As regular readers of Farmers Weekly will know I am in the habit of leading occasional study tours to look at farming in other countries. For the last few years my wife and I have headed up two trips per year - one short and one longhaul. For 2008 we have made similar plans. A ten day tour of Spanish farming will begin on March 12th and a fifteen day trip across the mid west of America starts on May 18th.
In Spain we will spend the first few days with my friend John Shropshire who runs G's near Ely and is probably the biggest salads and vegetable supplier to Britain’s supermarkets. To provide all year round continuity for his customers John has acquired a substantial acreage near Murcia and he personally will be there to entertain us and show us round.
From there we will travel west across southern Spain taking in a wide variety of crops (including fruit and olives) and livestock enterprises (including fighting bulls). We will visit farms and markets, talk to farmers and co-operative bosses and generally absorb the very different atmosphere that characterises Spanish agriculture. In addition we shall be able to sample some Spanish wine and inspect a sherry bodega. We will fly home to Stansted from where we will have started.
Two months later we head across the Atlantic to the USA. We begin in Chicago where, among other places, we will visit the world famous Board of Trade to watch the frenetic trading that goes on there. With commodity prices more volatile than for years it should be fascinating and instructive.
From Chicago we travel north to Minneapolis, visiting farms and bio fuel installations along the way. Minneapolis is the World headquarters of Cargill's the biggest agribusiness in the world and we shall visit them and see some of their elevator facilities. At the opposite extreme for scale of operation we will call in on Amish farmers in the same area who still farm with horses.
Next we fly to Billings, Montana - the big sky country, where the ranches are huge and cowboys still round up cattle. We hope to take in a rodeo where the local lads compete for top honours. Heading south we will spend a weekend in Yellowstone, America's first national park, before driving into Idaho, famous for its potatoes and barley.
Finally we drive south again to Salt Lake City which, as well as being home to the Mormons, has some of the biggest vegetable growers in America. We also plan to visit the world biggest open cast copper mine nearby.
The above is just a flavour of the two trips. There will be more, much more on both of them. If you'd like further details on Spain or the US email me on whiterails@paston.co.uk and I will ensure that you get them by return.