QATAR - HIDDEN TREASURE OF THE MIDDLE EAST...

QATAR...The worlds richest country...is a sovereign state situated on a small peninsula, north/east on the larger Arabian peninsula and facing the Persian Gulf....and the beneficiaries of one of the worlds largest reserves of "black gold"...oil...

Since becoming Independent in 1971, it has transformed from a native population of around 240,000 to having 1.4 Million living within its borders.  Of the 1.4 Million, 300,000 are of Qatari blood with the remaining 1.1 Million coming to the sovereign state from other Arab countries, Africa and Asia.

What a contrast... from India to now Qatar...this is the story of 10 Nuffield's in the Worlds richest country....

We focussed our learning in this kingdom around 2 sovereign companies, being Hassad Food Group and Mawashi Meat and Trading Livestock, Hassad Food Group gave an insight into BIG strategy that few of us had rarely experienced before and Mawashi allowed us to experience the operational/slaughtering end of the live sheep we export to this region....

Firstly...Hassad Group....this sovereign company was founded in 2009, under the umbrella of the Qatar investment fund, and created with the sole agenda of providing food security to the Qatari people.  In a rapid expansion globally this company is travelling the world to invest strategically in land and huge capital development projects to ensure continual supply of food into Qatar.  To date they have purchased 290,000 ha's of land in Australia and their vision is to become Australia's largest sheep producer/exporter.  In looking at my notes and writing this blog, I do wonder what impact this vision and goal of the Qatar kingdom will have on live sheep prices in Australia, because if they can supply a large portion of sheep from their own Australian properties will the economic function of supply/demand be disrupted and lower prices being the outcome be less price for the Aust sheep producer....
What money and resources can achieve.....we travelled to a Hassad farm bout 30 minutes from Doha, where they are irrigating land to produce fodder/hay and some crops....check out the 2 pictures below to give you an idea as to the miracle that water.... and lots of money..... can create out of a desert...

Irrigated fodder crops under irrigation 30 minutes from Doha

In the same spot I turned 180 degrees and this is the land that they have developed under irrigation...mostly limestone......

We met with a number of executives of Hassad, the 2 main contributors to our learning were two Aussie guys who are working in the acquisition and development executive roles, and they explained to us some of the fascinating projects that are currently being negotiated and developed through this kingdom company....for example...they are purchasing land in Sudan (to us it looked like brown desert) and with negotiation with the Sudanese government they are going to develop the land, extract water from the white nile and in 12-18 months will have 1000 pivots operating, mostly growing fodder (Saudi used to produce a lot of fodder for this region but have decimated their underground water supplies so have had to stop).  This development will be in excess of 100 million dollars...
Other countries they are looking to invest in....Kazakhztan, Canada and South America....their biggest limitation in acquisition of land and development of that land is that a number of countries have strong laws against foreigners purchasing land....which brings to consideration the debate that often rages in Australia about letting our precious land resources be sold...there are clearly some benefit for Australians in allowing foreign investment, but as one of the executives from Hassad commented to us....Australia has lost control of its "arteries" being the grain port system, and no country should ever allow this to occur......interesting thinking and comment.......I tend to agree....

The Hay shed at the Doha farm, no expense spared and they also are building a very grand guest house too

Such is the randomness of birth-right in the life journey that we have... the Qatari people are wealthy beyond belief and every company in Qatar has to have a Qatari figure head, albeit it they have little to do with the actual running of the business...the kingdom has been clever in engaging very clever executives at the next level....The Qatari people are paid an enormous salary by the kingdom, but the kingdom is also very mindful of making sure they keep the blood-line "pure" so the wealth stay distributed within a few...what does this mean.....Qatari people can marry outside of their own bloodline, however they will have reduction of their wealth sharing and if they marry another pure Qatari they receive an ENORMOUS cash bonus...

This is in contrast to the story we heard about the Nepalese worker who had emigrated to Qatar is search of work and was sending money home...after 5 years he had saved up enough money to fly back to see his family, so caught the flight, had to then catch a bus for a week, then walk for a week, to be only home for a few days before he had to do the walk, bus, flight back to Qatar....such is the lottery of life.....

With the sons of a camel racing stud owner........

