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

Back on the road again in search of the ultimate "cloud/app based" agri tool(s) with my Nuffield research...this time I will be travelling to China, Europe, Ireland and Canada, sometimes I feel its like looking for a needle in  hay stack and then whamo...I find a whole swag of great information in the least expected places...so the journey continues....this time with my beautiful daughter Jess keeping me company...

First stop China...

Despite my best attempts to find some technology contacts in Beijing (which is where I had elected to have the Asian stop over in our round the world ticket) I just could not find any real contacts worth chasing, so I decided that we would just have a few days in China and see if I could enquire with locals etc where I could find the techno hub in China....

Well...this is our story of Beijing...

We arrived at around 12.30am, to be picked up by a very trendy young Chinese man, who spoke no English but had a really cool app on his phone that converted Chinese to English, how cool, I am thinking about developing an app that converts teenage texting slang to a workable version I understand!!  In his very cool car we hopped in and proceeded to our accom that I had checked out on trip advisor...the Royal Orchid Hotel...

Jess eating in Mr Shie Dumplings restaurant in the Hutongs.....

I started to worry when we turned down the dark alley, proceeded through the poorest parts of Beijing and when he stopped the car, with no perceivable hotel in sight, I was calculating little chinese man height and weight and thought if this is a set up to rob us, Jess and I could take him down!!  "Where is the hotel" I demanded, "I show" he said in his limited English, anyway down this little grotty alley way we went, through a door and into an oasis called the Royal Orchid hotel in amongst the hutongs of Beijing...we had arrived in the real part of Beijing...and we loved it...the hutongs are about 700 years old, its the real heart and soul of China, it never sleeps, full of little twisty alleyways, where little industrial workshops co-exist next to food eateries and little shanty houses...the people were so welcoming and kind and I will be honest language is a challenge for tourist like us, with no mandarin in our vocab... I became very adept at charades and pointing and facial expressions, eventually we communicated, the Chinese were very patient with me....we ate in the Hutongs and for those who know me and know I cant eat my own food if I find one of my own head hair in my food, to eat in a little shanty like Mr Shie Dumplings is very brave, but put aside the somewhat "grotty" kitchens...the food was magnificent, and cheap!!

The Great Wall of China....

I booked a hike on line with Great Wall hiking, we were picked up at the hotel for our 2 day hike, he idea was a hike with a small group, on a remote part of the wall, sleep on the wall in a watch tower, eat with a local farmers family and then on the way back visit the Ming tomb.  Jess and I ended being the only ones on the hike, so had our own private guide for 2 days....well there was a miscommunication in our translation from English to Mandarin, in my email I had asked for a moderate to easy hike....they thought we were experienced hikers and put us on their second hardest hike...this I only found out 5kms into the 10km hike.....no wonder we were the only ones doing it!!!

Physically its the hardest thing I have ever done, at times I was crawling up the wall it was so steep and at times I had to use my bottom as a brake going down, because it was so steep...but it was also truly one of the most amazing things I have ever done, the wall is magnificent, amazing and almost spiritual in its presence...it is over 8800kms long, thats the 10 hours flight we took from Beijing to Amsterdam, took 100 years to build and is estimated to have been built around 2300 years ago...truly phenomenal...

This was one of the mountains we climbed down and then up again, we did this about 7 times.....

Typical "up" view...I was sucking in the big breathes at points like this.....not too proud to crawl either...

So proud of Jess in doing this, she had been in bed sick for a week prior and galloped it home, me....I stumbled to the end......

Our local guide Peter was a well educated man and over the 2 days we learnt a lot about Chinese history, politics and religion, men, women, loves and lives...an amazing personal insight into the chinese world....thankyou Beijing, next stop Amsterdam to meet with the Vice President of RABO International to discuss what tools they are currently developing....

At the top of the first climb up....only six up and down to go.....OMG.....we started down by the lake....

BACK HOME AGAIN.....FOR A SHORT TIME ANYWAY......
next planned International Nuffield trips...2012.... 1. Mid June to mid July, 2. Sept to mid Oct,
 3. Mid November (TBC)...2013...4. Mid Jan to Mid Feb (proposed)

Well...here I am again, back in the Clare Valley, enjoying my life, family, friends, farm and back into my agri-work/consulting/lecturing.....I arrived back mid week this week, off the plane then and went straight into reading new research projects for a board that I am a trustee (SAGIT), then 2 days of board meetings and $$ allocation to agri-research (snuck in a night at the Adelaide Fringe...fabulous fun)...I am very lucky to have this life...

London Eye, The Thames, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and to the right...The Farmers Club where I stayed..great location

  We all departed from London back to our lives and whilst we are united in our vision of Nuffield research and there are so many synergies with our lives and businesses, how different the climate and environment can be sometimes, check out the pictures below, when I got back to Australia what the climate was like, and fellow Nuffield scholar Brenda Scheopp from Canada experienced on the day she returned....I think at some point in this fabulous year I will put a call out for all those Scholars and readers of the blog to send in a photo of their lives and environment on one particular day and I will share them on this blog...



Alberta Canada minus 20 degrees C



Clare Valley (Kybunga) 32 degrees C

Those who have read my blogs will appreciate what a magic experience this first part of my Nuffield year has been, full of inspirational people who have imparted so much knowledge and insight into the opportunities that are out there for us all, and to meet 40+ other scholars who are out there giving a year of their lives to deliver to the Global Agri Community,, valuable research as you can imagine...a breathtaking experience to be part of this.....I so thank those who have been following my blog, the response and page views have been amazing, I appreciate that many have found it difficult to work out the Google "pathway" of logging into being a follower and posting comments, and I have had texts and emails about the frustration at "things" whizzing into cyber space.  To keep it simple and stop frustration of trying to work through Google, if you keep viewing and have a question please email me direct and I will be happy to respond to you direct, and where I can I will post interesting questions and my response on the blog.

