Louisiana Style

Landing in Chicago was almost like coming home. Being able to read the signs and understand the language in the airport, was a relaxing feeling after having to concentrate constantly while in China.

Chicago however is not the destination this week, just one of two stopovers (the other being Dallas) on the way to Monroe in Louisiana.
After one of the longest Saturdays I have encountered (at around 34 hours) we check into our hotel for the night, then set about finding somewhere to eat.
There is limited options close to the hotel so we opt for the healthiest option and a cooking style we know and trust - Chinese !

I don't really know what to expect in Louisiana, we have all had the itinerary - several versions, but to begin with it's just names and places.
We know we will be meeting beef producers, chicken producers, rice industry reps, natural resource reps and research and development teams, but we really have no idea of the week ahead.

Ron Helinski from Maryland along with Denise from Virginia have made the contact in Louisiana and join us on Sunday morning to give us a briefing on what lies ahead.
An hour later we are in rural northern Louisiana on the farm of Reggie Skain, which is to be our home for the next week.
 Reggie has been in the area all of his 65 years and is well respected in the community and has been the Mayor of Downsville for 27 years. Reggie quickly points out that he sees the role as one of 'complains department' rather than that of Mayor.
Reggie is heavily involved in pretty much everything going on in the area as well as running cattle on several farms, forestry blocks, property development and a highway construction business which does regrassing following earthworks.

View from our home for the week.

The land Reggie is leasing to run cattle on is costing around $30 per ac. Getting any clear figures on stocking rate was difficult but is in the order of 1 cow per ac. The calves are taken through to weaning and then sold off to feedlots in states further north.
Returns are exceptionally good at current prices with 270 - 280 kg calves bringing around $2.20 - $2.40 US per kg.
Beef numbers in Louisiana are at 610000 with an average herd size of 41 and contribute $560 million to the state economy.
Cows are calving in the autumn to enable them to be sold at weaning when the summer heat kicks in and the annual ryegrass dies. Most of the pasture is made up of bermuda and bahia grasses with white clover seen as a weed that makes the hay difficult to dry, which can be a challenge with a 1400-1500 mm rainfall.

An observer looking from the outside would say there is scope to increase production through measuring and recording but currently things seem to be ticking over ok.
Our first night in Downsville and we are treated to a feast of a local delicacy, crawfish or fresh water lobsters and were entertained by 20 or so of Reggies friends. These are real country folk with a reeeaaaal long droool and a tin of chewing tobacco in the top pocket and wonderful people whom would become very good friends over the next week.

Many of these farmers have several chicken sheds each holding 23000 birds as part of their businesses. On contract with one of two processors the margins are very tight and don't leave a lot of room for error. The price recieved is 5 cents per lb LWG. which equates to $20000 profit per shed per year. Cost of the Shed is $250000 US.
Poultry production is the states largest animal industry and contributes $1.9 billion to the economy.
The beef industry is heavily reliant on the chickens for the litter that is produced as the cost of artificial fertiliser is prohibitive.
The litter is applied at between 5 and 12 t per ha per year.

Forestry is the top earner for the state bringing in some $2.8 billion annually.
The majority of it is pine and used for paper and cardboard products, with several processing facilities within the state.
Of the 27.5 million acres in Louisiana, 14 million acres is planted in trees.

Reggie Skain  discussing forestry

When one thinks of Louisiana, cotton come to mind. The area of cotton has been under pressure from corn in recent years, with current production down to $270 million.
Corn and feed grains on the other hand are finding favour, particularly with the biofuel plants that have emerged in recent times and $7.00 /bu prices are difficult to ignore.

I believe that the US government is very focused on making food available to everyone at an affordable price and that is often at a price that is below the cost of production.
The hope is there will be money left at the end of the week to buy other less necessary items that the tax can be recovered on.
In order to achieve this, agriculture receives some very robust support. This is something that will not change dramatically in the foreseeable future.
It will be interesting to get a perspective on this on our visit to Washington DC.
Northern Louisiana is blessed with ample rainfall and coupled with what they term 'unlimited' water for irrigation, are able to to produce exceptional corn and rice crops.
It will interesting to follow just how long it remains unlimited...