After finishing our time with the Hassad Group (which I am sure we all could have spent days with them...fascinating to be at the edge of such massive developments...) we spent good times with the Mawashi Livestock trading group...another sovereign company...who showed us through the killing works in which our live exports are processed through after their long boat journey....it was really impressive and rivals the hygiene of Australian abattoirs....
What was so impressive was the really strong relationships that MLA (Meat & Livestock Aust) have developed with Mawashi through people like Blythe Calnan and Annabelle Coppin....these ladies have been travelling over the past few years to the middle east and working with the executives and workers of the killing works to assist them in education of handling these frightened Aussie sheep that have had a long voyage to the Middle East.  Sheep in the middle east are quite domesticated and will stand in a ute untethered and follow their handler around, hence when faced with Aussie sheep they were unsure how to handle them, Blythe and Annabelle have been instrumental in assisting them in better handling practices, to the point that through these relationships Mawashi will be implementing the Aust Govt ESCAS (Export Supply Chain Assurance System - this was brought in after the June 2011 Indonesian issue ) very willingly...and I am sure its through the hard work and great relationships these girls have created.....

Dinner with the Mawashi executives, kneeling on cushions and taking the food with our fingers...yum!!

Annabelle Coppin with a local sheep trader.....

One of the quirkiest local cultures I experienced was the local abattoir where the purchaser could choose a live sheep in a yard outside of the killing works, walk the sheep through the race with a handler directly into the killing works and then stand at a window and watch his animal being killed, to the point where at the end of the killing chain a butcher would be waiting for instructions for the purchaser as to how they would like the meat cut up.....the dialogue between the purchaser and butcher was colourful and theatrical...and bit of meat was hacked and chopped and then popped into a plastic bag to be thrown in the car (in about 50 degree heat...hope the air con was on) to be taken home...this was kind of the Qatar version of fast food!!!  But is was so nifty and real paddock to plate processing all in about 20 minutes....

Local abattoir worker with a processed fat tail lamb

The workers at the local abattoir were so happy to see us and kept yelling out "Harry Kewell"...not being of a soccer heritage it took me a while to understand...this worker badly wanted to show me the fat tail lamb that had just been processed...apparently the fat tail is a delicacy...who knows, with language barriers we may well have eaten a fat tail and not have known....I don't think I would order it
normally.....

The butcher and the purchaser discussing how they wish their animal to be cut up......

So ended our few great days in Qatar, we loved it for the extreme contrast it gave us from India (extreme wealth Qatar - compared to India's extreme poverty), but one thing that India and Qatar had in common was the warmth and friendship that was extended to us and we are just so grateful for their generosity and time in showing us their "hidden treasures"....thank-you Qatar, next stop Ukraine and Chernobyl

Before you speak, listen.  Before you write, think.  Before you spend, earn.  Before you invest, investigate.  Before you criticise, wait.  Before you pray, forgive.  Before you quit, try.  Before you retire, save.  Before you die, give....

William A. Ward

Sadly we had to send one of our scholars home to Canada due to illness, the travelling and learning can be gruelling and take a toll on peoples health.......we miss you Brenda, get well soon xx

Northern India - Punjab - Land of 5 rivers.....

Oh India...you wrapped us in your arms and made us feel so safe and wanted...we have so much to learn from you........

Our second part of our Indian trip was to visit the Punjab region.....a rich agricultural state known as the land of the five rivers,  we were nestled next to Pakistan to the west and Kashmir to the North, most times we were only 30 minutes from the Pakistani border and the Pakistan capital Lahore.  This highly productive agricultural area is the "foodbowl" of India with rich soils and underground water for irrigation, given it is at the base of the Himalaya ranges it receives substantial rainfall during the monsoon season (up to 800 mm)

Flying into Amritsar and were greeted by our beautiful hosts, Mahli and Raj who looked after us for our time in the Punjab region.

The afternoon of arriving we were taken to the Sikh holy place....The Golden Temple... where the holy river flows into the temple area and the faithful bathe in the water...it was such a serene place and as we walked quietly reflecting around the temple calm waters, we were embraced by the people and religion, it was so serene and we felt at peace......

The Punjab region is heavily populated by the Sikh community with more that 40% of the region being of the Sikh philosophy, they believe in "one god, along a praxis in which the Sikh is engaged in social reform through the justice for all human beings"  They are commonly recognised by their turbans and long beards....the man below tapped me on my shoulder because he wanted a photo taken...whilst he looks stern, he was a gentle soul who saw other people having photos being taken and didn't want to miss out....