I have posted in the heading the proposed travel dates for this year and into 2013, I will be blogging whilst at home and preparing for the overseas travel, but will probably only do a report once a week while doing my domestic research, my next blog will be introducing (as promised in a previous Blog) some of the interesting International Scholars and what they are researching.

I will leave this blog with some photo images of London that I photographed whilst there, and in true "Where's Linda" tradition, and as per the original blog promise, there are some messages amongst these photos....happy reading xx

This reads..."Hey Jess xx...Hang in there Bryce, proud of you xx"

My arm wasnt long enough..this reads "Congratulations 2010/2011 Graduates..thanks for the great memories and friendships"

JUST A QUICK ONE......

Hello again, just a quick note...the news has got back to Oz that I was involved in a mass evacuation of Trafalgar Square because of an explosion,  and I have had a few texts about the situation and people enquiring about me etc

In short..... I was walking across Trafalgar Square following directions to find a post office when suddenly there were police cars, police and helicopters, we were pushed quickly to behind tape and police cars and as we were being shifted off there was an explosion, it scared the life out of us all, I have put below a couple of photos of the moment

No..its not me on the phone!! This was immediately after the explosion...its funny how you "scuttle" to where you feel safe, yet others were more curious and standing there watching....



Not often you witness this......Trafalgar Square with no-one in it and surrounded by police.....



So I do thank those who having heard make contact with me, it kinda freaked me out, but I have to give it to the Brits, they just kept on doing what they need to do...I think mystery "bags", police converging etc is part of their lives, they have lived with the IRA situation for decades and now these new threats...I found this great Tshirt that I brought (picture below) that I just love the saying, it apparently was a saying/slogan during WW2

til the next blog..... x

TO YORK AND BEYOND...THE FUTURE OF INFORMATION  AND TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE

Back again....I have spent the best part of a week travelling to York, Peterborough and then back to London doing research and having meetings on what is out there that will connect production and management at a closer level in real time applications....

 

Clive Blacker and the beautiful women in his life.......Charlotte, Sue and Lucy....................



I was so fortunate to be hosted by 2004 UK scholar Clive Blacker, who opened up his home and business for me to gather information.  Clive has a well known Precision Ag business, called Precision Decisions Ltd and has been a ground breaker in bringing PA to the everyday farmer in the UK, he did this as his scholarship research in 2004 and now has a business that employs 10 people and sells, installs and services PA machinery along with giving critical consultancy advice around soil testing and variable rate technology applications.

During my time with Clive I was taken through the York YARA soil testing analysis laboratory, where I experienced first hand the process of determining soil nutrients and the reports that are provided to the clients and consultants.  I also got to see Clive's office at the heights of consulting and machinery installations, they were so busy and it made me appreciate so much their kindness in hosting and educating me during this busy period. 

Clive has an interest in a farming property too and his brother David took me around to give me a first hand experience of the challenges, but also the potential/opportunities of farming in the UK.  We stood in this field of wheat that was sown last October, at around 100kg/ha, had approx 100kg of fert at seeding will receive over the next few months around 250kg of urea.....and will probably yield around 10t/ha....Field of dreams....how we would love these yields in Australia.....

After a fabulous couple of days in York we travelled to Peterborough for a PA expo, and after helping Clive set up his stand we then went out ot dinner with some of the staff and a Director of the largest software package provider in the UK...Farmade, the developers and distributors of "Gatekeeper" a comprehensive tool for the production/business recording savvy producer, and has become a tool of choice by consultants....it was so fascinating to hear about the journey and development of the tool and the application possibilities.  At the expo I also got to spend time with the developer of the program, it was his "brainchild" and gosh how it has grown and been adopted, I was so lucky to talk to this brilliant man.

I was also fortunate to meet at the expo some other leading businesses in data/record keeping, including "Muddy-Boots", I got to speak to one of the Directors and this again was a terrific insight into a different type of business model in the distribution of the tool....record keeping and accountability/traceability is huge in the UK and these tools allow traceability along the food chain....I am wondering if this level of traceability will come to Australia eventually....my guess would be probably...sooner rather than later.....

One of my "dreams" in applying for a Nuffield was the vision of standing in a paddock, phone or Ipad in hand and taking a photo of the crop and being given an indication of nutrition.....guess what....an app exactly as described was available and launched at the Expo, I spent a long time talking to the scientist who was involved in the development of the App, and I am going to download it when I get home and try it out and give her feedback as to the application in Australia....if their validation is correct (and that is what I am going to try and determine with them), then this App is available for 2 pounds....can you believe that!!!  It wont be perfect but may be a stepping stone for those who would like to explore at a small cost this type of "tool" and its applicability.

So, a week of train travel, driving, meetings, dinners, talking, listening and great hospitality, I have gathered so much information that I will pull together when I get home, and what I think is so wonderful is the global agri-village we live in with the thirst for knowledge that people are so keen to share and develop further......and it helps when you have the fabulous Blacker family hosting and connecting you to these amazing industry people/business leaders....
 

I stayed with Clive's gorgeous Mother and this was the view from my frosty window next morning......

 Another super week in the Nuffield adventure.....thanks again to my Amazing sponsors..GrainGrowers Ltd for their huge input into my learning/research....