. Yichang’s largest industry is hydropower electricity, the Three Gorges Dam, of which we will report more in another report. The chemical industry is also of great importance. The city is developing rapidly economically, which results in many construction sites.

Olga Reuvekamp

Reporter

Wednesday, February 8

2012-02-09T08:52:00.000-06:00

Clear and warmer; the morning bus loaded and rolling at 8:31 toward the central business district. We were welcomed by Wil Brauer, head of media affairs Pioneer/Dupont. He is the fifth generation of his family involved in seed production. He was raised on a farm in Wisconsin and worked in Holland, France, New Zealand, California and Oregon. He gave a broad overview of Pioneer in China, corn production and free market in a socialist country.

Jana Shock, interning in business development with Pioneer, shared information on the logistics of corn production and growing population in China. Pioneer sells the exact same numbers of seed corn as in the US, however, in much smaller quantities. Farmsizes vary from one-half acre hand planted to larger government farms further west. Pioneer invests much time and resources into research and development. China plants nearly 40% of its corn by hand with the majority being hand harvested and the machine harvesting done primarily with ear pickers. Pioneer has a market share of 10% of the seed corn with about twice that figure being planted with priated seed. Most seed sold in 4000 kernal bags, some 8800 bags and some 20,000 bags. Normal plant population about 18,000.

Sam Y.S. Niu of US Grain Council presented information about the supply and demand of corn in China. Showed us a trend in the consumption of US ddgs.

He predicts a contined annual doubling over the next 3 years to a total near 20000 mt in 2015. Currently ddg anti-dumping investigation extended until june of 2012. Primary demand of ddgs in pork and Dairy industries.

Enjoyed a nice lunch of Subway sandwiches then traveled south to tour a Government dairy farm. Holsteins fed a ration of corn silage and alfalfa hay. Hay imported from the US costing $400 (US) per ton.
Reporter Jim Kopriva

Photos

2012-02-08T09:12:00.000-06:00

En route to lunch with local family

Welcome picture at Emperor hospital

Seminar at DuPont/Pioneer China

Luhe Dairy

(Posted by Cheryl for Dan and Michelle)

Tuesday in China

2012-02-08T09:03:00.000-06:00

According to the Chinese, SDARL Class 6 are now heroes as members scaled the Great Wall and came away with certificates to prove it.

As far as agriculture, the day started by visiting the site for the 7th International Strawberry Festival that will be held in Beijing later in the month. This was described as the Olympics for strawberry producers. The class toured the new facilities and heard descriptions of the growing systems. On display will be 135 varieties of strawberries. Bees from Germany are used in the pollination of the plants.

The class visited a vegetable wholesaler. Mr. Lin's company provides produce to 140 specialty markets in Beijing. Each day 20 tons, on average, of 80 vegetables are distributed. Safety control is the biggest concern. The government checks to see how much fertilizer and pesticides are applied before produce can be harvested.

The workers at the plant begin processing the product around noon. Work continues until about midnight when the trucks head out to provide the fresh produce. Only 3.4 % of what they produce is organic as it takes more time and effort. The operation runs on 200 acres which is owned by the government. The one-child policy has made it harder to find workers so more is being done with mechanical means. New machines are being used to track the conditions in the fields where the crops are grown.

In addition to the supermarkets, some deliveries of fresh produce are made to customers. A discussion followed comparing the price of land vs the price of land in South Dakota.

The red carpet was rolled out and signs were strung, welcoming the class to the Emperor Hospital of Femur Head Necrosis. A young South Dakotan, Ty Eschenbaum, has visited the facility a number of times for traditional Chinese treatments for his joints. Dr. Ke Qin Huang, Director of the hospital and the staff warmly welcomed the South Dakotans to the facility. Dr. Huang and his daughter Angel Huang who is the Chief Operating Officer, shared information about work being done at the hospital and Dr. Huang explained the techniques used to help the patient recover use of his/her joints without reverting to surgery. Zhou Ling, Director of the Chanking District people's Government of Beijing joined in welcoming the SDARL members. Ty had befriended a number of young children who go through the treatment. The class pooled resources to present a gift to Ty to help those in need. Ty has been getting treatments in China for the ast 4 years.

The people of the hospital hosted Class 6 for a true Chinese dinner. Seated at a table about 27 feet across with a huge lazy susan, 72 different types of Chinese food were presented for the pleasure of the class.

"He who does not reach the great Wall is not a true man." And the Chinese also say that when you climb the Great Wall, you are a hero. Class members climbed sections of the and several reached the highest vistas in our time alloted. The ancient steps are about 2600 years old and run about 4,000. It was used to keep out invaders. Varied step sizes and steep climbs make for a challenging hike. Viewing the Great Wall and taking in the history while standing on those parapets was fascinating.

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at the Shui Tun Shi Chang market in the Chenging District. Producers bring their products to this location and sell fruits, vegetables, flour, oils and other items. Class members learned about several types of products, including Dragon Fruit, pamelos and Chinese kiwis. Many of the outdoor booths were covered with heavy blankets. Some had stationanry settings with steel doors that could be pulled down at night for security. Most of the produce is raised in greenhouses or in southern areas and brought to this location to be sold and distributed.

The market has been going since 1996 and does business of about 30 million yuan a year.

Connie Groop, Reporter

Photos

2012-02-08T08:49:00.002-06:00

Emperor Hospital

Emperor Hospital meeting

Ty Eschenbaum with Children at Hospital

Lunch with 72 different dishes

Class at Great Wall

Vegetable wholesale market

(Posted by Cheryl for Dan and Michelle)

Day 1 in Beijing, Monday, February 6

2012-02-06T11:02:00.001-06:00

Day 1 in Beijing - Monday, February 6

After 24 hours of travel we arrived in Beijing, China, a city of 18 million people and 5 million cars. We began the morning at 9 a.m. First stop, Tien An Men Square where we enjoyed a South Dakota style winter day (20 degrees and 30 mile hour wind). The Square is similar to the Mall at the national capital in Washington, D.C. It is a tourist attraction, but there were not a lot of people because today is the last day of the Chinese New Year holiday and so many were celebrating the Yuan xiao jie festival today.

From there we went to the Forbidden City, which served as the emporer's residence until 1924, when it was turned into a cultural museum.

Then the Class enjoyed a rickshaw ride through the Hutong Area, which is another term for living areas. There we enjoyed traditional Chinese fare served by a local Chinese family that lives in four family compound. Five people in this family and they live in a very small, cold home. Meal included items like potstickers, long beans and pork, a sweeet dumpling dessert, and candied dates. There were several good items and a few very interesting dishes as well.

After lunch it was time for the Pearl Market and a shopping center where the class spent more money than needed?? but got several beautiful items. The Class was also able to experiencing open barganing where negotiating made it possible to lower the price by at least half.

Supper was eaten at a restaurant that featured Peking Duck sliced thin and then rolled it in an ultra-thin rice flour pancake with onions, cucumber and soy sauce. Several other dishes were served which were nice to try as well.

The evening ended with non-stop fireworks going off outside the hotel, Sunworld. Since its the end of the new year holiday everyone is shooting off fireworks at random spots, including in the streets, and they are much larger than fireworks we are use to. Decorations for the holiday are red lanterns hung everywhere, and lights are strung in trees.

Signing off,

Kelly Bruns, Susi Odden, Tammy Basel, Codi Mills

Travel to China, Saturday and Sunday, February 4 and 5

2012-02-06T10:07:00.000-06:00

All members and luggage arrived safely in Beijing Sunday night around 11:00 pm China time after 24 hours of travel. We flew from Seattle and Detroit on direct flights. We flew north over Hudson Bay through Canada and Alaska and even flew right over the North Pole before flying over Russia and then south over Mongolia coming into Beijing from the west. Not quite the route we anticipated but good nonetheless. It ws fun estimating when we would see the sun as we flew opposite the earths rotation. Monday will be last day of Chinese New Year. Sleep was much anticipated after the long trip. We will have a big day of touring on Monday as its a New Years holiday that families celebrate. The weather is very cold.