One of the most amazing sights we saw during our time in Amristar was an elephant, fully loaded with wood, hurtling down a busy street in amongst the trucks and cars....we were so amazed by the sight that none of us had the cameras ready to get a photo...I asked the driver to scoot across five lines of Indian traffic, do a quick U turn and "follow that elephant!!", for some reason he chose to not do so....cant understand it because anything seems possible in the road/traffic system of India...they have a unique driving and road law ethos....there are no laws...and they communicate by tooting constantly, it is a real language......I know how to toot when cross and how to toot when being charitable and friendly to other vehicles...might try it out in Oz...

Punjab is a fabulously fertile agricultural region with irrigation, wheat and rice yields of around 5t/ha. During the "green revolution" of the 1970's the Punjab region was identified as the region with the capacity to grow the stable crops needed by the Indian population...so the task of growing irrigated crops began, however the pumping from the aquifer of the water to grow the rice crops in particular (1kg of rice takes 600 gallons of water) has seen the water table drop by 40 metres in the past 30 years...hence they are worried about the sustainability of the farming system as it is currently. The current land holdings are still around the 2-5 has in this region and much is done by hand/labourers, however it is becoming increasingly difficult for landowners to get people to do agricultural work and as such there is a rise of small tractors and other machines becoming evident.  It seems odd that in a country where there is 1.4 billion people that they have a labour shortage, but with nearly 50% of the population under 25 years of age, they are finding that the younger generation are seeking life in the cities rather than labouring for $5/day on the farming properties.

There is foreign investment into Agriculture in India, however land ownership is difficult for foreigners, or not allowed so businesses like McCain chips are moving into the Punjab region and setting up factories for the Indian farmers to supply potatoes to them,  these potatoes are not exported, rather they are for Indian consumption....it was the same story everywhere we went, India is not really seeking to export, they almost have a closed loop economy where they drive their own growth by people purchasing power!!! 1.4 Billion people purchasing power!!

We were fortunate to be part of a field day run by the Punjab Agricultural University, where we were the special guests and given an honorary membership to the University and presented with a plaque that will take pride of place at home....30,000 students on 600 ha's at this University, again demonstrating the importance of agriculture to this economy.....

After the end of a fascinating few days in the Punjab region we flew back to Delhi to meet with Government officials, an Indian Investment fund and the Australian Trade Commission, all whom who further consolidated our learning about India, but we did also encounter some startling statistics about India...
- Ave land holding in India is 1.2ha
- They have 2.4% of the global land mass and house 16% of the worlds population
- Literacy is at 74% (Global is 84%)
- Life expectancy is 67 years
- 300 million or 28% live below the poverty line
- Global hunger they are 67 out of 84 countries
- 42% of children under the age of five are underweight

Interesting statistics for a country, who in my mind, really does care for everyone in their system, even though there are clearly social classes evident, there is still a great love and caring for everyone, and this was so strongly evident in visiting the ASHA centre in Delhi...

ASHA was set up by a Indian female Doctor who recognised that the 4 million people living in slums in Delhi had a high mortality rate at child birth (17-25%) and set about getting pre-natal and post natal care into the slums......since the inception of the organisation the mortality rate at childbirth has dropped to almost zero, during the past 12 months they have been set up with electricity to their little houses, and they now have wells and hand pumps for water in their community, rather than crossing the major railway line to fetch buckets of water, where many got killed in bringing the basic necessity of water to the community... we had the privilege of meeting with women of the slum who have been so empowered through the ASHA connection.  Through an interpreter they told us how life had changed so much for them in the past five years through ASHA and now they were confident to talk to us as equals, we met, and I played, sang songs and shared stories with their beautiful children who dressed up especially for the occasion, along with meeting with the young adults of the slums who through the ASHA involvement are now going to university, many studying to get a social workers degree....

Below is a picture of me with the children of the slum in the ASHA centre in their community...scroll below this picture and you will see the living conditions of the slums as we saw it.... as these wonderful, brave women and beautiful children showed us around, with great pride and honesty,  their community....

