Illinois, Brazil Farmers Have Much in Common

Travel Journal from Amy Roady

The other day, I was looking through some photos (see below) from our mission to Brazil last year. Looking through the photos brought back so many memories, and got me thinking about what we learned. For example:

The photo of the ISA participants at the University of Sao Paulo reminded me of the long-standing connection between Brazil and the University of Illinois.

The photo of Mike Levin and

John Hagenbuch, one of last year’s Soy Ambassadors, reminded me how important animal agriculture is to both Illinois and Brazil soybean farmers. It also reminded me how this experience opened the door for a young leader exchange between APROSOJA  and ISA in Spring 2010.

The photo of Ron Kindred leading the way in Sao Paulo to the stock exchange there reminded me of international trading and the global scope of soybean markets.

The photo of Ron Moore being surrounded by Brazilian media (like a rock star) in Mato Grosso reminds me how curious people are about our soybean production and also how curious we are about theirs.

The photos from Sao Paulo and Mato Grosso remind me of Illinois, since both have large metropolitan centers surrounded by rural, agricultural-producing areas.

What I remember most is coming away thinking that Illinois and Brazil soybean farmers have a lot in common. On both sides of the equator, soybean farmers are focused on growing a high-yielding crop, managing weeds and insects, getting their soybeans to the elevator, marketing their crop and taking care of the land.  They also recognize the need to work together by serving in leadership roles within their industry and enjoy talking about farming over a good meal.

So what might we see and learn this year? The itinerary (see tab above) is different.  We plan to spend more time in Parana state, which is in southeastern Brazil and on the Atlantic Ocean. Transportation obstacles were a common theme we heard last year, so this year we look forward to seeing the ports in Parana. We also look forward to learning more about their cooperative system.

The goals of the mission, which is formally known as the Global Opportunities Cooperative Program, are to educate Illinois soybean farmers about production practices in Brazil and build a relationship with APROSOJA, the Mato Grosso soybean producers association. This is the sixth such meeting between APROSOJA and ISA. The first was in February 2009 when ISA took a team to Brazil; another was our ISA team visit to Brazil last year. The APROSOJA team has visited Illinois on several occasions––the team came to the Farm Progress Show in September 2009. Their last visit was in August 2010.

In the next couple of weeks leading up to and during the program, which takes place January 29 – February 10, we’ll blog about the mission. Stay tuned to learn more!