Michelle Robbins

China Trip Approaching

2012-01-04T11:56:00.002-06:00

Forbidden City

Please check back to follow SDARL Class VI's trip to China. The group departs Saturday morning Feb. 4 and arrives Sunday, Feb. 5. Pictures and diaries will be posted daily whenever possible.

Friday, February 25 Visit to Shepherd Elementary

2011-02-26T09:04:00.001-06:00

Friday morning was drizzly and cool. The group headed several miles north of the White House to Sheperd Elementary, where prior SDARL classes have presented for many years. It is a time that both groups look forward to. Members talked about life in South Dakota, agriculture, and about where our food comes from.

Friday afternoon, class members went out and about in groups of two or three to visit farm and animal welfare organizations, government watchdog groups and environmental agencies. At the end of the afternoon the class came together to review the lessons of the day.

The week was rounded out by taking in the Capital Steps show, political sattire skits put together by primarily former legislative staffers.

Saturday's flights are scheduled for departure at 9:45 ET with everyone expected back in Sioux Falls and Rapid City mid afternoon.

Class members Susie Odden & John Schallenkamp

Class member Sarah Jorgensen

Class member Sal Roseland and Rebecca Rink

Class members Clint Ridley & Kari VanderWal

Class member Tyler Melroe

Class member Noelle Harding

Class member John Schaeffer

Class members Connie Groop and "Dr. Dirt" aka Joey Hanson

Class members Ron Brownotter & Todd Mortensen

Class member Corey Eberhart

Class member Tammy Basel

Class member Jon Nelson & John Kopriva

Rae Jean entertains Pre-K children

Thursday, Feb. 24 USDA Ag Forum

2011-02-25T06:16:00.003-06:00

We started the day off with a wonderful opportunity to participate in the USDA Ag Outlook Forum. Featured speakers included Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Ag Committee; Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack and last but not least former President Bill Clinton.

It was refreshing to hear Secretary Vilsack proclaim that the "safest bet in America is our farmers". Secretary Vilsack's passion for agriculture was very evident.

Former President Clinton focused on his Global Climate Change Initiative and our need to educate the rest of the world on how to feed themselves.

We would love to send former President Clinton some Beef Bucks!

Next we headed to the National Association of Counties beautiful headquarters where they shared with us how they assist counties with a myriad of issues and needs.

We ended the day with a spirited conversation with the Environmental Working Group, the group that among other things, posts farm subsidies online.
Sarah Jorgensen, Todd Mortenson and Noelle Harding

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack

Former President Bill Clinton addressing the Ag Outlook audience
Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Ag Secretary and
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack

USDA Ag Outlook Forum

Leadership training at Nat'l Assoc. of Counties

Wednesday, February 23, 2011 USDA & Capitol Visits

2011-02-23T17:41:00.002-06:00

SDARL Class 6 toured Wednesday February 23, USDA.

FSA/Farm loans
We learned that FSA has a limited budget, and funds are only being used for opperating loans. $343,000,000 approved farm ownership loans are on hold.

Overview of Global crop analysis
During the early 70's, the USSR had crop failures unknown to the World and dramatically increased commodity prices. To level the playing field the US began estimating foreign crop production in 1979.
We also learned that China is having a major drought, and the wheat outlook in their country looks grim.
45% of their production is currently under extreme, severe, moderate drought.

FSA/Farm Bill
Lynn Tjeerdsman, a South Dakota native, now assistant deputy administrator for farm programs.
86% of the farm bill is for food assistance, and 14% is for ag.

Climate Change
This division of USDA intergrates information to other divisions. He gave us books that outlined the new plan for 2010.

Staff from
Senator Johnson
Representative Noem
Senator Thune
These representatives expressed with us the issues of 2011. Ethonal, EPA, Budget, Farm Bill, and Government shut down. Sounds like we will have a 2008 Farm Bill. Ethonal still need to be taught to the new members of congress. They also gave us a tour of the Capital. This was a great expirence for Class 6.
We are meeting up with another Ag group from Washington state tonight for supper.

GSM's
Glen Crawford and Sal Roseland

Reporter
Mary Ellen Cammack

Class VI in USDA

Class at USDA - Williamsburg Room

USDA Visit

USDA

at USDA

Legislative Briefing at the US Capitol

Sen. Thune's Policy Advisor, Brendon Plack

Capitol Tour

Lunch at Executive Dining Room at USDA

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - American Bankers' Day

2011-02-22T21:03:00.004-06:00

Class in Lafayette Park on walking tour with John Blanchfield

Today we went to the American Bankers Association (ABA) and were met by John Blanchfield and Seaver Sowers. John and Seaver are ag banking specialists for the ABA. They guided us through an opening discussion outlining history and operations of the ABA The ABA was founded in 1875 and is an advocate for the banking industry.

Dr. Keith Leggett, Senior Economist for the ABA, identified 3 key messages he wished to communicate.

The worst (of the recession) is over.
Sustained recovery is 5-6 years away.
Stimulus and budget deficit are issues that cannot be ignored.

Current problems in the housing industry will provide significant challenges to the economic recovery.

Dana Brooks, Senior VP for the National Milk Producers Federation, spoke of proposed legislation that would provide a margin based insurance program for the dairy industry. This would replace the current priced based system.

Our next presenter was Dana Peterson, CEO of National Association of Wheat Growers. She informed us that wheat provides approximately 20% of the world's consumed calories and is grown in nearly every country. She spoke of the timeline for developing new wheat varieties, which is 10-13 years and most of the seed research is done by land grant universities.

Colin Woodall was our next speaker. He is a lobbyist for the National Cattlemens Beef Association (NCBA). EPA regulation was his primary concern, specifically centered around proposed dust legislation, ammonia concerns and watershed runoff. He also spoke of trade, technology and transportation issues facing the beef industry.

We broke for lunch at noon, which was kindly provided by the Farmer Mac organization.

Dallas Tonsager, an Olham, SD native and Under Secretary for USDA Rural Development, discussed his current responsibilities resulting from his recent appointment by the Obama administration. Rural Development provides small communities with access to capital for a variety of projects such as hospitals, housing and public utilities.

Katy Ziegler-Thomas, representative for Growth Energy, spoke of her role as an advocate for the ethanol industry. She stated that out of 187 current ethanol lobbyists in Washington, D.C., only 16 were lobbying in support of the industry. This has made it difficult to win support for pro-ethanol legislation.

Chandler Goule, VP of Government Relations for the National Farmers Union, spoke of the organization's support for the proposed GIPSA legislation as well as uncertainty regarding a possible new farm bill. He spoke passionately about the NFU's unwavering support for renewable fuels and his frustration regarding the recent budget cuts affecting agriculture. Mr. Goule stated that agriculture received 22% of the proposed budget cuts despite being only 2% of the federal budget.

Next up was John Doggett from the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA). The top 4 concerns of NCGA were:

Support for ethanol.
Trade agreements with Korea, Columbia and China.
Uncertainty regarding the farm bill.
Regulatory actions proposed by the EPA.

He spoke of the shortage of qualified legislative aids with agricultural knowledge and the importance of public service from our young people back home.

Brian Dierlam gave a very interesting presentation regarding Cargill's view of current ag issues. Animal welfare was a major concern for the company and a driving force in their decision to allow the Oprah show access to one of their beef processing facility. He spoke of the positive response Cargill received from the show and how he believed it accurately represented their operations. He challenged the class to guess what was the only part of a beef carcass that was taken to the landfill after processing. After many guesses, the class conceded and was told it was the..... tail switch!