I wondered how I would feel being part of this experience in the Delhi slum, but what I saw and felt was great hope and happiness....never under estimate the power of positive empowerment, these people walk tall in the dream of a better life that is slowing emerging for them and their community....
"A woman is the full circle, within her is the power to create, nurture and transform" Diane Mariechild

MAGICAL INDIA...THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES...

(Thankyou for revisiting my blog and sharing this amazing Nuffield adventure...I have recently returned from a conference in Taiwan and I am now on our Global Focus Research tour where I am travelling with 5 other Aussie Scholars, 1 Canadian, 1 Irishman and 2 New Zealanders for 7 weeks through India, Qatar, Ukraine, Turkey, France and USA...and so the journey continues....)

The colours of India....we arrived late Saturday night and the whirl-wind that is India started...the colours, the people, the huge mass of humanity that lives, breathes and creates this amazing country called India......

1.4 Billion people that is estimated to increase to 1.8 Billion by 2020, the social and economic structure of India is a fascinating study in self sufficiency,  if asked to describe India in 3 words it would be gentleness, happiness and hope and this reflects in their economic and social structure...they don't seek to conquer the world with Indian exports, on a whole they are content to just provide for their people...and when you have 1.4 billion people that is a huge task in itself.

Our first full day in India we visited Mysore palace, a sweet reminder of British rule, with an eclectic Indian and European style, it reflects a by-gone era.  Independence was given to the Indian people in 1947 after Ghandi's famous peaceful revolution where he united India in the quest for sovereignty.  Independence has given India a new journey and not without its challenges both socially, economically and politically, but needless to say the worlds largest democracy is both fascinating in its potential for global domination with its rich agriculture and people source, but their contentment at just being able to provide for themselves without the need for opening up exports or imports....

Some interesting statistics about Indian agriculture...they are the worlds largest producer of cattle, and many fruit, vegetable and spices, they produce the 2nd largest wheat crop in the world....all on small holdings of 2-5 acres with virtually no mechanisms....just relying on people power...truly amazing..

So far we have been centred down in southern India, starting at Bangalore, to Mysore, then to Coimbatore, Erode and Salem and have visited small farms that are producing turmeric, coconuts, fodder/silage, bananas to name a few...farmers in India are having trouble getting labour and as such they may need to turn to mechanisms to enable them to produce off their small blocks, but the cost of this capital investment when measured against the average farm workers wages being about $3.00 per day may change the profitability of those small plots.

We also visited a clothing manufacturer that is exporting clothing worldwide and has been a willing participant in ensuring that his workers are part of a push for the abolishment of "sweat-shop" conditions and the walk through his factory and his commitment to the ethical agenda that has been set by the importing countries of his product was commendable...we have visited milk factories and the diary that the milk has come from where 10 cattle is considered a large herd, a silk farm where the net profit per months is about $15000 rupees ($300 Aus dollars)

Currently agriculture accounts for approx 50% of the employment in India, and many women work out in the fields tending to the crops, doing hard physical labour and where ever we went, doing it with great determination and a smile...the lady below was part of a group of ladies that were working at an organic fertiliser factory, outside in the sun, taking the fertiliser in baskets on their heads and tipping it into a sifting tray to get the lumps out of it (for about $3.00 per day)...when we pulled up, they were so excited to see us and waved and giggled, when I walked into their work site to engage and be with them they were just so beautiful and very, very excited, there was a lot of touching me while I was with them and lot of mobile phones came out of their sari's to take photos of me with them...it was wonderful, and is a familiar story as we travel around...such as the restaurant cleaners/kitchen staff in Erode who were peeping into the restaurant to look at us and then would giggle and be shy when we waved to them...we have since found out that the remote country areas we have travelled to in Southern India that many of them would have rarely seen white women, or maybe never at all....they are simply gorgeous ladies who share with us the common bond of global sisterhood.

A couple of nights ago we travelled up a huge mountain just out of Salem and met with some coffee plantation owners who hosted us for dinner at "The English Club", it was a wonderful experience to meet with owners of properties that employ 100-200 farm workers...especially with coffee being one of my favourite things....it was there that I had the most wonderful discussion with a very beautiful and elegant India woman called Madhu where we had a significant conversation about our lives, children and business.  What I loved the most was when Madhu was talking about how much they care for their staff and how she has taken an interest in educating the children...she knows that with education that the children of their current workers will probably never work for them and will move away in seeking University qualifications and different career path to their parents...but in a message to me that probably encapsulates the Indian emotional sentiment, she described that it is the right thing to give them opportunities and to them them grow and make choices...even though labour is becoming increasing difficult to enlist for their business....a truly stunning night and I wish we could have spent more time with Madhu and the other ladies and their husband/families...

