Acute Hunger Grows

A recent report emphasizes the rise in acute hunger around the globe and why it is so alarming. Acute hunger is defined as so severe that "it poses an immediate threat to lives and livelihoods." We encourage you to read over the linked article and utilize the discussion points provided to guide your conversations around the globe.

Acute Hunger Intensifies

Discusion Points

• Last year globally there was an increase in acute hunger. Why did we see this increase?
• Conflict and weather are key factors that were noted as contributing to world hunger.  Explain why these two factors contribute so greatly to hunger.
•  How do we combat the challenges that conflict and weather bring to world hunger? How do we solve these issues in your opinion? Give specific examples.
• Towards the end of the article key messages are shared. Of these key messages what stuck out to you the most and why?

Trade Uncertainty

Agriculture trade is very important to countries around the globe. There are many things that can impact trade including countries imposing tariffs and quotas. This week there has been a lot of talk about tariffs being placed on products between China and the United States. The attached article gives a brief summary and includes a video explaining the current situation between China and the United States. We encourage you to watch the video, read the article, and utilize the discussion points below to guide conversations around the globe?

Tariffs for China and U.S. Goods

Discussion Points

• Explain what a tariff is. If you need to do additional research that is fine.
• Why is the U.S. considering tariffs on China? Why is China considering tariffs on the U.S.?
• What is the potential impact to agriculture in the two countries (markets, supply, etc.)?
• How might this "trade war" impact your home country? Your home state?
• How might this situation impact countries around the world besides China and the United States?

Discussion tip: Note that the discussion points above do not include any political figures or parties. Try to keep the discussion to trade policy and agriculture markets.

Field to Flight

We will soon be in the air  on our way back to the USA. We have arrived at the Brasilia airport and are awaiting boarding. We started off our day at the Ceres Agrobusiness Field Day. We were able to visit with seed, fertilizer, and chemical companies about production practices in Brazil. One of the most intriguing sessions was a company creating fertilizers from ocean products, such as red algae. GALC was even highlighted by the local media with a video interview.

Following our time at the field day we packed up at the hotel and began our trek back to Brasilia. We have three flights ahead of us before returning to Waterloo Sunday afternoon. We’ve all had a spectacular time in Brazil, but look forward to seeing family and friends as we return to Iowa!

Agriculture and River Run

Today was our last full day in Brazil before we fly home tomorrow evening and return to Iowa on Sunday. We kicked off our day with a visit to a cotton processing facility. It is a family owned operation which grows and processes cotton so it can be shipped to clothing and material manufacturers in Brazil and around the world. We discussed the process from when it leaves the field to when it is shipped to manufacturers for production. After we learned about grading and all that goes into cotton production we made our way to the fields. We visited a cotton field that was planted in December and will be harvested in late May/early June. There was much discussion on production practices. Many were blown away be the intensive management of cotton which includes 26 passes of pesticides and 4 passes of fertilizers.

We enjoyed a traditional Brazilian lunch once again, which is a buffet style lunch with many options. Following lunch we visited Caramuru, a plant that processes soybeans and corn into many different products from corn meal to vegetable oil. The plant specializes in non-GMO soybean processing and sends a lot of that product to the Netherlands and Europe. The corn they work with is all GMO corn. They stated the premium for non-GMO soybeans is great and the reason for their procedures.

Following our hot day of touring we cooled off with boating and swimming in the river that separates the states of Goias and Minas Gerais. This was a relaxing way to end the day before enjoying a spectacular dinner with even better friends in Brazil! Tomorrow we will attend a field day in the morning before making our trek back home. There may not be another blog post until next week with two busy travel days ahead.

Such a Sweet Day

Today was truly a sweet day. We spent the morning exploring sugarcane production and processing. We started our day in the fields where we had great discussions on production practices and were able to experience harvest. The gentleman that managed the sugarcane field that we visited has 37,500 acres of sugarcane. It was clear he was very innovative in his production practices. After harvest he has crews come in to analyze post harvest loss, stem lengths, and more to improve yields. The specific field we were in was on it’s 11th year of production. Most fields can go 6 or 7 years with the same sugarcane before it sees yield loss, but this field has been in production for 11 years with no drop in production due to soil nutrition and health management.

