Almonds

Dropped in to see Lane and Joyce Parker, with whom I stayed a night during the previous visit on the Global Focus tour. It was good to catch up again, and cement the friendship created in June. Some home cooking and environment other than a motel room become precious at times like this.
A tour of the almond groves managed by Lane, during the harvest, including a new development on a very hilly and stoney site, where planting is about to commence, gave insight into an industry about which I knew very little. All the trees had been shaken, and sweeping was underway, as well as the actual harvesting of the nuts off the ground. Prices are very high, and the quality achieved was high in Lane's case, however this was not representative of all growers. Insect damage is high this year, and it seemed to me the attention to detail and timeliness of operations, for whatever reason may have been a bit off. These are such critical factors in any agricultural production system.
Lane gets some nuts de hulled and packed under the brand California Royale. It is a very impressive business with product traceability and food safety at the fore of what they do. Every load of almonds, whether in bins or bulk, is assigned a bar code, each bin is tested for quality, including pathogens on entry to the site, and every treatment or procedure carried out is recorded against the bar code. As a grower, you know exactly how much product you have to sell, and the quality parameters. The almonds remain the property of the grower, and can be sold when, and to whom the grower chooses. The systems developed to track inventory and all aspects of food safety must be some of the best in the industry.

California

Well here I am back in California. Feeling a little low, the best tonic seemed to be to head towards Yosemite, I think some pictures will suffice over my attempts to describe the views...
Needless to say, a day and a half and I was recharged, ready to hit the road again.

Chile to California

Well, I made it back to Santiago airport, fully expecting the task of finding the rental car return car park to be the greatest challenge. Isn't it funny how the things we worry about most tend to turn out a whole lot easier, and something not even contemplated turns out to be far more troublesome. Finding the exit for the airport off the Pan American highway was nearly impossible, and I found myself going in circles in peak hour traffic in Santiago. Luckily I had heaps of time!
Prior to the long drive from Temuco, I had a very interesting meeting with a seed production company, SG 2000. It is majority owned and run by Brian Blackburn. He also owns a large Estancia, steeped in the history of generations of ownership, on which SG 2000 grows seed crops, largely canola for the North American market. I had a fascinating day with Brian, who fitted me into his extremely busy schedule, and then invited me into his home to have dinner with his family. It is gestures such as this which make this such a rich and rewarding journey.
On the whole I leave Chile with the feeling that it is somewhat overlooked in terms of the potential for investment compared to its larger neighbours, such as Argentina. Certainly the benefit of a stable, predictable government is hard to quantify, however policy failure can extract a huge cost on business.
Finally, I understood there may be some accuracy issues with the GPS navigation in Chile, and this turned out to be the case. ( American Jill and I sometimes didn't get on well, Ausie Karen is turning out to be far more my type) It is another instance where it pays to listen to one's instincts. For example, when you get the feeling you are going the wrong way down a one way street, you probably are, and if no traffic is following you across a large bridge, and there are pedestrians everywhere, the bridge is probably closed...
I survived, and it was fun!
A big thanks must go to the people who hosted me, and took time out of their busy schedules to show me around and explain their businesses.

Osorno

On the 2nd, I drove to the 22000ha farm that has been bought by a group of NZ investors, Manuka. It is a very impressive operation. The property is in the process of being re developed, all around the model of 200ha farms, each running 600 cows. This way, labour can be kept simple, and the infrastructure cost minimised, utilising 40 a side herringbone sheds. It is not common to see a project this size without rotary platforms. By 2019 they plan to run 45000 cows, and will require around 4000ha of country to run dry stock.
My first comment to Chris White, the development manager, was " if God was a dairy farmer he would probably live around here somewhere ". It must be nearly as good as it gets, a large, gently undulating out wash plain, 1800mm rainfall, soft, dark brown soils with organic matter levels up to 20% ( note not organic carbon ), rivers on two sides, and a view over Lago Rupanco to the snow capped volcanic cones of the Andes. If it sounds good, it's because it is!! Not surprisingly, the land is not as cheap as it once was, bringing $ 8-10000 Au per Ha.
Interestingly, the pH tends to be low, and lime is expensive. I calculated it to be over 6 times what we pay at home, cart and spread. Theirs is just a delivered price, until recently, in 50kg bags. Now it can be sourced in 1 tonne bags, still not bulk. Fertiliser comes in sacks as well.

