Tuesday 20 November 2012

Europe

Following the Ukraine, I met up with Fiona in Amsterdam, and stayed with friends for a couple of days to catch our breath. As I have said before, the agriculture in the Netherlands is very intense, they make the most of every square meter.
The agricultural businesses we visited were small in terms of land area, but still had enviable turnover, a good reminder for regions such as Tasmania where scale is harder to achieve.
A big thank you to the Nuffield network in the Netherlands for hosting Fiona and I, and providing introduction.
Since the tour of the WW1 battle field tour as part of the global focus programme, I had wanted to return to Ypres, and the daily playing of the last post at Menin Gate, fortunately we made it in time, and I was again privelidged to witness this moving event.
The next stop was a friend in Switzerland, he is a grain grower and potato producer. In reality however, Swiss agriculture is more about landscape maintenance, and by his own admission, he feels he is a large scale green keeper! Society does seem happy to pay for the service, you just have to play by the rules...
It is a truly beautiful country, and you cannot help but feel energised, and somewhat wistful, gazing across Lake Geneva towards Mt Blanc. Next time perhaps?

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