Because of the abundance of many of the resources needed to produce good crops, there hasn't been much emphasis on regulation. Louisiana boasts a system where best practice is employed and stakeholders have managed work with the authorities to achieve outcomes that work for the environment and food production.
This means the environmental authorities are able to focus on what they know and are good at, rather than being involved in compliance.

One of the highlights of the week in Louisiana would have to be dinner with Mike Strain, Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry, State Senator Francis Thompson and several other elected officials who took time from their busy schedules to meet with us. Several of them flew to Monroe especially for the dinner and flew back to Batton Rouge after the event. A graphic example of the respect Reggie Skains and his colleagues have within not only the State but in the US.




Another highlight would have to be fishing with Wayne Pruitt on the bayou. on our last day the scholars took the opportunity to spend the day with a local farmer to give them a hand and see how things work at grass root level.
Wayne and I checked the cattle and the chicken sheds, hauled some chicken litter before heading off to catch a fish. Success was limited but it was a great way to exchange experiences and difficulties within our own industries.
Interestingly many of the issues we face are very similar, and at the end of the day, we are all producing food....

China

China
 This blog is being written in Monroe, Louisiana and is a reflection of 11 days in China.
I looked forward to this leg of the 2013 Nuffield year, partly because of curiosity about China but also the fact China is one of our biggest trading partners.Something many other countries are very envious of.
We met our guide in Hong Kong 24 hours before taking the ferry to mainland China.
Emma Fan grew up in Beijing before living in Europe and now resides in Perth, Australia.
Having a background in journalism, Emma was invaluable in giving us a Chinese experience I will never forget, and has become a very good friend to us all.


We were based in 3 different regions of China, each with their own cultures and industries.


In the south there is a more Cantonese influence and is more of a coastal culture where there has perhaps been more contact with south east Asia.
 GuangZhou is a very busy city of around 10 million people and little available area to grow food, hence a lot come in the form of seafood or is imported from other parts of China and the world.


A walk around the market in downtown Guangzhou reveals all sorts of goodies from dried jellyfish to ground chilli and deer products including velvet, dried tails and pizzles.
The price for the deer velvet starts at $800 NZ up to $7000NZ for the more discerning buyer.


Travelling to Kaifeng in the Henan District the change in both climate is very evident.
The people of this region have had less contact with western people so we become the subject of many stares and impromptu photo shoots !


We are well looked after for the two days we are in the area by Ashley Fraser from Australia and Mr Suo, Mr Zhou snr. and Mr Zhou jnr. who have one of the biggest seed cleaning and handling equipment in China. A look around their plant was amazing with quality that any manufacturer would be proud of.

We were able to catch up with some local farmers who happened to be harvesting wheat by the roadside and were so friendly and more than happy to entertain us for an hour or so.
Farm size is generally only 1ac or less, but in many cases they join up with neighbours to up to 20 ac in one area. Before the combine was out the gate there was a corn planter seeding directly into the wheat stubble - something we struggle with in NZ !
For the whole time we are in the Henan district, we have three limosines and drivers at out desposal and are treated to the best restaurants and rice wine amaginable.
Thank you for everything Guys !



Leaving Kaifeng doesnt go so smoothly. The day starts off well with us leaving the hotel in our motorcade at the agreed time of 8am. That is where the fun began.

Before we get more than 1km from the Hotel we run into roadworks. The Chinese drivers are poor at the best of times but the streets now turn to chaos.

After sitting for 10 mins it becomes clear we aren't able to use the route we want to. The drivers then go to plan B and take us on a 'shortcut'. Yes thats right - the longest route between two points!

Before long we are the only three vehicles on the road and the drivers slow to a halt before doing a U turn. Not a word has been said but all of us are thinking the same thing- Do these guys actually know which way to go ?

Soon we are on the expressway and the airport signs begin to show up on the roadside. Next problem, our check in time for our flight to Hohhot is 9.35am. We do just make it, but as we are checking in, the gates are closed. We have 2 people with seats and seven without.

