Dear Leaders- Much excitement here in Germany. I am
writing to you from a rest area between Bonn, Germany and Brussels. Will be
meeting with the European Union this afternoon. Very excited to represent
American Agriculture.
I will again be updating you once we get to Brussels and
I have time to describe the farms we are visiting.
Hope Harvest is going great in America. They are
harvesting sugar beets here this week.
Cheers...
Eric Johnson
September 11th
Rheinland
We visited the largest sugar company in the world which has been in
establishment for 150 years. They have CROP Power 85 which is similar to E85
only with sugar beets. Livestock producers are also able to feed the
non-used product, just as many of us feed wet and dry glutin from the
ethanol plant. This Sudsucker Plant processes 16500 tons of beets per day.
This section of Germany produces the wine, sugar beets and vegetables. No
angus cattle in these parts...ha! Forty percent of the farmers are part-time
farmers. Most sugar beet fields are 8.4 hectors and they produce 60.9 tons
per hector.
The EU has also regulated sugar beets futures prices through 2014. The EU
regulates transactions very closely. The Rheinland is very gorgeous. If you
ever visit Germany, I recommend this area. Very romantic and strong
agriculturally. The train ride from Mainz to Bonn is amazing.
September 12th
Bonn
We visited the open air museum of Kommen. Here they take historic farms from
the 1600's and 1700's and rebuild them in this large, scenic park. The
museum trails lead you as you would be traveling the German countryside like
people did in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The homes and barns were constructed to last for a long time. The barn and
house walls were made from clay and straw and the roofs from straw. Once I
am able to submit pictures, you will be able to see what I am describing
better. The technology used during these middle ages was way ahead of
anything I've seen in the United States.
On our way to visit this museum, we began sighting cattle and sheep. This
was the first we'd seen livestock on our adventure. The small towns were
very beautiful and the farms could be century farms over-and-over again.
At the end of the day we visited the largest castle in Germany. It would
remind you of movies such as Camelot or Robin Hood. I have amazing pictures
and will post the first chance I have.
Weather Report
The day begins with much overcast and somewhat foggy. By 9 a.m. it usually
clears up some, but is typically cloudy and follow what you might expect. We
did encounter a good rain one day but it passed very quickly. The
temperatures range between 40's and 60's. Very beautiful and cool
conditions.
Corn Comparison
I did peel and ear of corn yesterday. Much smaller than those many of you
are picking this month...ha! Most of their corn is used for feed, like
silage. It is still very green and will be a bit before it is chopped for
silage. The fields do look similar to Central Illinois, just no GMO crops
and their soil and temperature conditions are not the best for optimum
production.
Wrap up for today...
Tomorrow I will write more to you from Brussels. I am sitting very close to
the EU. Today's big issue is the ''foot and mouth'' finding. We will hear an
update from officials tomorrow.
Cheers and look forward to writing more to you soon. Have a great day!
Eric
September
17th Berlin Update -
Click Here (Word Document)
September
21, 2007 -
Hallo CCFB Members...Gutten Tag:
Much of our discussions in Germany have been related to GMO's. The topic has
entered each discussion that we've had with any German official.
After speaking with Jens Rademaker of the German Farm Bureau, he explained
that many farmers in the Eastern part of Germany are interested in GMO
crops. They feel it will make them more competitive in the world market.
Even though GMO's are a sensitive issue here, imported GMO soybeans are
being used for feed in their cattle. The Germans seldomly grow them, yet
they aren't afraid to feed them to their cattle.
If Germans were to use GMO's, it requires public registration. They also
must be 150 meters from continental maize(corn). The farmer must send a
legal document to neighbors informing them of their intentions to use GMO
crops. The main hold up in using GMO crops is because consumers in the
Europe are afraid of them.
Yesterday and today we have been in the northern section of Germany, not far
from the Baltic sea. We met with a farmer who owns 300 fleckveigh cows,
feeds cattle and has his own meat plant. This was very interesting to see
one producer who owns the process from the field to the plate. He also has
his product in 26 meat counters in the state of Mecklenburg. The food we
sampled...was also very tasty. It was a great snack after smelling many
different products prior to.
Today we met with the President of the state Farm Bureau. He operated a
dairy and crop farm. The thing I enjoyed most was watching them pack the
silage today. The smell of the fermented silage reminded me much of my home
area and getting silage from my good friend Mike Callan. Their silage is not
as plentiful in corn as ours in the states but I took many pictures of last
years and the fresh silage to share with many of the Illinois Beef Producers
upon my return.
Lastly we went to an herb farm today. This was very interesting and they
truly have their niche' market. Many of the herbs were products that I have
never smelled before. Yet, they export their products to countries all over
the world through their internet store. Their website is
www.essbarelandschaften.de.
I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow as we will be taking a boat out on
the Baltic Sea. An adventure for me that would only be possible through this
fellowship. This weekend we will stay in Rostok. As I have more time
tomorrow, I will elaborate much more on my visits.
One more week in Germany. The first two have went very rapidly. Have a great
weekend everyone...
''Cheers''
Eric Johnson
September
23, 2007 -
Today is Sunday in Germany, just a bit of difference in time...seven hours
to be exact. So, when I return I may be arriving at work at 7:00 p.m. to
start my day.