Blachfield and Sowers closed the day with several fearless predictions.

There would be not one, but several, pending government shutdowns over the budget issues.
Interest rates will be going up.
The Republican presidential nominee will be relative unknown.
Stability of mid-west agriculture will "drive the new farm bill policy bus".
No new farm bill in 2012 but rather an extension of the 2008 farm bill.
Money does matter and ag is not exempt from possible budget cuts.
The USDA will get skinny and close several county offices in favor of more web-based operations.

The final activity of the day was a walking tour of Lafayette Square by local historian, John Blachfield. Class VI would like to thank John Blanchfield, Seaver Sowers and the American Bankers Association for their hospitality and continued support of the SDARL program.

Thank you,
Travis Ellison and Mike Reecy

Dr. Keith Leggett, Sr. Economist, American Bankers Assoc.

Class at ABA

Dan, Dallas Tonsager, Under Secretary, Rural Development, Codi Mills

Katy Ziegler-Thomas, Growth Energy

John Blanchfield and Seaver Sowers of ABA

Head Chef at Smith & Wollensky with Michelle and Rae Jean

Class VI at White House

Dan, John and Seaver

Monday, February 21, 2011 "Presidents' Day"

2011-02-21T18:01:00.009-06:00

You couldn't find a more appropriate city to spend Presidents' Day than in our nation's capitol, Washington, DC.

The group headed out of the hotel early, departing at 6:00 a.m. on way to the metro to catch the Amtrak train northeast bound for Wilmington, Delaware, home to the world headquarters of DuPont, parent company of Pioneer Hi-Bred. For most members, this was a memorable trip, having never ridden on an Amtrak train before.

After 90 minutes on the train, we were greeted in Wilmington by a DuPont bus, where it transported us to Pioneer.

Lisa Schwartz, Operations Specialist, welcomed the SDARL class to DuPont. Enno Krebbers, Intellectual Properties Research scientist explained the long and interesting history of Dupont, and subsequently, Pioneer. Gunpowder was their first endeavor, followed by dynamite in 1880. They are perhaps best known, for their discovery of nylon in 1934. Electronics work began in the 1970's. They are also in communications, among many other sectors.

Today the largest portion of their sales comes from agriculture.

The group made three stops in their soybean transformation area. To say they were impressed, is an understatement. The class watched in awe as a scientist demonstrated the use of a gene-insertion gun. Perhaps the most amazing stop was when class members donned 3D glasses and looked at cell layers utilizing a electronic microscope, typically employed in the medical research field. They also showed footage of soybean cyst nematodes at work.

Before heading back to DC, the group enjoyed a great Chinese lunch and wrapped up with sharing their observations about Washington, DC and what they had just seen.

Members enjoyed an evening on their own, in preparation for a very long Tuesday, looking forward to ten speakers addressing us while American Bankers Association plays host.

Until next time this is Joey Hanson, Class VI Member

Members at Pioneer Hi-Bred, Wilmington, Delaware

Riding the metro

On the Amtrak Train towards Wilmington, Delaware

Class in soybean transformation area of Pioneer Hi-Bred

Rae Jean with Girl Scouts at Amtrak station

Class in Entomology Lab at Pioneer Hi-Bred

Members at Mass
Basilica at Catholic University

Class at Lincoln Memorial

Sunday, February 20, 2011

2011-02-21T04:58:00.000-06:00

With the group safely in DC, Sunday was primarily a free day to spend getting to know our nation's capitol, a city of about 600,000 citizens. A group attended mass in the morning at the largest basilica in the western hemisphere.

Three members conducted their small group visit early, having lunch with a Humane Society of the US farm animal department director. All agreed it was time well spent finding much common ground. Josh (the HSUS person) declared the three SDARL people "all stars" and appreciated their comments and opinions.

Others toured many of the 18 Smithsonians, the Holocaust Museum, Arlington Cemetary, Newseum, or walked the mall, viewed the White House, etc. An evening tour showed them all the major monuments.

The weather was sunny and topped out around 55. We sympathized (truly) with our families back home who were battling snow and wind.

A fun evening at a Mexican restaurant completed a great day.

Monday will find us up and out of the hotel by 6:00 a.m. on route to catch an Amtrak train to Wilmington, Deleware, where the group has been given a very special opportunity of touring the world headquarters of DuPont, along with their ag experiment station and research facility.

Monday's report and pictures to be posted late Monday night.

Follow Class VI as they Visit Washington, DC Feb. 19-26, 2011

2011-02-17T10:05:00.004-06:00

Visit DC through the eyes of Class VI members, as they depart on a week-long study seminar of our country's government and policy setting processes. The group is due to arrive in DC Saturday night. Postings will begin on Sunday.

Wednesday, January 19

2011-01-20T12:24:00.005-06:00

The group started the day with a picture at the 45th parallel south. 45th north runs through South Dakota.

They then visited the Rollinson Farm, dairy owned by Ted and Sue Rollinson. It includes 1,000 acres and 1,300 cow dairy with Friesen/Jersey crossbred cows. They utilize a 70-cow rotary on concrete platform for milking. A rainer irrigation system delivers water to fields. They successfully utilize a sharemilker, Tom, who owns cows and is employed for his labor. Ted and Tom know their cost of production and are good businessmen in how they use their resourses.
The group spent the evening at a reception and dinner with the New Zealand Ag leadership current class. Following dinner they heard from Jim Sutton, former New Zealand Minister of Ag.

A free day is planned Friday in Christchurch. They will depart NZ Friday at 11:00pm (4:00 a.m. Friday morning CST) and arrive Sioux Falls at 11:00 pm Friday night.

Grant (Guide), Ted (Dairy Owner) at lunch with Bonnie Dybedahl

in Rollinson Garden

At the 45th Parallel South

With New Zealand Leadership class

Lincoln University Libarary

Merrill Karlen, Gary Cammack, Tom (sharemilker)

Intensive Grazing

Ted Rollinson, Terry & Sandi Jaspers

At Rollinson Dairy

Wed. Jan. 19 Visit to Mt. Cook

2011-01-19T13:00:00.005-06:00

The group spent Tuesday night at The Hermitage Hotel at Arangi Mount Cook Village. Wednesday morning was free time with some opting for a boat ride on the glacier lake to view Mt. Cook; some took a three-hour hike to see the mountain, while others relaxed. They traveled down Waitaki Valley to the town of Oamaru in the afternoon.

Suspension Bridge

Boat Ride

Walking to the Boat Ride

Ice Glacier

Unloading the Boats

Mountain at base of Mt. Cook

Mt. Cook

Lake enroute to Mt. Cook

Glacier Ice

Hermitage Hotel

Monday, January 17 - David Ward Radfield Farm Visit

2011-01-18T06:34:00.001-06:00

The group had another fantastic farm visit at the David Ward Radfield farm, 1,000 acres on the south Island near Ashburton. The soils are medium to light.
David says that although soil is a fixed resource, how it is treated can greatly alter its characteristics, mainly by altering the structure of the soil and its water holding capacity.

Rainfall is 26 inches /year. The main way he alters the climatic effects are by irrigation and shelter.

According to David, the farm can only operate within the management ability of the owner, unless the owner recognizes a limitation and either brings in management , or advice and assistance from research, technical, and consultants, but even this is dependent on the ability of the owner to correctly interpret the results

Irrigation from thre bores with two 1,530 ft lateral irrigators, two Roto Rainers and two Briggs Linears. They raise 800 weaner red deer and 14,000 lambs. They mill wheat, feed wheat, feed barley, maize, processed peas, ryegrass, cocksfood, white clover, carrots, radish, beets, marrowfat peas (Asian market) and sweet corn.