The two go on to Hohhot while the seven have to rebook on a later flight . This means a tranfer through Taiyuan and on to Hohhot, and a waste of an afternoon Bugger !
We are now 6 days into the Chinese leg of our GFP and our social media are becoming increasingly limited. Twitter, Facebook, Viber and the like are locked in China as are our blogs and some are having issues with emails.
As we spend most of today in various airports, we have had to resort to talking to each other !
Seriously though, the downtime we do have together, we are getting into some great debates and learning a lot about each other and our respective industries. With the nine of us including Emma, our guide in China, we are able to tackle most subjects and learn from each other.
Soon we will be able to get to and airport early enough to catch the plane!




Hohhot is different again with less humidity and heat. These people have seen even less Westerners!
The first thing you notice is the incredible amount of construction going on in China. there is a real push to urbanise the rural people but still have them work the land, not sure how that will work out...
Many of the new cities are largely empty and although the construction workers are living in the new accomodation, they are moving with the construction, so what happens as it slows down ? I can't see how this growth is sustainable....

Automated  Dairy Processing Plant In Hohhot

It would seem that China's dairy consumption is at 38m tons and is likely to rise to around 100m tons in the next 20 years. The Chinese are busy gleaning ideas from all around the world to pick up the best systems to produce more of their own milk products, but even so are probably only going to be able to produce half of their requirements.

Market in Beijing

One of the highlights of China would have to be walking on the Great Wall. It is absolutely immense and an engineering feat that is beyond belief.

Mollys Dogs checking out the Great Wall.

Thanks again to Emma for showing us her country and culture.

Antony Vagg and Emma 

Philippines

Early start this morning, left the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at 4.30am after realising last night that the proposed time of 8am wasn't going to get us to the Corregidor Island ferry terminal by 7am.

Early starts are a killer !

 Corregidor Island was under US rule during the early part of the 19th century. The Island was a strategic defense post from the invading Japanese during WW2.
In 1942,General Douglas Macarthur was ordered by the US president to leave the Philippines and go to Darwin to coordinate the defense of Australia.
 It would be 3 years before the US are able to reoccupy the Island. The remains of the gun installations are still there as are the ruins of barracks and the entire armed forces community.
The Island took a pounding over several years as the Japanese first captured it and then as the US tried to reclaim it numerous times before being successful. The scars are still evident in the landscape with holes everywhere from bombs exploded, not to mention the scrapnul ??? scars on the concrete bunkers and the restored guns and mortars.

This was a brilliant day and although we all struggled with the heat, we were able to relax and take in some local history at the same time.

Remains of Barricks on Corregidor Island

Monday 3 June and we  are at IRRI, International Rice Research Institute, talking to staff members James Quilty and Leigh Vial.

IRRI Rice Research has expertise and facilities that would be the envy of any research institution, and is firmly focused on feeding the world. They are working on the worlds largest collection of rice varieties, some 117,000, and still counting, all in cold storage for the future.

 They are working hard at mapping Rice genotypes of many of these varieties, this will allow fast-tracking the breeding of new varieties , cutting the time taken to produce a new variety by at least half, but also to select for traits as required. New varieties could be ready to go commercially in as little as 5 years.

They are also focused on education, forming the science partnership, GRISP, offering 200 places annually to students from all over the world, the opportunity to study, and work with their scientists. IRRI also work extensively with farmers, extension people in the  Philippines, as well as people from other countries in an effort to increase world Rice production in a sustainable way.

 Their breeders are interested in creating a C4 type Rice, basically a rice variety with the vigor of a corn plant. They are looking at the possibility of developing a variety with higher Iron levels, and higher vitamin levels to assist in providing an easy way to increase the health of all those who consume rice.  All geared to increasing the production of Rice to feed the growing world population.

World demand for Rice is expected to increase 2% per year and 3 Billion people rely on Rice for their diet. The world area planted to Rice has stabilised and yields are not increasing quickly enough to meet forecast world demand.

We also visited their great Rice Museum which maps out the history of Rice and has a large display of farming practices, tools, from the  Philippines.

 The day started with a presentation by Duncan Mackintosh, Development directer, and Liegh Vial, Head of the experiment station and former Nuffield Scholar, 2008.



