We arrived safely at Presidente /SP and had a short night of sleep before we started Friday’s visits. In the morning we visited Matsuda Seeds where we had an excellent description of the purpose and processes of a seed company. We learned how they collect their seed whether from the soil or the plant and the variables involved in measuring seed quality (vigor, disease resistance, germination etc.) We had a great lunch with our hosts and then we were off to the Chaparral’s Farm.
By scale this was a large feedlot and three farms were involved in the system. They received the animals at about 330 Kilograms and sold them at about 480 kilograms. It took about 118 days to feed them out. There is always a market for beef in Brazil so for these families this was a very profitable program and they were growing by leaps and bounds. We arrived at the hotel early for a change so we went out for dinner and were back by 10:00pm. The students socialized for a while before getting some sleep.
Today, Saturday we were introduced to the processing of Cassava at Halotek-Fidel. Cassava is a root crop similar to potato. It can be fried, boiled, baked or made into flour, starch, paper, toilet paper and glue. It was a very interesting tour. Cassava is also gluten free so for those who must maintain a gluten free diet, cassava makes a good option we normally wouldn’t think about.
We are now heading back to Antonio’s and should arrive there by supper time. Tomorrow the students have a free day. We all will enjoy the time to sleep, relax, work on projects, unpack and settle in for our last few days in Brazil. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Dear Jill, I love your blog. Thank you for your amazing pictures! I hope you keep undating it until you guys get home. I´m sure everyone enjoys keeping track of your adventures around Brazil. I stay in Pircicaba while you guys travel this land and I virtually travel with you to all those fantastic places I´ve never been to. I show it to my students, family and friends. Your are a great jornalist!!!
ReplyDeleteI hope the kids learned a bunch of new things, take this experience back home, tell their families and friends about it and one to their own children - this blog will help them!
Big hug!!!
Cristina
Jill says.....Thanks Cristina for your comments. I really appreciate them. It’s fun to write. I always worry about whether I say things correctly but I hope people will understand. That’s how most of my friends keep up with me also. I am going to try to finish with it this week. My computer is acting up so we will see what happens as the week progresses.
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