David says he has no problem with organic, but they can’t feed the world; farmers must be open minded. He says we will always be able to feed the world based on technology. He believes in no-till farming. He buys equipment after first owner goes bust. He doesn’t have much money tied up in stuff. It’s your personal choice how you do your business. He likes the risks & rewards of growing premium crops. He is not a fan of over fertilization.

Rabbits and possums are still problems.

Farm Truck that can Dry Grain

David Ward in Carrot Seed Field

Grant McFadden (left) Guide & David Ward, right

Group at David Ward Farm Tour

Lateral Irrigator

Loading Grain

Marrowfat Peas

Roto Rainer

Group listening to South Dakota's Secretary of Ag, Walt Bones

Sunday - Gallagher Animal Mgmt. & PGG Farm Supply

2011-01-17T08:51:00.004-06:00

The group had a great visit to Gallagher Animal Management World Headquarters. They toured all production units before morning tea. They toured PGG Farm Supply, one of the three largest farm supply stores in all of New Zealand. Discussion about the Maori culture over lunch with elders who are large farmers in New Zealand.

Eight members of the group checked in for their return flight to LAX. Twenty-one flew on to Christchurch on New Zealand's south island and will be meeting Grant McFadden again, their guide for the final five days of the trip.

Maori greeting at Tainui

Randy Wirt and Bill Slovek at
Gallagher World Headquarters

Portable Bunk at Farm Supply Store

Lunch with Farm Managers

Managers at Farm Supply Store

George with servers

Beck Farm Visit Report (Saturday, Jan. 15)

2011-01-17T08:45:00.000-06:00

Super nice visit to Beck family farm in high country near Taumarunui on New Zeland's north island. The visit was hosted by John & Ailsa Beck and their son, Roger, and his family and daughter and her family, as well as several friends and neighbors.

We started with lunch of sheep meat and beef and all the trimmings. We then loaded on back of pickups for high country ranch tour of sheep, cattle and native forest (see pictures in separate post).

The Beck farm has 4,600 sheep mainly Romney, 160 cattle mainly Red Stabilizers, and 150 dairy heifers.
John and son Roger and family provide all the labor. Production 140% lamb crop and 100% calf crop.

This was the most scenic farm we have seen thus far. John and Ailsa have visited SD and stayed with Cammack’s and Gee’s. John was wondering why Cole Briggs was not on the trip.

Report by Dan Gee

Report from Pohuetal Farms Visit

2011-01-16T12:47:00.000-06:00

Pohuetal Farms is near Dannevirke NZ. The manager is John Held.

Pohuetal Farms is 6,500 acres with over 13,500 sheep, 3,500 finishing lambs, 2,300 young ewes and 2,000 cattle either red angus or Red Stabilizers. They are using a bull that Bill Slovek produced on his ranch near Philip, S.D.
They use Leachman genetics. Also finish Friesian bulls for processing beef.This operation is run much like our research stations with a lot of research conducted here including taste tests on lambs fed various forage diets as many of the lamb carcasses are shipped to UK.

They have a contract with McDonalds, which uses their beef. Cattle are priced/contracted two years in advance.

My favorite saying from John is “ The knob way over there is somewhere near our boundary”.

Beck Farm Visit (Saturday, Jan. 15)

2011-01-16T12:09:00.002-06:00

Standing in the Beck Forest

Lunch with Hosts, John and Roger Beck

Dan & Rae Jean Gee with Ailsa and John Beck

Beck Farm Hosts

Ladies (and Bill Slovek) on Beck Farm tour

More Home Stay Reports for Friday night, January 14, 2011

2011-01-16T11:32:00.001-06:00

Jaspers and Davis's Home Stay

Terry and Sandi Jaspers and Glen and Janet Davis stayed at the home of Charles and Jill Simpson. Charles and Jill are pretty much retired from the day-to-day operations of the farming enterprise, but are very active in the financing and overall operation of both of their sons' farming endeavors.The main operation involves fattening sheep from their 3,000 head ewe herd in addition to purchased sheep. They run an intensive fattening program based on grass, chicory and turnips. They are getting gains equivalent to feedlots. Charles and Jill were excellent hosts and we enjoyed conversations around government, health care, horse racing and other topics regarding New Zealand life. We especially enjoyed conversations regarding other guests they have entertained. As they are avid horse racing fans Terry and Sandi were able to see them at the races in Palmerston North the next day. This was an exceptional farm stay visit!

Reported by Glen Davis

Walt & Jan Bones' Home Stay

Jan and Walt stayed with Howard and Marice McGrath. They are semi retired and have a small farm (220 hectares) in a very interesting and unique part of NZ. It is so unique that there is only one other place in the world (Argentina) that has a similar geological formation. There is a place on their property that has 14 different terraces or layers of old river bed that can be found. It is really beautiful country and they are very proud of their farm.

They raise some holstein bulls on grass starting them at 300 kg (650 pounds) and raising them to fattening weight, which is at about 550 kg. This whole grass fed thing is really interesting and works well for them. It would be nice to have grass 12 months out of the year that we can use. Obviously, that will not work for us but that is what diversity in agriculture is all about. It is still amazing that these animals (here and there) can take grass, corn stover, hay or whatever we have that they will eat and make it into a product that humans can get nourishment out of.

Reported by Walt Bones

Phillips and Karlens' Home Stay

Scott and Paula Phillips and Merrill and Karen Karlen stayed at the home of Jack and Carolyn Brice. Jack had an intensively managed sheep and cattle grazing operation using nine systems.

He was very proud to show us how the system worked. With from help from Paula, he moved some of the electric fences while we watched.

We also helped pen one "mob" of sheep that were going to market the following day.

Jack had purchased some heifers at the local market that day and they were delivered just prior to our arrival. He specializes in heavy feeder cattle and grazes them to finish weight.

Jack shared a couple of "close out" sheets with us showing that on one system (pasture) he had a gross income of $3,327 per hectare for grazing cattle.

We enjoyed a good dinner and visited until late at night about many things that we have in common even though we are on the other side of the world.

Howard is an expert on all the various types of trees and actually travels around the world looking at trees. He knew the scientific name for all the beautiful trees in their garden. Marice was the gardener and she will be hosting a garden society meeting at their place in a couple of weeks. The stay was wonderful and the hospitality was excellent.

Saturday, January 15

2011-01-15T14:53:00.000-06:00

Note: Group is 19 hours ahead of CST.

Today we arrived at 9:30 a.m. from our overnight farm stays. Everyone had a great time and found the stays very interesting. See the blogs from some homestays (already posted). From there we traveled to the Waitatapia Station Ltd. located six miles west of Bulls. The farm is owned and managed by brothers Hew and Roger Dalrymple and consists of corn, wheat, squash, oats, and kale production. They are involved in lamb and beef trading by contracting 4,000 head of beef cattle and marketing 67,000 lambs last year. They also have 1,000 acres of forest land and run sixteen center pivots for irrigation. Corn is grown for silage, earlage and grain production for the local markets, wheat is grown to supply the dairy industry, and squash is grown to export to Japan and Korea.

Hew and Roger utilized high levels of technology in their farming operations. As Hew indicated “We want to be smarter than them at all times” when referring to government conservation officials. They have adopted land contouring techniques to optimize soil depth levels over an entire field providing uniform moisture levels and increasing overall yield potential. They are the first in New Zealand to use this technique. Variable rate irrigation with each nozzle being controlled to optimize water application and extensively mapping fields is also part of their cropping management. All of their management decisions are extensively researched. They have purchased a wide range of farm machinery from the U.S. including CASE IH combines and 4-wheel drive tractors and Great Plains seeders from Fargo, ND. After harvest of the main crops, grass is planted for winter grazing. This was an outstanding farm visit.

