This week during spring break, students in Farm, Food, and Environmental Policy (ACE 292) are traveling to Northern California to learn about California’s unique agriculture systems, visit a variety of farms, and meet influential people in the agriculture industry. This educational opportunity gives students a new perspective on agriculture by comparing the policies, operations, and overall perceptions of California and Midwest agriculture. As a class, we are excited for the week ahead as we explore the area and learn more about the breadth and complexities of California agriculture!

Today was the last day of our trip in Brazil and we spent it in Rio de Janeiro. Our day in Rio consisted of our last company presentation, a trip to Christ the Redeemer, free time in the afternoon, and our farewell dinner.

Our morning started off in the city of Dourados as we were greeted at our hotel by a local man selling authentic Brazilian coffee. After some students made their purchases, we had a group lunch at a local restaurant. Early in the afternoon, we travelled to a small agricultural consulting firm by the name of Coperplan. This relatively small firm services 130 producers, with their clients’ average farm size measuring about 500 hectares.

We started our early morning with a 2-hour bumpy adventure down a dirt road to spend the day at Agropecuaria Jacintho Ranch, a large livestock farm near Naviraí in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Three brothers, Fabio, Jose, and Julio Jacintho run the ranch. The group was taken aback by the strong sense of pride after learning that the ranch was passed down by their father and the family will continue to keep the ranch operating in many years to come. The specific ranch we visited is one of the three the family owns.

We had the opportunity to visit the Sindicato Rural de Toledo. Brazil has multiple syndicates because each state funds its own agricultural syndicate. Of these syndicates, the one in Parana provides the most to its members and has the strongest participation. The Sindicato Rural de Toledo was founded in 1967 and functions similar to the Farm Bureau Farm Management organization in the United States with several interesting exceptions. The notable exceptions come from the Sindicato Rural de Toledo providing health insurance and cell phone coverage.

The first Monday of the New Year was exciting for our group! We started the morning bright and early in Iguazu Falls and set out for our next destination in Matelandia. It was a very full day full of new experiences. We visited Lar Cooperative’s Poultry Center, had lunch in a castle themed restaurant, learned about Frimesa while sampling their yummy products, and ended with informational sessions at Lar’s Administrative Center.

On January 6^th, 2019, the IBIP students had the day off from studying about Brazilian agriculture. Instead, students spent the day exploring Iguazu National Park. This park included the Iguazu Falls which are beautiful waterfalls between the Brazilian and Argentinian border. They are the second largest falls in the world and include 275 individual falls. Some of these falls have names, including the most famous, Devil’s Throat.

Bon Dia (Good Morning) from beautiful Foz de Iguaçu, Brazil!  The group started their day with a traditional Brazilian breakfast served at Hotel Nadai.  A traditional Brazilian breakfast consists of a variety of sweet and savory options that range from fresh fruits like pineapple and watermelon to other exotic items like pigs in a blanket.  With all of the different hotels we have stayed at thus far we have all had the distinct opportunity to try unique South American breakfast staples. 

Day 8 brought a new adventure as our group traveled to the interior of Brazil from Campinas. Early Friday morning, we boarded Azul Airlines flight 4406 to Foz Do Iguacu, with the flight lasting for a little over an hour. The town of Foz Do Iguacu is located in the state of Parana and is a major center for tourism and energy production. Upon arriving in the town, we traveled to our hotel, Nadai Hotel in Foz Do Iguacu.

Today we went to the University of São Paulo Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ) to attend a lecture from Marcos Ferraz about precision agriculture in the Bio Systems Engineering Department. During the lecture, we learned about various precision agriculture techniques such as real time AI decision making, remote sensing, and high-resolution soil data collection.