I want to touch on a couple of our visits, which I found very intriguing
last week.
First was the milk and cheese plant, Humana
Milchunion. This company focuses on the consistent refinement of
the resource milk and has total revenues of 2.8 billion and a volume of 3.3
billion kilograms of milk. They have 14 subsidiaries in 6 German federal
states. This cheese plant we visited specialized in Gouda Cheese. First of
all, it was very tasty! They offer hard cheese, grated and chopped cheese,
yogurt, ice cream a almost every milk product available. They employ nearly
400 local citizens in north-eastern Germany and distribute their product to
more than 70 countries. The plant was extremely clean and very modern and
their standards were very high!
The second location was the dairy cooperative and farm we
visited in Eastern Germany. Here they feed and milk more than 1300 cows
daily. They also farmed nearly 3500 acres. Their silage stock was enormous.
The farm was well managed and employed more than 50 people. Something
unique...they produce bio mass for fuel and fertilizer from the maneuver and
the low quality silage. They have this sealed in special bins which ferment
the extract and excess silage to produce a high quality fertilizer for their
farmground. They also produce the fuel for on farm electricity. My pictures
that I will submit will better explain this upon my return. As my
descriptions seem vague, it is due to that in Eastern and northern Germany,
less citizens speak the English language. Most farmers we speak with in this
area, prefer the previous socialist rule instead of the new, European Union
rules. I was amazed at their innovation to use their on farm resources to
lower their electricity costs.
I have to depart my hotel at this time. I will report more from the Holstein
area, which is in the northern most part of Germany. In a nutshell, it is
very flat here, farms are big in acres. There are more cows and livestock.
Agriculturally, it is worth the visit for any of you who may be interested
in seeing German agriculture first hand.
Have a peaceful Sunday!
Eric Johnson
September
29, 2007 - Homeward Bound!Well folks:
Homeward bound...I'm cruising south in McLean County on I-55 as I am tying
this...yes one of Illinois' versions of the auto bon. It's great to be back
at home. And, I know you're wondering "how's he typing and driving?" Well, I
have a great driver!
Tomorrow I will be updating you on my highlights from the Holstein area. I
have a full blog that I have wrote. "Where is it?" Well, the Internet
connection was almost nil in this area. It was very rural and full of dairy
cattle and sheep everywhere you look. The rural scene was a great change of
pace from Berlin or other metro areas we were in.
However, I would like to touch on how excellent the McCloy Fellowship
Program is for young people. Following World War II John McCloy established
this program to establish great relationships between young people in
America and Germany to prevent something such as World War II, from ever
happening again. In a nutshell, during the last 3 weeks I visited more
sections of Germany than most Germans have ever seen in a lifetime. If you
are between the ages of twenty-eight and forty, and have a the interest in
learning about German farming and sharing Illinois agriculture with their
leaders, you would enjoy this opportunity! It was a chance of a lifetime
experience! Now before this drive of looking at Illinois corn makes me too
nostalgic, I'm going to share some unique differences in German customs.
More on the McCloy program on my last blog next week...ha!
The Dining Experience
-Germans like long dinners. It's quite a festivity. I don't know how German
people stay so fit and trim when they indulge in such full platters. First,
plan for at least 3 hours at Dinner. Fast food is not very popular with most
of the folks we met with. The lunches are also big and many Germans like to
drink beer with their lunch as well. So, you can imagine how productive the
afternoons are for them. Me I stuck to my new favorite drink...it's a mix of
Apple juice and sparkling mineral water...they call it Apfel-Schorle(Affel
Shor-la).
If you go to Germany, make sure you have someone with you like we did,
otherwise you may have to ask for an English menu. After three weeks, I was
pretty good with the German language menu, but an English menu was very
nice. Creamed Soup or Suppe is popular with a salad, then Rump Steak was
very tasty for us, with fried potatoes, bread and dessert. Usually by
dessert, I was stuffed, but many locals that we ate with, really stuffed the
food in.
Now tipping is not as big in Germany. Most wait staff make the full wage, so
a twenty-percent tip usually indicates you are a tourist...ha! Usually, a
Euro or two does the trick to show your appreciation to a delightful host.
Traveling around:
Sorry no Big Trucks in Germany...we saw one..."one" at the soccer match that
was bulked up like mine. I shared a good laugh with the others. Farmers pull
small livestock trailers with their cars. Like most farm tourists, I took
pictures to demonstrate. Not many farmers have semis, yet many of their
contracted coops for milk, rape seed or sugar beets, use them.
Trains are the most efficient way to get around the country or the city.
Diesel is very high priced there. But don't plan on being late for the
train, because you'll miss it. But, not to worry, they come about every
fifteen-to-thirty minutes. You could almost set your watch to their trains.
Oh, the auto bon...well...put it this way we had a corvette go by us doing
more than 200 miles per hour...and I mean MPH. It was cruisin! The auto bon
is worth a few laughs when our car shook as people smoked by us on the
highway. Best to ride with a local a few times, to get a feel for the rules
and etiquette.
I promise to submit more wrap-ups later this weekend and pictures next week.
I must sign off. I see the sign for Christian County. Almost home! It was a
great voyage, but home always looks so good and you're always ready to see
those closest to you! More updates soon!
Eric Johnson