Steve Pohl

Farmstay (Pohls, Lola Roseth, Linda Smith)
Judy Bonner, the hostess of our farmstay was a very gracious and hospitable lady. She was a “spicy” gal who had been widowed and recently found a soulmate, Stuart, again. Judy and her husband had been sheep farmers with three sons, one of whom was now living close by and farming for her. He was also, as she said many New Zealanders were, supplementing his income. In this case, going high up into the mountains and shepherding for others.

In our visiting we found Judy and Stuart felt New Zealand had many of the same issues as we have in our country – animal rights activists; retirement benefits; health care, the reclaiming of land by Maori tribes and the effects of this on the country’s finances.

Before heading back to meet the rest of our group, we left the beautiful gardens of Judy’s home and drove up the road to the top of a hill overlooking her home and land with beautiful mountains in the background. Can’t get much closer to heaven than this!

Lola Roseth, Linda Smith, Steve and Kathy Pohl

More Photos

2011-01-15T08:09:00.025-06:00

Lunch at Pohuetal Farms

Merrill Karlen, Walt Bones with Guide

Group at Mision Winery on Thursday

Friesen Cattle - Destination: McDonald's

Hugh at Waitatopia station
with from left: Stephen Pohl, Glen Davis, Bill Slovek

Friday night, January 14 Home Stay Reports

2011-01-15T07:56:00.000-06:00

Dybedahls & Brenda Reisch

Craig and Bonnie Dybedahl and Brenda Reisch stayed at the country home of Tom and Jackie Trotter, rural Marton, on the North Island of NZ on Friday night. Tom and Jackie are retired sheep farmers and were our hosts for a great visit about New Zealand issues. Jackie prepared a very delicious "leg of lamb" dinner and bountiful breakfast the next morning. During much of Tom's farming career, their main enterprise was purchasing weaned lambs and then grazing them to market weight. They grazed as many as 20,000 lambs some of those years. Unfortunately for NZ farmers, the sheep industry has been in decline for some time. In the past they could generate as much revenue from the wool as they could from the meat. That is not the case today. Tom commented that back when he was 22 years of age, he once took a three month trip to many different countries by ship from the sale of two bags of wool. Jackie has a very extensive garden that contained hundreds of varieties. They have a lovely home and we were amazed how they could leave the doors and windows of their home open, for long periods of time, without invasion from insects.

From: Craig & Bonnie Dybedahl

Monte & Laurie Lucas
Laurie and Monte (SDARL Board Member) Lucas stayed with Joe and Ali Fullerton-Smith. They run a bull beef operation utilizing intensive grazing rotations. They "rear" freisen calves from four days old until grass fattened. A unique part of this ranch is all water for house and livestock comes from the fresh springs.

There are many beautiful gardens or the farm all tended to by Ali. It is interesting to be 8,000 miles away from home and find a lot of their concerns are the same as ours: high cost of health care, retirement, and rites(taxes).

We enjoyed laughing about the different words used to describe the same thing--for example "touch wood" instead of knock on wood!

We really enjoyed our home stay with our new found "Kiwi" friends !

Monte and Laurie Lucas

Friday, January 14 - George & Laura Williams Site Visit

2011-01-15T07:51:00.001-06:00

Friday morning, Jan. 14th, found the SDARL Alumni group arriving at Te Maire Farm operated by George and Laura Williams. The sunshine and clear skies made the views spectacular. We travelled over the farm using 4-wheel drive vehicles to view the 1,500-head red deer herd located in various gorges on the farm. The red deer are native to Europe and are found in the wild in New Zealand, but in many cases they are commercially raised for venison sold mainly in Germany. Additionally, velvet harvested from the stags is sold to Asian countries for medicinal purposes. On some of the larger stags they are able to harvest nearly 20 pounds of velvet from the antlers, as they are formed and sell it for around $45/lb. In the same pasture with the deer we also viewed some of the 1,100 Friesen (Holstein) bulls that are purchased as calves from dairies and grown to be sold as hamburger. The hospitality of all the farms visited has been wonderful, and this stop was no exception!

Report From Terry & Sandi Jaspers

Jan. 13 - More Photos: Dairy Visit

2011-01-14T09:09:00.001-06:00

Owner of the 1,000 cow dairy

Holstein Crossbreds

Cows on a 60-cow Rotary Milking Parlor

Thursday, January 13: Tumunus Maori Lands Trust North Dairy Farm

2011-01-13T07:43:00.005-06:00

We were treated to a unique explanation of a dairy operation between a dairy producer and the leadership of a Maori Lands Trust. The Maori presentation included a detailed explanation of their members respect and love for the land and their interest as stock holders. The dairy herd consists of 2 – 500 head cow herds utilizing pasture as the primary feed. We found it most interesting to hear of the distance the cows would walk to paddocks. The milking parlor was one-quarter open roof and one-third open side. The 60 cow rotary parlor actually floats on water vs. bearings. Won’t work in S.D.!

Bruce Wills farm and Trelinnoe Park (A Garden of Landscape)

Thursday, January 13th we visited the farm of Bruce Wills. Bruce and his family operate a 2,500 head sheep farm along with a beef cow-calf herd. Bruce serves as a National Board Member and Meat & Fibre Chairman of Federated Farmers of New Zealand. Bruce is a former ag loan officer and spoke in-depth about the issues facing New Zealand agriculture, especially from the sheep perspective. New Zealand is one of the few “non subsized” ag countries in the world. He and most New Zealand farmers would not want to go back to a subsidized agricultural system. Their sheep and wool production has been in decline due to lack of profitability. In 1982, NZ had 72 million sheep and they now have 32 million. Bruce and others are attempting to have sheep producers work cooperatively in the marketing of their wool and meat. Two issues make it difficult: 1. Farmers parting with their $ to invest in marketing arrangements. 2. The independence of the farmer. 60% of NZ exports come from grass-based agriculture. Bruce Wills said the first thing he checks every morning is the currency markets. The decline in the U.S. Dollar comparted to NZ dollar is negatively affecting NZ farmers income and is a big concern. A significant quote of the day for me, from Bruce Wills was: “If we don’t invest beyond the farmgate, we’ll forever be peasants”.

The ladies had a wonderful time this afternoon looking at 30 acres of beautiful flowers, plants, trees and lily ponds. The group is staying one block from the Pacific Ocean tonight.

At dinner tonight, Gary Jones visited with the group at a mission winery. He is the manager of pipfruit services, involved in apple business. New Zealand is the 10th largest apple exporter in the world. Royal Gala and Braburn apples are by far their most popular. Market trends include few residues with an emphasis on food safety and sustainable production as it relates to carbon and water. It takes 3-4 weeks for apples from New Zealand to arrive in the US in cargo containers on ships

Report from: Craig Dybedahl and Clark Hanson

Men with Bruce Wills, Chairman of
New Zealand Federated Farmers (front row, cap)

Stephen Pohl, Grant McFadden (Guide) and Gary Cammack
Federated Farmers

Kiwi Orchard & Agrodome Show Pictures

2011-01-12T12:28:00.009-06:00

Visit to Agrodome a "agritourism farm show with many breeds sheep, & NZ hutaway sheep dog. Great example of a farm doing agribusiness. Visit to Whakarewara thermal reserve & Maori arts & crafts institute. Maori are native people to NZ. Lunch on Rotorua. Very interesting visit to Kiwi Product LTD who export kiwi fruit, citrus and other subtropical fruit. Their new venture is a kiwi berry, which has a smooth edible skin. Even saw the rare kiwi bird. Finished the evening with Maori Hangi (dinner was cooked in pit in the ground) and a cultural show.

Chris Wirt

Under the vines where kiwi grow.

Kiwi Tree

Owner of Kiwi orchard visits with SDARL group

Sheep show at Agrodome

Attending a sheep show at the Agrodome

Maori Warriors

Lady at Thermal Reserve Culture Center

Entrance to Agrodome

Group at Maori cultural show

Group at Wills Dairy

2011-01-11T19:22:00.007-06:00

Summary of Day 1: Bank of New Zealand and Wills Dairy Farm

2011-01-11T14:59:00.002-06:00

Good day from down under!

