Friday 26 July 2013

Baguette, Croissant & Champagne....we we!


Hello to my loyal Blog readers (Mum & Amanda)!!!!

We have departed the Netherlands, home of the clog, windmills and the infamous red light district and we caught a train down to Brussels, Belgium - the centre of activity for the European Union (EU) the reason for this visit was to get an understanding of the politics surrounding agriculture in Europe, and we were lucky to be there when the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) was passed, to come into effect in 2015 and as I mentioned in the last blog it is a very big deal for UK and Eurpoean farmers as it effects the subsidy they receive as well as tax laws. We heard from some very interesting lobbyists from both the British and American side, and had some good debates about the possibility of 'free trade' with the ever elusive EU market.

We then hung our suits up and jumped in a van and headed down for the Menin gate last post ceremony which was a great experience, Steve (NZ), Thiaboud (France) and myself (Australia) laid a wreath during the ceremony which was very special and it was great symbolism for the ongoing relationship and friendship the Aussies and NZ have with France post WW1. The next day we continued on and visited the famous battle sites and subsequent graves of the ANZACs such as Pozieres, Pheasants Wood, Fromelle, Ypres and Villiers Bretonneux where the ANZAC memorial is. I was also fortunate to find the grave of my Great Grandfather Lawrence Keith Buttrose on the anniversary of his death 96 years ago in the Battle of Messines in France 1917.

After our very humbling day honouring the ANZACs we arrived in Champagne, France - I may or may not have lost the toll ticket, trapping us on the motorway.....but our trusty pommy war buff guide Alan saved the day with some quick speaking French to get us out! We had a great day with Thiaboud (a 2013 Nuffield) at his winery and vineyard in Champagne, he and his Dad toured us around in the back of a restored WW2 jeep showing us their very impressive vine yard. Thiaboud is growing the grapes and then making the wine and bottling ing it under his name Brocard Pierre, the still press the grapes with a hand press 4 tonnes at a time. The champagne is bottled with yeasts and matured for 1 to 3 years. We had already done some tasting by the time we hit the winery part of the tour so I am a little foggy on detail......one thing I did find interesting was that the champagne has to be stored for a number of years with a steel bottle lid and the a cork is put in closer to the finish date, a fun fact I suppose!

After leaving Thiabouds place, we rode into Paris to have a day off before jetting to Ireland. We met up with Lachie Sears (SA 2013 scholar) and Tafi (kiwi 2013 scholar) and had a good night taking in the sights over a few drinks on the balcony of my hotel room which overlooked the Arc de Triomph (built to honour Napolean and his army) and the Eiffel Tower. We had a free day in Paris, where we spent the morning in the laundromat washing all our clothes (the Bain of travel along with finding free wifi!) and I then spent the afternoon with my Little brother checking out the sights of Paree as through Facebook I found out he was there....not great communication on our side!!!

That's me for now, we are heading to Ireland - after a few big nights in Paris, I need to detox a bit, but not sure if Ireland is the place to do it......

Look at my pics below....follow me on twitter CarlyButtrose

















































































O




Wednesday 17 July 2013

Getting Dutched.....the next instalment

****i am having trouble uploading photos on blogger, if you would like to see my full blog with photos please follow me on twitter @CarlyButtrose *********

Hi everyone,

Well I have been a little bit slack with my blog for the last couple of weeks! I am finding it hard to sit still long enough to get things down on the iPad....

Well I left you in Washington, we flew across to London and everything was going well until jase got held up in security and missed the plane! Not to worry, he caught the next one and 3 hours later we were able to meet Djuka and Henk, 2011 Nuffield Scholars from the Netherlands who would be showing us around for the next 5 days.

The Netherlands farming industry is fascinating, there is 70 million Ha of farming land and 70 ,Million people live there, so there is a huge urban population which provides challenges as well as opportunities. Farm sizes are small but intensive, with the average farm size being 27ha (land worth 40 000/ha to buy, 1200 euro/ha to lease). The Dutch are also the second biggest exporters in the world after the US, a large portion of this being value added agricultural products and flowers. The Dutch have a generation that is totally removed from farming, no one knows where their food comes from so there is an emphasis on trying to educate with open days and farmers mingling in cities as part of a public campaign to promote farmers and the sustainable way they manage the land.

Dutch farmers are heavily regulated, both by the government through the CAP (central agricultural policy which applies to all farmers in the European Union) as well as by their urban society which have some very unrealistic expectations revolving around animal welfare. For example supermarkets have made a statement that they are committed to only buying 'sustainable' meat by 2020, and They, along with consumer will decide what is sustainable, and what is not. Farmers are in a risky position!

The government regulates farmers through the CAP and the individual farm payment scheme. Dutch farmers are heavily subsidised with some farmers recieving up to 900 euro per hectare! Initially we, as unsubsidised Australian and NZ farmers, thought this was an excessive amount, and we felt there was no way we could trade on a global scale in a fair way when farmers receiving this amount of money could afford to sell cheap commodities. However, as the week went on we realised the farmers really did need this payment as the constraints that are put on their production through zoning, quotas, and fertiliser restrictions, compulsory biodiversity (the new CAP will insist on a minimum of 3 different crops grown on each farm ant any one time) were costing them a lot.

Whilst we were in the Netherlands the new CAP had been passed to come into effect in 2015 .which had been modified to be more world trade friendly, with subsidies moving away from commodity based payments to a broader per ha subsidy of around 450 euro, which will halve the incomes of some highly subsidised farmers. This new payment will be attached to greening procedures, and farmers will be expected to return some of their more fragile land to nature conservation and biodiversity. The new CAP will also remove quotas from milk production giving dairy farmers an opportunity to expand.

The biggest thing I took away from the Netherlands leg was marketing, marketing, marketing!!!! From the farmer level, promoting themselves to the consumer and the resellers and ingenious farmers branding their product and getting great premiums. For example, Friesland Campigna (the biggest dairy coop in The Netherlands, same size as Fontera in NZ) had a advertising campaign where they took dairy farmers and some of their cows and did an exhibition in some of the cities and it was incredibly successful. They also have pictures of their farmers on their packaging.

Some farmers are marketing their produce specifically to the consumer who is worried about animal welfare, such as the Lindenhoff company, which is still family owned and run. They grow out a French breed of cattle in a semi housed environment which has an emphasis on comfort and aesthetics, such as pretty trees growing in the pens! But it works, they butcher their own meat (will received twice the money as 'conventional' beef), and have viewing lounges where chefs can come and watch their meat being processed. For example, Jamie Oliver has actually filmed a segment cooking in the actual feedlot building! It was an incredibly successful business and had a lot of points which Kangaroo Island could use into the future.

Well, I could go on and on about the marketing side of things - but my train tomLondon is about to arrive and I need to get my formal attire out so they will let me into the Farmers Club!

Cheerio ol' chappys

Enjoy my happy snaps below :)