We then were taken on a tour by James McQuilty, research scientist of the station. 1st stop was a look at the oldest trails, continuous rice for 52 years, with out any nitrogen fert for that time. Not their normal practice, but an interesting comparison to other trials. From there we looked at trials designed to break the continuous rice cropping cycle, with alternate crops, corn, mung beans etc, in an effort to prove to local farmers that they could be more productive and profitable.

We then saw their world wide collection of wild rice, which showed graphically, the amount of variation of rice types from around the world.

After lunch we visited the International Rice Genebank, were we where shown how they prepare grain for long term storage, at low temp, for 100 years or more, to safeguard the survival of varieties.

From there we went to the labs, and discussed how, using Molecular markers, they map the geneotypes of a variety, and how that they can identify traits, that they can transfer to a new variety, to enhance the new variety, speeding up the selection process of new varieties.

We finished the day looking at their rice Museum, with an interesting display of old farming practices/tools from the Philippines and China, interesting Rice products, and a fantastic display of birds that frequent rice paddies from around the world.

Canberra

View from plane coming into Manila

Currently sitting on a plane bound for Manila after leaving Canberra this morning.

Today is this first day of my Nuffield 2013 global Focus Program - a seven week journey through The Philippines, China, Louisiana, Washington DC, Netherlands, Belgium, France and Ireland.
 Eight of us travelling together including Carly Buttrose,Kate Mason, David Cook, Anthony Vagg, Pete Kaylock, Jason Size, Matthew Pooley - all Australian, and myself !
Lisa Harper, from Malborough NZ was to be with us, however health problems have prevented her from doing so and will complete her GFP next year.

 I arrived in Canberra on Wednesday 29th for a series of briefings and the chance to catch up with six scholars who are embarking on the India GFP.Richard Green, Director of Nuffield New Zealand, also made the trip over to Canberra to wish the scholars well on their travels.

 Thursday started with our host for the day Ross Gough, a Nuffield supporter and volunteer taking us to the top of Mt Ainslie to get a geographical perspective of Canberra and the surrounding area. This was followed by a visit to the National Museum of Australia. During our time at Parliament we sat in on question and answer time in the house and were able to see the Members battle out some of the key issues pertaining to the country.

 Later in the day, Ross took us to the War Memorial Museum where we got an amazing history lesson on the wars of the past. The ANZAC theme is very prevalent with particular reference to the kiwis on many occasions. The highlight would have to be the memorial ceremony which is held at 5pm each day, with wreath laying and the playing of the last post.
 To round out the day, the scholars were treated to a dinner at parliament with The Honorable Bruce Scott MP, The Honorable Sid Sidebottom, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture and Senator Richard Colbeck, Shadow Minister for Agriculture.
 Once again we are reminded of the esteem in which Nuffield is held.

Friday sees the scholars being briefed on agriculture from a global perspective with Sam Archer Nuffield Scholar 2008 doing a grand job of facilitating.
 Allison Mann from NZ Embassy, John Tuckwell from EU Embassy, Hugh Mc Ginnes from the USDA all presented.

This was followed by a panel discussion and an interactive session on multi lateral and bilateral trade agreement, which included the TTP. Consensus was that in most cases 'it was better to be involved rather than peering through the window.' New Zealand seems to be well in front in terms of Free Trade Agreements with the developing countries ie. China. This may be frustrating for some of our competitors but it must be remembered that new Zealand has been working on those relationships for over 20 years and were initiated through necessity in the years following the removal of subsidies.

The China GFP scholars spent some time doing a DISC profile test - to see how the team dynamics will fit. It will be interesting to see how that plays out over the coming weeks ! Terry Heir Nuffield Aust. Chair and Jim Geltch Aust Nuffield Secretary then briefed on the itinarary and expectations for the trip. As darkness rolled in it was time to head to the ACT rugby club to catch the end of the Crusaders/Brumbies game that saw the red and blacks sneak home ! This was also the last chance to wish the India GFP team all the best ....

As we head across the Gulf of Carpentaria and reflect on the last few days, I'm sure everyone is excited but also a little nervous about what lies in front of us and the fact we are leaving our families and businesses to fend for themselves for 2 months or in some cases, more.