Our day started with a meeting at the Bank of New Zealand with three of their ag bankers. Their presentation on the issues and trends of NZ agriculture was extremely well done. We agreed with all their issues and thought they share a lot of the same concerns that we see coming. They will be sending us a hard copy and I would recommend reading through it.

We then traveled a couple of hours south of Auckland to the Grant Wills dairy farm. He grazes 650 cows on about 600 acres with three employees. The cows rotate through the pastures on a 25-30 day schedule in the summer and 70-80 day schedule in the winter. He plants a little corn for silage and uses 150 day maturity hybred, planting a 44,000 population in 20 inch rows. His land is some of the most expensive in NZ @ $42,000 NZ/hectare, which equates back to $10,000 US per acre. It takes about one acre per cow per year. His land value is down from $65,000 - $75,000 two years ago.

He is director for and markets all his milk thru a farmer owned coop called Fontera. Fontera markets 96% of all the milk produced in NZ and ships it all over the world. He sells his milk by the kg. of milk solids. We are still trying to convert it over to pounds of milk sold like we do in the U.S. But each hectare will produce 1,000 kg. of milk solids per year. The price they receive is determined annually by an independent third party, so the price is the same all year long.

He shared with us that their national income tax top rate has decreased from 38% to 30% and they pay “rights” (which we would call property taxes) of about $8,500 NZ annually on his 600 hectares. Grant was very well spoken, very open, and one of the top dairymen in NZ. He is working with a share milker to take over his farm when he retires as none of his kids are planning on farming.

We loaded up and headed to Roturua for a gondola ride up a mountain for a very nice dinner overlooking a beautiful lake.

If this first day is any indication, this is going to be a great trip!! We have heard the weather reports there at home and hope the storm is short lived . . . we are thinking of all you!

On to Rotorua

2011-01-10T16:52:00.001-06:00

The SDARL group is now on their way to Rotorua, New Zealand, where it is currently 75 degrees. Rotorus was named New Zealand's "Best City" of 2010. For more information on Rotorua, visit their official website http://www.rotoruanz.com/.

Dinner Cruise

2011-01-10T14:41:00.003-06:00

One of their two sail boats with SDARL members.

Under the Bay Bridge after dinner on baord.

Group on top of Mt. Eden

2011-01-10T14:40:00.002-06:00

The group on the top of Mt. Eden,

the tallest natural point around Auckland, New Zealand.

Sunny and 70 in Auckland

2011-01-10T07:22:00.003-06:00

Group arrived safety after a nice flight to Auckland. Sunny and 70 degree weather welcomed them. Toured Mt. Eden and a museum. They will be going on a dinner cruise on a sailboat tonight. Pictures coming soon. New Zealand is 19 hours ahead of South Dakota's CST time zone.

Saturday, January 8, 2011 - Group Arrives in LAX

2011-01-09T07:24:00.000-06:00

10:00 p.m.CST From Dan Gee: All 29 have arrived at LAX safely. Ready for good times in New Zealand.

Monday, February 8

2010-02-06T10:38:00.003-06:00

10:00 p.m. Greetings all. The last of the group has landed safety in Sioux Falls. We arrived a day late, bu given the circumstances of weather in Washington, DC, it is impressive that we all got of there.

Thanks for watching ouru blog. We hope you have enjoyed learning about South Africa as much as we did.

2010-02-04T09:14:00.002-06:00

After traveling via motor coach and airplane for 40 hours (thanks for figuring that out for us Brenden), nine SDARL Class V members are back in good old, South Dakota. We had a smooth flight with much more room to spead out and relax on the plane than on the trip to South Africa. Our adventure through US Customs also went smoothly with no one having trouble and nothing getting confiscated due to lack of documention. Although it was hard to leave the group that left for Alldays to enjoy a few more days of South African adventures and education, it was great to see family members meeting us at the airport. We eagerly await stories from our classmates still in South Africa and wish them the same smooth trip home we had. With gradution being Feb. 27 and 28, it's hard to comprehend that our official SDARL education is amost complete. We then join the ranks to make SDARL alumni 150 strong and move forward with our challenge to held educate and advocate for agriculture in South Dakota, the United States, and as we know now, around the world.

Tuesday, Feb. 2

2010-02-02T10:56:00.002-06:00

Happy groundhog day! We are not sure if Phil saw his shadow in South Dakota, he sure would have in South Africa. Members extending their stay have arrived at the lodge where we were greeted with a "Beware of crocodiles" sign. Our chalets are situated, ironically, on the Alligator River, which happens to be extremely high now eliminating the chance encounter with a croc.

Host Bertus welcomed the group to Alldays with a typically American lunch of burgers and fries. We look forward to hearing from the rest of the group who have just taken off for their flight back to the US. Bertus gave us a good overview of life around Alldays, which includes farming and game hunting. Several members have visited his farm where they helped disc the fields that he will soon plant to soybeans.

Many educational opportunities still away the group today. We are about to enjoy a brie (BBQ) outside. Temps today were in the mid-80s but the evening is cooling off beautifully. Tonight we will end a beautiful day around the campfire.

Ray Epp

Goodbye (for some) to South Africa

2010-02-02T00:20:00.000-06:00

After a final 5:30 am safari, Class V members packed up and are heading back towards Johannesburg, to the airport for 10 members, and for the other 23, further north to the sparce Alldays area. Postings after this may be limited as internet connection may be difficult. We will do our best. Here's to our safe travels home.

Children and Mangos oh my!!!

2010-02-01T13:57:00.001-06:00

SDARL Class V awoke to another beautiful morning at the Hannah Lodge. The group prepared for a warm day as the temperature was to rise to 106 degrees. We gathered our luggage and boarded the coach for a short drive to Maepa Private School, a local black primary school. This school serves three local villages in the area.

Upon entering the driveway some members of the group were surprised to see the school surrounded by razor wire to keep the children safe. The building and grounds were quite dilapidated, but the children’s joy and excitement impressed the group. We were greeted with singing and dancing as we arrived. The group was addressed by the principal who explained there were 135 students in grades K-7. The school was government supported; the budget for the year was only $7000. With this small amount the school was run for the entire year. The SDARL team brought with them many gifts, the children especially loved the soccer ball! After some teary goodbyes we were off to the Bavarian mango farm.

The class first observed a slideshow that showed the process of growing the mangos from tree to plate. Harvest on the mango farm begins in late December and finishes in March. This period is called the “100 days of madness.” There are over 1500 people employed to harvest and package the fruit from this 5000 acre fruit farm. An alarming issue effecting this farm is the presence of HIV in over 29 percent of the workforce. Management explained that the process could be more mechanized, but with such high umemployment they felt a social responsibility to employ as many as possible.

We concluded the day at the Kapama Lodge with a game drive and a farewell to South Africa supper.

A Panoramic View

2010-01-31T14:27:00.003-06:00

Day 8 of our international travel seminar was expansive in both sights and sounds. From a visual perspective, we saw the best South African panoramic sights to date. Named for Dutch settlers in the early 1800’s, Bourke’s Potholes Nature Reserve has a rich, colorful history at the fork of two rivers. Locals indicate the River of Sorrow and the River of Joy were named after a scouting party who was sent to secure a ship port on the Indian Ocean portion of the continent and did not return for more 30 days –thus the River of Sorrow. After several months and move of the settlement to the other river, the scouting party returned and the settlers named the second river “River of Joy”.

Three Rondawells is a mountain range with beautiful valleys that truly provide a grand majestic view. At 1,829 meters above sea level, it was the perfect place for a class photo.