From the fields we made our way to a small, family owned sugarcane processing plant that produces sugar for consumption and ethanol. It was incredible to see all that goes into processing sugarcane to a finished product. Many were amazed by the amount of chemistry and steps to produce sugar and ethanol. We were even able to sample some of the finished sugar towards the end of the tour.

After we enjoyed lunch at a Churrascaria (meat feast), we made our way to a seed corn Pioneer production plant. We were able to discuss operations at the plant and tour the facilities. We had the opportunity to compare and contrast processes in the USA and Brazil. Much was the same, but there were several differences that led to engaging conversations. Many enjoyed some relief from the heat in the cold storage at the plant.

We ended our evening with a dinner where many enjoyed a monster of a burger and conversations with great friends from Brazil. We look forward to tomorrow which will be our final full day in Brazil.

Fun in the Sun

Wednesday we took a break from exploring agriculture to relax and have some fun. We spent the day at a hot spring water park. The water throughout the park is naturally heated by a dormant volcano. We had some thrill seekers who took their turns on the half pipe and piranha water slide while others opted for the lazy river and wave pool. No matter what direction you went you were sure to have an enjoyable day.

As our day concluded we loaded up the van and made our 1.5 hour trek to Intumbiara, where we will dive into agriculture once again. We closed out our evening at a pizzeria with Brazilian friends with Ceres Agrobusiness who have traveled to Iowa in the past to learn about agriculture.

A Day of Dairy, Corn, and Soybeans

Today was a spectacular day of exploring agriculture in Brazil. We started off our day visiting the Piracanjuba dairy training center. Piracanjuba is a dairy company that produces and sells milk, cheese, and other dairy products. This center provides training for employees of dairy farms selling milk to Piracanjuba and also sends advisors out to farms to improve production. Students enjoyed comparing production practices in the USA to Brazil. One of the surprising challenges that Brazil is working to address is their high somatic cell count.

After lunch we visited a soybean and corn farm. The most common production practice is soybeans as a first crop followed by corn as a second crop. With irrigation they are starting to produce tomatoes, sweet corn, or edible beans as a third crop. This year they are going to follow the second crop with an African grass grazed with beef cattle in half of their fields. The grass helps reduce compaction in the fields. We were able to see harvest (soybeans) and planting (corn) within the same field in the same day. To end our time at the farm we visited second season corn crop that was 120 day maturity that was 7-8 feet tall after just 52 days of production.  It was an eye opening experience for all once again comparing production between our two countries.

We ended the evening at the hot springs pool at our hotel in Caldas Novas. We enjoyed an evening of conversation and reflection on the day at the pool and enjoyed dinner poolside. Unfortunately, our WiFi has not worked the best which is the reason for this late post. 

Agriculture Diversification in Brazil

We had an awesome day of learning on Monday! We jumped right in with a visit to Embrapa. Embrapa is a governmental research agency that is all across Brazil. This specific location specializes in rice and edible beans, but is becoming more diversified in it’s research with cotton, maize, soybean, beef cattle, and dairy cattle. We started our day with an overview of Embrapa before moving to their gene bank, which stores around 47,000 different varieties of rice and beans. We enjoyed visiting their greenhouses where they were raising rice and beans for the bank as well as a visit to a cotton research area. As we finished our morning at Embrapa we traveled with them to their nearby feedlot to learn about beef cattle production. Nellore is the breed of cattle that are popular in Brazil as they are breed to tolerate the heat.

For lunch we made our way to the UFG campus where classes will be starting Tuesday. Following lunch we toured the agriculture campus and made a stop in to the coffee lab where we learned more about roasting coffee beans and sampled some fresh product. Any visit to UFG is not complete until you find the monkeys roaming central campus and today certainly did not disappoint.

