By Cathryn Ayers and Drew Beard
January 4, 2013
Today was our first full day in Ponta Grossa and was full of information. Our first stop was FT Seeds a family operation started in 1972 by Francisco Terasawa. This was the first private company to research soybeans in Brazil, before this time there was not a lot of information or production of soybeans in the area. Tarasawa’s son Mauricio recently completed a PhD in Agronomy from the University of Illinois; both he and his brother will continue to partner in research and development of the company.
At FT seeds we were greeted by Mauricio, an employee of 6 years, and joined by Claudio Purissimo, an agronomist at a local university who got his PhD in Agronomy from the University of Illinois in 1996.
Mauricio, with translations from our guide Nadiel provided us an overview of the company and production in Brazil. Soybean production is divided into two regions: the middle savanna where there is much more land available and the south. They have at least two crops in the summer (November through April), for example beans followed by corn. The typical farming practices are 100% no-till but they always rotate crops. The middle region is where FT Seeds had their first experimental fields and also released their first soybean variety. The research facility we are at in Ponta Grossa was founded in 1981 and has around 350 acres for research. In 1995 and 1996 the company was facing financial struggles and started selling 60 varieties to Monsanto, at the time FT seeds held 54% of the soybean market share in Brazil, compared to today’s 7% due to increased competition from multinationals. They currently produce 77,000 different lines and it takes 8-9 years to breed a new variety, compared to the 25 year process in the past. Breeding that would take three years in the United States can be done in one year here. The Terasawa family also enjoys fishing and see it as an opportunity for profit and enjoyment. They have ponds on their land and sell the fish to local market once a year during holly week; all the profits are put back into the community as a social work contribution.
Following the presentation along with Claudio and Mauricio we were joined by another employee and took a tour of the experimental fields. The beans were knee high by the 4th of January, in total they normally grow 205 feet tall and have a 100 -110 day cycle. They do not have many problems with weed resistance to round-up and the largest problem they face is rust. In many cases they will harvest and replant a field in the same day. We also saw dry beans, which are the same as black beans grown in the south. These beans do not get taller than knee high and are troublesome because their pods open immediately once touched. Dry beans are considered a staple crop here and are grown by almost all small farmers; most do not use chemicals. Typically they are able to get 35-40 bushels per acre and they only have a 90 day growing season. Corn grows very well behind these beans lasting 120-130 days. Then the farmers decide if they put on a cover crop or another cash crop such as wheat. In some cases they can get as many as 3 crops in one year. They do not drill beans at all and the typical row spacing is 15 inches though for experimental purposes they have 22 inch rows.
In addition to looking at plants we also went out to the ponds to “catch our supper.” On our way to the pond we saw giant rodent-looking animals known as Capivara. They are common near swamps and normally hunted and eaten. The fishing techniques were quite different from what was expected. They had metal baskets sitting in the water filled with corn that fish would swim in to eat and then could be lifted out to be caught. Also when wanting to attract fish, the farmer would toss corn and ground grain into the water which attracted many fish. The fish were fresh water and called Piau.
We ate a BBQ lunch at Estrella de Prata which translates as “Silver Star” and is one of the traditional Brazilian churrascurias (steakhouses). Like other restaurants we have encountered thus far there was a buffet style open for any food you wanted and also servers bringing around many cuts of meat from lamb, pork and beef. The meal was graciously provided and no one left hungry. Brazilian beef really is phenomenal.
After lunch we headed to Castro to visit the ABC Foundation technical research institute. The acronym comes from the name of 3 Dutch cooperatives that have come together for the benefit of farmers. They are A: Capal in Arapoti, B: Batavo in Carambei, and C: Castrolanda in Castro. The Foundation was established in 1984 to help cater to farmers’ needs. The major function of the foundation is to research. Farmers pay money to become members and in return are given the most local information. They do not grow anything of their own but they test everything and recommend what is good. In addition to the 3 founding cooperatives many others contribute such as private companies and other cooperatives. They do not do any political lobbying such as the Farm Bureau would in the United States. This research foundation serves the same purpose as the University Extension services at land-grant institutions in the states.
Our tour guide Nadial used to work for ABC Foundation and specifically Castrolanda Cooperative. This cooperative was started in 1951 and mainly based in milk production. However today they have potato farms, grains and seeds, deforestation farms, animal feeds and much more. They have around 800 members. Around 70% of famers have 125 acres or less, 15% farm 125-20 acres and 10-15% are very large with 2,000-3,000 acres.
The next stop for the day was a local dairy farm which is part of the Castrolanda cooperative. It is a Dutch family farm that has a total of around 2,000 head of cattle. Of this 980 are milking cows, 100 are Angus and there are also dry cows, cows in heat and calves. All of the cattle are artificially inseminated and they are never given antibiotics. If a cow requires antibiotics they are taken to a special parlor in a separate area. On average a cow will produce 30 liters per day which is about 8 gallons. The typical cow in the United States will produce 10-12 gallons per day. However when comparing prices they are about the same. The farm has 25 employees that milk their cows twice a day at 3am and 3pm and it takes about 5 hours each time. They have a 2-row milking parlor that can each house 16 cows and all milking is mechanical. In total they export 32,000 liters or 8,450 gallons of milk each day. Most feed for the cows is produced on site with 650 acres of silage and sand is used for bedding.
Our group was also able to watch the birth of a calf. This was a unique event and though some did not want to watch the whole process, it was a great experience for the group. After the tour they were kind enough to offer us come chocolate milk and answer any of our questions.
Upon arrival back at the hotel a local newspaper interviewed Jessa, Nick, and Cathryn to report on our experiences here and what our group has though of our visit so far. We concluded our evening with a wonderful dinner hosted by the Terasawa family and employees of FT Seeds. It was a wonderful meal including Piau (the fish we were fishing for earlier today), steak, potato salad and more. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was great. We were able to spend time as a group with our new Brazilian friends; it was very kind of them to host us. It was a very enjoyable evening and a great way to end the night!
A note about photos – please refer to the flickr link by clicking HERE, as we’ve run out of memory on our University sponsored web blog.