The group was also blessed to have one of our game guides and a member of one of the local villages – Solly Manyike – shared facts and stories about life in his native village (pop. 6,000). Solly shared that men can not marry until age 25 and women until age 22. In addition, men can have more than one wife as long as they can afford them. The Village Chief has enormous power and makes all major decisions including who can receive land as well as punishments for crimes. The Chief’s first son from his first wife is the next Village Chief upon his father’s death.

The group ended the evening with game drive where we saw several types of antelope, rhino and zebra. The group enjoyed authentic African food and native dance. Our view of South Africa has been truly a “panoramic view”!!!

Ray Smith, Jody Heemstra, and David Lambert

From Cows to Antelope

2010-01-30T13:26:00.003-06:00

Welcome to Day 7 of the South Africa adventure with Class V. The group experienced a South African thunderstorm last night and a short power outage. However today was a beautiful day. After breakfast the class boarded the motor coach and headed for the farm of Gerrit Roos. The group was greeted with great hospitality. The Roos Farm consists of 2000 head of cattle, 3600 head of Merino sheep, maize, and soybeans. In addition to the farming operation they manage a soybean crushing facility. The family farm includes Gerrit’s parents, his wife, and two sons. In addition they employ 22 full time employees.

The soybean crushing plant crushes 3500 tons of soybeans a year. The soybean meal has an average crude protein of 46% and they sell the oil for further processing. The meal is sold to local hog and chicken producers. The maize and soybeans look just the crops we grow in South Dakota. The Merino sheep lamb twice a year in January and February as well as July and August. The farm uses artificial insemination and then runs the bulls for 90 days.

The class had great conversation and enjoyed an excellent meal for lunch, which included a traditional African dish Bobutie. Mrs. Roos opened her home to any of the class that wanted to see and talk about the African housewife. Their hospitality was superb. The two sons are planning a trip to South Dakota in early summer. The class is anxiously awaiting their arrival.

From the Roos Farm the group traveled to Hannah Lodge a private game reserve. Upon arrival to our resort we saw 12 different species of African wildlife. The class went on a short game drive and learned about the Sable breeding project at Hannah Lodge. After the game drive the group learned about their conservation and breeding practices. The Hannah Lodge provides a thatch room hut with a view of the African landscape that is sure to take your breath away.

Posted by Jeremy Lehrman, Bryan Prins and Frank Bloom.

Adaptability Photo 2

2010-01-29T13:45:00.002-06:00

Adaptability Photo 1

2010-01-29T13:37:00.000-06:00

Adaptability

2010-01-29T13:11:00.000-06:00

Today’s adventures lead us west of Johannesburg to “Far Deal” School, located in Zuurbekom near Soweto. The school operates with the intention of providing agricultural training, skills and human development to socially disadvantaged blacks with the intention of returning those skills to their local families and communities. Currently Sabina Khoza, the school’s founder and leader sends 63 students at a time through 8 months of training that is 70% practical and 30% theory. Only 39% of the students are sponsored with aid to take training, the other students are put through the training utilizing donations and income from produce sales. Training Development and Sustainability with limited resources is the mission statement for the Fair Deal School. We were warmly greeted by Sabina, staff and students and left with handshakes, hugs, some tears and a deeper understanding of both the challenges and the opportunities these students face in their communities.

Tracking north, we headed through a small mountain pass to Inyoni Crocodile Farm to discover the concept of raising crocs for hide and meat. We learned that sex of the crocs can be pre-determined by temperature during incubation of the eggs. Hide harvest doesn’t begin until at least five years of age and reproduction doesn’t occur until seven years of age. We viewed small to large crocs ranging from two to 18 feet in length, with crocs weighing more that a ton. Our gracious hosts also treated us to a wonderful meal of sausage, salads and steaks.

Our next visit was to see Dr. Morne de la Rey at Embrio Plus Centre where he gave us a brief history involving the start of the veterinary practice with his father in 1979. Dr. Morne began with bull collection at the age of 14 years. The development of breeds that blend the disease and heat resistance of the Africana and the meat producing ability of the Simmental was sped up by the use of embryo transfer and artificial insemination. The Centre ships semen and embryos all over the world. The world’s first successful bovine cloning was produced at the Embrio Plus Centre.

The day concluded with a discussion of agricultural financing in South Africa. Dr. Hans Balyamujura, from ABSA bank spoke with the class about the challenges of ag lending in post-apartheid South Africa. Different soil, similar economics shape the landscape with the industry facing high land and input costs while marketing commodities being of their biggest challenges. The governments’ post-apartheid goal of 30% land exchanges to disadvantaged black’s also present large lending challenges to banks. The ag outlook is favorable, but the global recession presents similar challenges to South Africa as we are experiencing in the United States.

GSM: Kevin Hoff

Reporters: BJ Richter, Tammy Anderson

From Gate to Plate

2010-01-28T12:21:00.004-06:00

Today was an extremely busy and educational day. We started out with a presentation under the gazebo on the grounds of the Irene Country Lodge near Pretoria listening to Dave Ford who is the Executive Director of the Feedlot Association and Chairman of the Red Meat Industry Forum in S.A. The meat industry in S.A. is facing very similar issues that our own producers face but their main goal is to provide consistently sufficient quantities of meat, and try to educate the rural producers about the standards of the industry such as vaccination and marketing.

We drove 45 minutes to the southwest of Johannesburg to Karan Beef in Heidelberg and were greeted at the abattoir (slaughter house and packing plant) by the American flag flying high alongside the S.A. flag. Elias Mosuwe started our tour at the unloading point and took us through every section of the processing facility where they process 1300 head of cattle from the Karan Beef Feedlot per day. They sell packaged meat to retailers along with sides of beef (swinging beef) to various butcheries who cut their own meat. We even enjoyed the opportunity to browse through their public store where their coolers were filled with all cuts of meat along with chilled bones, clean tripe, minced lungs, heart, brisket, pickled hump, corned tongue, tail and others. They are a source of affordable meat and a very integral part of the rural community.

From there we were hosted at the Karan Beef Feedlot, which is the largest in the southern hemisphere, and served delicious grilled rump steaks. This 120,000 head feedlot was absolutely impressive. The Research and Development Manager, Ben, boarded the bus with us for an impressive tour of the processing facility, feedlots and feed mill where they mix and deliver 1100 tonnes of ration per day to the 1000 pens of cattle. The cattle are bought as weaners at 7 -8 months of age and fed for 125 days on rations that contain maize, ground straw, ground hay, hominy chop, brewer’s grains, molasses meal, minerals and monensin. Karan Beef has grasped the concept of being totally integrated from feeding to bringing the meat to the plate.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Hokaai Butchery in Pretoria where everyone got the opportunity to taste S.A.’s most popular meat, biltong(dried meat). After a few people were definitely hooked, some made purchases of the delicious biltong. At the lodge, Dr. Martin Lazenby, a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, told us about religion and cultural differences among the S.A. community.

Submitted by Nancy Johnson and Dave Schroth.

Moving Out of Cape Town

2010-01-27T15:24:00.005-06:00

The class awoke to another beautiful day in Cape Town. While we are thankful for sunny skies and warm weather while here in Cape Town, we are even more thankful for the news from back home that the snow and wind has subsided.

Our first stop of the day was at Greenpoint Stadium near the waterfront in Cape Town. Greenpoint Stadium is one of 8 new stadiums being built or remodeled for the World Cup soccer tournament which begins in June all across South Africa. It was a unique honor that we were the first sizable group to receive a “group tour” of the recently finished stadium. The stadium hosted its first soccer match last Saturday and several more warm-up events are planned prior to the big tournament. The stadium is designed to have an ocean theme with flowing lines across the upper deck and light but multi-colored seats intended to resemble the shades of sand and corral at a beach. We had the good fortune to walk out onto field level of the pitch (the game field) but we were instructed sternly, repeatedly and seriously to not walk onto or touch the grass. We finished our brief tour of the stadium with a group picture in the stands followed by another first – the first group of South Dakota agricultural leaders to perform the wave at Greenpoint Stadium.