Late afternoon we traveled to Fazenda Organica Novas Senhora Aparecida. This is an organic farm that produces a variety of crops including: corn, soybeans, peanuts, bananas, papayas, coffee, etc. The farmer is very innovative in his production techniques and puts an emphasis on education opening his farm to other producers and university students. Along with his crop production he also has a wildlife rehabilitation center that works with all animals except pumas and snakes. We were able to visit some of the blue macaws he was working with.

We rounded out the day with a great steak dinner and enjoying the weather poolside before preparing to head onto Caldas Novas tomorrow. There is no doubt there is major diversification of agriculture in Brazil and we will continue our exploration with a visit to a dairy and a corn/soybean farm on Tuesday!

Family, Friends, Feasting, and Futbol

Today we enjoyed weekend living in Brazil. It was an eye opening experience for many as we learned more about culture in Brazil. It was noted by many the slower lifestyle exhibited by the Brazilians. It seems we are all so busy running from here to there back home. It was nice to reflect on the importance of spending time with others and enjoying life.

We started out the day by making our way to a local park where many sampled fresh coconut water and took in the beautiful scenery. After a short walk we loaded up and headed to Juarez’s place where we enjoyed an afternoon of  visiting with our Brazilian family and friends. Today was once again a day of feasting. At Juarez’s we enjoyed a full meal featuring Feijoada. Feijoada is a traditional black bean stew which originally was a staple for slaves in Brazil. We cannot thank Juarez, Jeanne, and their entire family enough for welcoming us into their home.

After a relaxing afternoon we made our way to the local stadium to take in a futbol game. It was a heated soccer match between the number 1 and number 2 teams in the region. We became fans of Club Goias as this is Juarez’s team. It was a very entertaining match with enthusiastic fans on both sides. Unfortunately, Goias lost 1-0 to Athletico. Following the soccer game we headed to Madero’s home of the “worlds best burger.” We all put this slogan to the test. The verdict is still out on this claim.

We are now reflecting on our time in Brazil at the rooftop pool. We look forward to diving back into agriculture tomorrow with tours of Embrapa, UFG campus, and an organic farm.

Cooling Off at Pirenopolis

Today we moved from Brasilia to Goiania, but spent most of our day in Pirenopolis. Pirenopolis is a much smaller town than Brasilia or Goiania. It is an older town in Brazil with small shops and narrow roads. Near by Pirenopolis is an area of natural springs and waterfalls. We went for a hike and explored many different waterfalls. As we approached the last couple of waterfalls the terrain became steeper. We were rewarded with a swim in the cool spring water at the last waterfall.

Once our time was completed at the waterfalls we headed into town to grab lunch, sample some ice cream, and do some shopping before making our way to Goiania. We were able to settle into the hotel and enjoy dinner with friends from Brazil who have studied at Hawkeye and visited Iowa in the past.

Throughout our travels we were able to see much of the countryside. We were able to see fields being harvested, planted, and sprayed all within the same day. This has us hungry to learn more about Brazilian agriculture as we move into this next week!

Ministry, Agriculture, and Food Comas

Today was our first full day in Brazil. We had a little later start to the day which allowed us to catch up on some sleep from our busy travel days. We had two primary presentations today that really allowed us to learn more about agriculture in Brazil. These were presentations we heard by the Ministry of Agriculture  at the Ministry and Embrapa at the Universidade de Brasilia. There was great discussion on Brazilian Agriculture at both. Some of the emerging facts are below:

• Brazil is a major player in agriculture. They lead the world in many areas of production and exports.
• Brazil leads the world in agriculture trade surplus.
• Brazil has the greatest agriculture potential of any other country in the world when you look at land and water availability. 
• Brazil is a leader in environmental protection with much of their land set aside in natural habitats. Farmers must keep anywhere from 20% - 80% of their agricultural land in natural reserves depending on what part of the country they are in. 
• Brazil has found away to be carbon neutral in beef production. 