With that I am going to sign off from Souther India as we head to Northern India and Amritsar (up near the Pakistani border and the Punjab land of Maharajahs)...and leave you with some pictures of children we met when we jumped out of the bus and visited a school in a small village and the children I have met on the streets of India...these beautiful, shiny, brown eyed children of this gentle, happy and hopeful country...

Oh Canada.....

I am trying to find words that describe our time in Canada....amazing, overwhelming generosity, innovation to the max, hugely refreshing optimism in agriculture....there are just not enough words to describe how fabulous this country and the people is/are...

From the extreme cultural comparison of visiting a Hutterite colony on day 1, where we were so lucky to have Frieda and her girls show us around their colony, the Hutterites were refugees from Europe in the early 1800's and have chosen to keep their lives centered around the bible and the sentence in the bible around being "collective", so they share everything, no TV, no radio, no internet, they tend to only marry within the Hutterites community, they make their own clothes, school until year 9 and then the men tend to the agriculture and the girls/ladies tend to the cooking, cleaning etc...all together, a communal eating kitchen and hall...it was a very intimate look at their lives,
one that they are very proud of their disciplines and they (the colonies that have around 130 people in them) are very large farmers in Canada....it was such a wonderful cultural sharing for me, Jess and Gaby and we totally respect their way of life...they are very committed to it and their beliefs

Jess and Gaby with the Hutterite girls

Me with Frieda the wife and mother of the Hutterite girls

We have looked at some terrific crops, and they tell us over here that Canadian farming is going through a golden era...they have had 7 good years of rainfall and prices....how we would love that consistency in Australia...








Interest rates at 3%, machinery at half the cost that we pay in Australia (I still cant work out why we have to pay so much more in Aust....) and deep, rich organic soils, that holds moisture like nothing else.....in Alberta where we visited agronomist and researchers they talk average canola yields of 3 to 3.5t/ha and wheat yields of 4.5 to 5.0t/ha, and check this out...peas yields of 5t/ha....sigh....dream....and they do this on 200mm of rain (plus snow thaw)

Estimated 5t/ha wheat crop

During our visit we were so looked after by some fabulous researchers and business people whose generosity, and knowledge was just amazing, we looked at innovative agronomic techniques and heard how in 10 short years they have doubled their canola yields, the adoption of GM in Canada and where to next to obtain the next big yield increase, some of their ideas include "virtual" soil testing, disc and liquid application by banding after crop emergence into the soil, livestock marketing using cloud technology and trigger prices/prompts to name a few...

I got to have a look at some new tools that are being developed with ipads and apps/cloud systems in mind...and some existing ones that I hadn't heard off that possibly may have an application in Australia

One thing for sure....Canada is one of the most innovative Agri-centres I have ever been to...they are always searching for the next "big" thing to improve agricultural output...be it cropping or livestock...lets watch this space, and the best thing is they are passionate about agriculture and sharing the knowledge

Steve Larocque - Beyond Agronomy..amazing thinking outside the "square"

It is so interesting that ideas that could change the face of agriculture worldwide are possibly "sitting on the shelf", stalled due to a number of reasons...at the end of the day its all about production, analysis and risk mitigation...and this is what I am looking at with my research and tablet/ipad tools...I have to thank so much Rigas, Daniel, Norm, Steve, Ryan and Greg...you gave so willingly of your time and energy and days out of your busy agenda, and it is so busy at the moment with crop inspections marketing etc.......... we all appreciate it so much...and we love your big trucks!!!

We visited fellow Nuffield scholars and discussed and debated around the camp fire our lives and businesses....all with some good aussie red wine and great Alberta beef, thankyou so much Brenda and Clint for your amazing hospitality.....