After leaving the stadium, we took a short bus ride to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront district. This is a major tourist attraction in Cape Town with high-end retail shopping, lots of restaurants, unique gift stores, boat tours, helicopter rides and lots of people watching. Most members of the group set off on a mission to finish off gift lists and find something memorable to bring home from Cape Town. A few in the group took the opportunity for a helicopter tour of the cape and were fortunate to spot whales from the air. Others enjoyed a fresh seafood lunch at one of the many oceanfront restaurants. Everyone was happy to have a few hours to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of this beautiful ocean-side city.

After lunch we headed about an hour out of Cape Town to the Paarl area for a tour of the Vesuvio Estates, where they raise 500 hectares of various olive trees, crushing their harvest into award-winning Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Our host, Gert Van Dyk, is the farm and factory manager. Our tour began with a brief overview of the farm operations and was followed by a tour of the onsite processing facility, an olive oil tasting and, finally, a driving tour through the farm. The farm has over 150,000 trees and of their 500 hectares, only about 30 are irrigated. Their olive harvest will begin in mid-April and will finish sometime in July depending on yield. The current owners of the farm bought it in a state of disrepair in 1996 and through intensive management of their resources and some expansion of hectares planted have grown production from 50 tons in 1996 to 1200 tons expected this year. Other facts that we found interesting were that a new tree will take 6-8 years to become fully productive and that an olive tree has a virtually unlimited productive life. Vesuvio does not export any of their olive oil as demand in South Africa alone is greater than what they can produce.

As I write this, our class is on a South African Airlines flight to Johannesburg. We expect to arrive at Irene Country Lodge near Pretoria at about 9:30 this evening. The weather reports look good for our highly-anticipated tour of the 120,000 head Karan Beef feedlot tomorrow. We all seem to be doing fine and thinking of everyone back home often.

Post-flight update: We encountered our first minor travel glitch tonight. The motorcoach sent to pick us up broke down on the way to the airport and a replacement had to be dispatched. After about an hour delay we were on our way to the lodge. We will be blessed if that is the worst of our travel problems.

Post-arrival update: We arrived safe at Irene Country Lodge. We were greeted by a chorus of 15 native singers that entertained us as we checked in. Everyone is thrilled with the accommodations.

Posted by Dawn (GSM) and Jason (Reporter).

Manager of Kanonkop Winery describes their wine making

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Kayamandi Township

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Tueday Jan. 26th - Venturing Outside the City

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We started day three of our Journey with fantastic weather as we traveled out of Cape town to the Blackenberg Dairy. This 4th generation dairy is operated by three brothers and our tour was led by Phillip Blackenberg. The operation consisted of milking 700 head of Holstein cows 3 times a day in a 60 stall, rotary parlor. Additionally, they farm 3,000 hectors of wheat, maize (corn), clover, canola, and oats. Along with the dairy, they also run 1,200 merino sheep and 118 head of Aberdeen Angus cows. The modern housing that was built early 2000's, has helped to increase the milk production of the cows. Their biggest struggles continue to be water quality and effective ways to purify it.

We next traveled to the Kanonkop Wine Estate. Along with spectaticular views, this 100 Hector winery is operated by Aubie Beeslaar. They produce 60-70,000-12 bottle cases of red wines a year; with 60% of the wine being exported to 40 different countries. Our visit included a trip through the fermention process followed by a wine tasting in the cellar.

Our travels next took us to the city of Stellenbosch where had lunch followed by a visit to the Kayamandi Township. This experience was very eye-opening as the poverty in this township was overwhelming. Between 35-40% of the persons who live here are unemployed. The education of the young children is challenging as well due to lack of qualified teachers and lack of discipline. Sandile and Monica Elaud shared with us the stories of the township, but also shared there optimism they have for the future of townships like this, as well as South Africa.

We finished our touring for the day by learning about the Malay people. We visited a shop operated by Asine Amhmed where he sells Indian and Malaysian spices.

We enjoyed our time in the Cape Town area and people we have met. Later tomorrow our travels will take us up to Johannesburg for more great experiences.

Here's to day four. Nicolien, Shirley, and Adam

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Tour guide Marius Botha (middle, pointing right) tells about the plants, flowers and trees in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

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6 minutes to the top.

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A naughty baboon

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The beginning...... Mon. Jan. 25, 2010.

South Africa Day 1

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Greetings from the Cape,

Today we began our adventure by touring key parts of Cape Town in southern South Africa. Our day began with a tour of Table Mountain. This notable landmark for the Cape Town area was enshrouded in clouds from an incoming storm but we still were able to enjoy the view. The method of transportation to the top of the mountain was by a rotating cable car that climbed the 1087 feet to the top in a mere 6 minutes. Once at the top we enjoyed beautiful views of the greater Cape Town area and surrounding landscape. The awesome views inspired us all. "It really impressed upon me how big the world is and how much there is out there that we typically don't try to pursue" said Bryan Prins. No doubt it was amazing!

Following the tour of the mountain we took a driving tour along the southern peninsula, where we saw Bleesbok and several "naughty" Baboons, as Marius our tour guide dubbed them. Along the way we stopped for a leisurely picnic along the coast at Hope Point amongst the crashing surf. After our picinic we proceeded down to the Cape of Good Hope, the southwestern most point in Africa, and saw where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Denny Everson could only say that "it was wild!"

On our way back into Cape Town we stopped at the 580+ hectare (1450 acres) Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens to view over 8,000 different species of native South African vegetation. This botanical garden is dedicated to the conservation and preservation of some of South Africa's rarest species as evidenced by the 40+ different species of the Zycot tree, a native palm tree relative that is federally protected. The gardens were absolutely beautiful and meticulously manicured much like McCory Gardens on the SDSU campus.

This evening we were fortunate enough to dine at The Gold Restaurant in downtown Cape Town. We were treated to multiple samples of native South African foods and traditional dances performed by the restaurant staff. "The food and dancing at the Gold was incredible...that is the stuff I wanted to see in Africa." quipped Michelle Olson. It was an amazing experience for sure.

Overall, today was a great start to our adventure, hope to see you all again here tomorrow. Same place, same time.

Until then, from the dark continent....

Respectfully, Eric Mousel, Michelle Olson, and Nathan Meland

We've arrived in South Africa!!!!!

2010-01-24T15:58:00.000-06:00

All,

We have arrived safe and sound in Cape Town at around 10:00 PM local time (2pm CST). Amazingly, everyone was able claim their luggage and made all 5 plane connections as scheduled - everything went off without a hitch! The plane ride was long, the food was quite tasty, and we are all ready for a hot shower and a good nights sleep.

By the way, it is humid and balmy with evening temps in the 70's.

We plan on learning more about Cape Town and its history tomorrow with a visit to Table Mountain and other attractions.

We will post more pictures tomorrow.

Travis, Kip, Doug T.

Saturday, Jan. 23 Day 1

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SDARL Class V members have all arrived in Washington DC safely following an ice storm that made us wonder if we would get out of the state at all.

We will be departing for Johannesburg at 5:30 ET and will arrive at our final destination 18 hours later. We will post more as soon as we can.

2010-01-18T15:45:00.003-06:00

Follow members of SDARL Class V as they embark on their international study seminar to South Africa. Check back daily for new posts. The class leaves Saturday morning from Sioux Falls and Rapid City before they join forces in Washington, DC, departing there Saturday night, arriving in Capetown about 2:30 CST Sunday.

Rae Jean and I are looking forward to our SDARL travel seminar to South Africa.

Dan Gee