Farming Smarter continues to use trips abroad to forge international agriculture relationships.
Coming off a successful trip to Brazil last October, the non-profit research organization near Lethbridge is planning for a technical tour to Australia and New Zealand in mid-January.
Twenty-three people participated in last year’s tour to Brazil, visiting the country’s agricultural industry for two weeks.
“They talked about how much they enjoyed it, how much they learned and how they appreciated hearing and seeing things from the agriculture industry in that part of the world,” said Jamie Puchinger, assistant manager at Farming Smarter.
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“We did an evaluation to find out if they’d be interested in doing another tour with us if we planned another one and where should we go. The results came back and the majority were for Australia and New Zealand.”
While agriculture is a 365-day a year job, the international technical tours are scheduled for the slower times in agriculture. They will feature tourist destinations such as Sydney, Fassifern Valley, Toowoomba, Dalby, Brisbane, Auckland, Pukekohe, Hamilton, Rotorua and Christchurch, but will be grounded in agriculture.
Topics will be as bountiful as the crops produced in the two countries: vegetable producers, irrigated and dryland cropping systems, cotton, wheat, barley, sugarcane and sorghum farms, monitoring and pest control, phytopathology, research, green fertilization and long-term cultivation.
“They do have a lot of similar crops; granted, the climate is different. We can learn about what they are doing in regards to general crop production similar to what we have here,” said Puchinger.
“Also, the irrigation piece. They also struggle, in particular in Australia, with irrigation and water supply. We are going to be looking at the Murray-Darling Drainage Basin and what’s going on there, which is directly related to our irrigation here and the reduction in inches that we are starting to see and the restrictions.”
Thirteen people ae confirmed for the tour, which runs Jan. 15-30, but it can accomodate as many as 30.
The price will vary, depending on the number of participants, but Puchinger estimates it will be around $15,000 per person. That will cover flights out of Calgary, lodging, lunches and dinners, technical appointments, tourism taxes, transportation, tolls, fuel, local guides and entrance to attractions.
The sign-up deadline is Aug. 1.
“One of the biggest things that came out of our trip to Brazil was the community that was built among the participants. We had a Whats-App group that was generated and we continued to message on it. They are still actively engaged with each other, which is nice to see,” said Puchinger.
“It’s not just about tourism. It’s down the list of priorities for us in planning this type of event. It’s about developing deeper connections with people who are in the industry that maybe you don’t know that well, or that you do, but it’s an opportunity to grow it into a better relationship. You learn from farmers and agronomists and researchers from a different part of the world and their challenges what they are seeing, and things we can potentially put into practice here.”
For more information, visit farmingsmarter.com or call 403- 317-0022.