Along with a great day of learning we had a great day of feasting as well. We started off our morning with a delicious traditional Brazilian breakfast consisting of a variety of fresh fruits, bread, eggs, meats, cheeses, and fresh juices. For lunch we enjoyed a Churrascaria where we hand plentiful fresh veggies, meat, fish, and sides. We wrapped up our feasts with a dinner of all you can eat pizza. Many had a favorite of desert pizza with ice cream and chocolate. Many felt they were in a food coma and may not need to eat for days. Thankfully we walked some of it off with a walk around the Universidade of Brasilia, but unfortunatley this left us a little wet from a heavy rain. Tomorrow we are off to Goiania with a stop in Pirenopolis.

Fifty in Five

We hit the ground running in Brazil today! Our travels were very successful with all flights being on time with stops in Chicago and Miami flying out of Waterloo on our way to Brasilia. We arrived in Brasilia at about 9:00 AM (or 6:00 AM Iowa time). Once we claimed our luggage we met up with Juarez and our driver. We started out with a quick driving tour and visit to the national cathedral. We had plans to visit the TV tour to get a bird’s eye view of the city, but unfortunatley, it was closed due to a worker strike. This did, however, provide us time to meet up with Jose.

For lunch we made our way to a local mall and the food court. The group was split between a Brazilian buffet and Giraffes (a local burger joint). After lunch we visited the JK Memorial. This is a memorial for President Juscelino Kubitschek, who ran on the platform of moving the capital of Brazil to the central part of the country and had the vision of creating Brasilia which is now 57 years old. He implemented his “Fifty in Five” plan as president. This was fifty years of progress in five years time. JK was very successful creating the federal district in three years and creating an automobile and shipbuilding industry in Brazil among with many other advancements. We were able to see many artifacts from him and his wife, Sarah. We even got to see the remaining books of the original Shakespeare book collection given to the Kubitscheks as a gift. JK’s story is truly remarkable.

Following our time at the JK Memorial we checked in at our hotel and prepped for our evening. As we prepared to head out the rain started, so our site seeing plans changed a bit. Instead we went to the mall to pull out cash for later shopping and by the time this was completed the rain had stopped. We visited the three powers square and checked out the Presidential Palace, the Supreme Court, and many monuments. For dinner we enjoyed Mangai, which is a massive Brazilian buffet. Many loved the fresh fruits and variety of desserts.

For the past 32 hours of traveling and exploring Brazil it has felt like we have been going fifty mph on five minutes of sleep. We are now reflecting on our day on the rooftop poolside. Tomorrow we are excited to visit the Ministry of Agriculture and learn more about agriculture in Brazil. Ate amanha!!!

Brazil Bound

Today we are off for an exciting adventure to Brazil with a group of 10 students and two co-leads! Over the next week and a half we will have the opportunity to visit the ministry of agriculture, farms, agribusinesses, universities and much more to learn more about agriculture in Brazil. While we will spend much time exploring agriculture in Brazil we will take time to learn about Brazilian culture as well.

We invite you to return to this blog often to follow our time in Brazil! Follow us on the following social media platforms as well for pictures of our adventures!

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Instagram: search “galc_hawkeye"

African Agriculture Potential

This week we take a look at an article that was published last July, but the content still holds strong today. It discusses the challenges facing agriculture in Africa and the potential that agriculture has in Africa to pull many out of poverty. We encourage you to read the linked article and watch the short video included and utilize the discussion points provided to guide your conversations around the world!

African Farmers Turn a Field into Data

Discussion Points

• Why is Africa so intriguing when it comes to food production and feeding its own people?
• The article states that agriculture is 11 times more effective to reduce extreme poverty than any other sector. Explain why you feel agriculture is so effective in decreasing poverty?
• The article and video share the challenge of getting youth involved in agriculture. What is your solution to this problem? Justify your response.
• What was the most interesting fact or thought that you took away from the linked article and why?