And of course the Calgary stampede, the rodeo (those brave men and women...awesome), the chuck wagons and the stampede show....all an amazing experience after a day on the great Alberta plains (fields)...but the majestic Rocky Mountains are hard to beat as an experience of a lifetime.....I think Lake Louise is the most beautiful place I have ever visited (some more pictures scroll below).....now you can see why I loved Canada so much, and I am counting the days until I can return.....

Why would a mother let her son do this??  But I kinda think the cowboys don't ask their moms....

How we love the barrel racing...go girls!!

Sadly I dont think pictures can ever capture how beautiful Lake Louise is....I just could not stop looking at it..hard to leave.....

My gorgeous girls and travel buddies...Jess and Gabby....thanks girls, you are the best.....luv ya lots xx (thanks Jen and Dave for letting me have Gabby for a couple of weeks xx)

HELLO EUROPE...AMSTERDAM, IRELAND AND SWITZERLAND...

In these blogs I try to pick out the highlights of the research and meetings to share with you (sometimes I cant reveal information due to commercial sensitivity etc), and the best couple of photographs I can pull off my camera...hope you enjoy my research and travels.....

In continuing for the search for the ultimate real time farming tool we travelled to Amsterdam and I met with the Vice President of RABO International, Bart IJnterna and his assistant about the role that I has heard that RABO is playing in developing possible programs and tools to assist in efficiencies in agribusiness, with a particular view towards feeding the world and global sustainability.  RABO recently funded the "Global Farmers Master Class...The rise of the
Rural Entrepreneur" where 50 agri-producers from around the world were flown into Amsterdam to attend a week long conference programme built around real life case studies....we discussed about the vision and passion we have about the challenges that a resource hungry world is placing on our limited resources and we shared our information on what tools and programmes are out there....we will stay in contact with each other and keep sharing what we are finding, as the vision of our research is very complimentary...it was great to meet the guys

After a couple of days in Amsterdam we travelled late Friday night to Cork, Ireland where on Monday and Tuesday I would be meeting with Irish researchers and business owners...some of you have seen on facebook this photo of Jess and I and a treasured horse trail ride we did together over the weekend...it was magic...

After a weekend of enjoying the Emerald Isle (albeit a wet and misty Southern Ireland) we made our way to Carlow to meet with researchers and educators at Teagasc-Oak Park.  Teagasc is the Irish cropping research and ag education providers, I must say it was so refreshing to go and experience research that is not under threat of being cut or disbanded, and I had the most fabulous day talking to Tom, Kevin and Co about the tools they have already developed and in place and where they wish to go with it in the future, and I got to share some of the commercial tools that are coming on line for producers that I have been looking at.  Given that I am also an educator as well as an agri-manager I was delighted to hear about their vocational and degree agri-business courses, and they have over 1000 people per year enrol in their agri courses...how agriculture is sought after as a career in Ireland is so refreshing.....

Estimated 10t/ha wheat crop

Interesting comments were made about Eurozone agriculture as a whole over the past 10-20 years have taken their "eye off the ball" with the CAP (Common Agricultural policies) system in place and efficiencies have not been the driver for agribusiness and the Irish researchers now feel the industry as a whole have a lot of catching up to do to compete with global efficiencies...This is why I have had to work hard to find like minded agri-managers/developers of efficiencies tools in Europe, there is not a huge interest in these tools currently in Europe as the incentive to drive efficiencies is not there currently and this is being acknowledged quite widely in Europe now...what the answer is now given the Eurozone issues etc, no one quite knows, however it is acknowledged that to take the CAP away immediately would be a disaster for Agribusinesses and the communities  in Europe, a gentle roll back over say 20 years seems to be the favoured approach....Teagasc are funding a Masters student to do a thesis on why Agri-managers are not using the management tools available so I will keep in touch with him to see what his research determines.....I also got to walk through some research crops that will go at least 10t/ha...amazing, but interestingly enough the net gross margin is only around $260/ha...the input costs, particularly with fungicide is HUGE....

It was busy but very worthwhile few days in Europe and Ireland and I feel at this stage I have connected with the main players in the agri-tech game in this region, with my visit to the UK earlier in the year and this visit I have networked with some great people who have been so welcoming and sharing with their information....off to Canada now, and I have a swag of meetings in Alberta, Canada...Agri-technology seems to be steaming ahead in Canada...I will let you know what I find....

With my trustee role on SAGIT (SA Grain Industry Trust fund) I loved connecting with another research organisation