On the way to Manuka

Setting off from Ancud, after being looked after very well by James Mussparat, an Australian who has been living in Chile since the early 90s. He is involved in many business ventures, and has a block of land which he has started to clean up. Logging years ago has meant there is no timber left, only regrowth bamboo. Once cleared the land requires lime, and the phosphorus levels tend to be on the low side, but the quality of the soils ensure it is well worth while. There is no doubt that giver the amount of rainfall, the property is capable of growing a massive amount of grass.
Time to once more put all my faith into the GPS, and head to Manuka SA.

Long drive in Chile

Arriving back in Santiago, after the flight from Montevideo across the Andes and vast plains of Argentina, with my possessions now consisting of a megre 4.6kg of luggage, it was time to come to grips with the next leg. That consisted of picking up a hire car in downtown Santiago, and somewhat dry of mouth and moist of palm, launching into the traffic with little more than a GPS and an unreliable portion of hope.
Once on Ruta 5, one is kept alert by the toll stations placed less than an hour apart, a frantic scramble for cash, a dose of fresh air and a short conversation of "hola", and "gracias", selected from the frightfully small, and true to adult learning style of one new concept per day, slowly expanding Spanish vocabulary.
An overnight in Temuco, and onward to Chiloe, a total of nearly 1500 km through productive farmland and soils to die for. The Andes on the left hand side, unfortunately hidden behind cloud, but close enough to feel. One day......
A short ferry crossing, and I arrived at James' place in Ancud, a small fishing village facing the pacific. One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, back in the 60s, decimated the island, lowering it a full meter into the ocean.
Preparing for another round of stimulating meetings over the next few days.

Uruguay continued...

As is always the case, a week is never long enough. Although Uruguay is a relatively small country, there is a lot to see, and the agriculture is developing fast. Land prices have risen dramatically over the past few years, 6 to 10,000 US per ha were quoted, with even higher prices for the best arable land. (The cheapest land is apparently in Paraguay, at around 250 US a ha, however the business environment still sounds a bit "exciting" although it is improving)
From what I could gather in my brief time, there is still native grass land covering vast areas, and this can be improved at a relatively low cost. Investment has come in from Argentina, and with it, technology in terms of crop production, leading to rapid growth in soy, corn and wheat. The soils lack the depth and fertility of neighbouring Argentina, and are quite variable in the geological origin.
Traditionally, the agriculture was based on extensive grazing, and there was a strong opinion that a rotation including a pasture phase is vital to long term sustainability. It is perhaps worth noting this opinion came from people more involved in livestock production, and I wonder if is common to hear this when any area is undergoing land use change.
Infrastructure is at a reasonable level, the major roads were good, and I suspect it will continue to develop as production rises. There seemed to be no postal service, I was told a strike had been running in excess of five years...
It is said you can tell a lot about a society by the cars people drive, here there is a big mix. From the latest toyotas to every conceivable Chinese import, right through to ancient European small cars such as Fiats, made largely of rust, the wheels maintaining odd angles to the road as their drivers swerve traffic and cavernous potholes in the narrow tree lined streets.
Other curiosities include the fact that milk comes in bags, once the corner has been snipped open, the bag is placed in a plastic jug, and carefully poured out.
The national pastime, apart from cooking vast slabs of meat and long strips of ribs on large mesh barbecues, both inside and outside, is the preparation and consumption of mate. A tea like infusion, consumed through a kind of silver straw with a sort of paddle in the end. A dried, hollowed out type of squash is usually covered on the outside with leather, the fine dried leaves are put in, water added from a thermos, most often carried at all times tucked under one elbow, ensuring most activities are carried out one handed. It is quite a social drink, passed around between friends as they catch up and chat. Apparently the consumption in small amounts is relaxing, greater consumption leads to increased alertness and concentration. I think it must be an acquired taste, although not unpleasant.