Monday, 08MAR 2010

• 06.30 Transfer to airport Rio - Galeão      09:53 Arrival in Curitiba – Bus transfer to Ponta Grossa (95 km, 2h)

• 15:00 visit at the University of Ponta Grossa, discussion with Joao Carlos Moraes Sá  (Juca) about agriculture

• 20.00 Dinner at Restaurant La Gondola        Hotel Slaviero Executivo***

We had a good and uneventful flight to Curtiba, the capital of the state of Parana.  A bus ride took us to Ponta Grossa where we met with Professor Juca Sa`, a very nice man who has spoken multiple times at the No-till On the Plains Conferences.  21 years ago, Ponta Grossa University was the first school in Brazil (and perhaps the world) to offer classes and a major in No-till Agronomy.  Imagine that:  a state university offering a major in No-till - what a concept!.  Several other Brazilian schools now offer no-till classes but Ponta Grossa is still the leader in no small part to Juca!  Their students are in very high demand because of their strong background in No-till agronomy.  Juca has worked with no-till systems for 28 years and was instrumental in helping start the no-till revolution in Brazil, working for a private no-till research foundation from 1980-1996.  The private foundation is funded by famers who pay $4 - $6 per acre to fund no-till research on rotations, variety trials, herbicide trials, cover crops, and other important areas of no-till.  

Juca's emphasis at the university is soil organic matter interaction in a no-till system and he is involved in teaching, research, and extension work.  Juca gave us a tour of his lab, showed us some demonstrations on soil organic matter, water soluble aggregate studies, and discussed some ground breaking research that he and his team have done on the contribution of no-till to carbon sequestration.  The results of this research will soon be published in research journals.  Juca told us that 1 single disking (or other tillage) in a 20+ year no-till field will result in the loss of 1 ton of carbon/acre or 0.1% - 0.15% reduction in organic matter.  Losses can increase as the soil remains uncovered and erosion occurs.  This is an important point as some researchers in the USA are telling people that you can occasionally till your no-till fields without damage occurring - this simply is not the case. 

We also went to Juca's farm and research field where he showed us the crops and explained in a hands on way the importance of organic matter in nitrogen and phosphorus cycling, maintenance of pH, and carbon sequestration.  For any of you that have ever listed to Juca, you will know what I mean when I say that "Listening to Juca talk about no-till is kind of like drinking out of a fire hydrant - some goes in but you miss a lot!"  Juca is one of the most patient and down-to-earth researcher/teacher/person that you will ever meet and we appreciate the time he spent with us.

Juca showing us how they determine soil aggregate size and the size of organic matter.	Our whole group sporting new Ponta Grossa Agronomy Department hats that Juca gave us.	An interesting study on water table soil aggregates in three soil types:  forest (top), no-till (middle) and conventional till (bottom).  Basically, larger aggregates will result in increased infiltration, better oxygenation of the soil, greater carrying capacity, and more water storage.  Notice that the forest soil has almost no small aggregates while the conventional till soil has a high percentage of small aggregates.  The no-till soil is in the middle but moving towards a forest (natural)  type of soil structure.  This is the goal of no-till.
Soybean research plots at the Ponta Grossa farm - notice the Asian soybean rust damage in the forground.	Professor Juca showing us the soil structure that will build with continuous no-till.  This soil has been no-tilled for over 20 years and the organic matter has gone from 2.1% to 5% and the phosphorus tests have gone from 3 ppm to 20 ppm.	Corn field at the research farm - yields seem to be around 150 bu/acre. Looks like lots of weeds in corn but most came late after the canopy opened up - a fairly typical looking field in Brazil - remember they are getting 60-72 inches of rainfall per year.	The three amigos of no-till! Doug Palen - Kansas, Rolf Derpsch, our tour guide - Paraguy, and Juca Sa`.

Tuesday, 09MAR 2010

• 09.30 farm visit at Fazenda Agripastos of Nonô Pereira

• Lunch on the way to Fazenda FrankAnna, farm visit with No-till pioneer Frank Dijkstra, who runs a diversified 2000 ha farm integrating livestock (milking cows) and pig production. Afterwards visit at Immigrants Museum of Carambei and technical presentation

• 19.00 Indonesian Dinner at a nice particular place near Ponta Grossa with Farmers and Agronomists of the region.

• Hotel in Ponta Grossa:     Hotel Slaviero Executivo***

Today we toured the farms of two no-till legends - Nonô Pereira and Frank Dijkstra.  These names may not mean too much to many of you but meeting these men would be like a baseball fan meeting Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb or a history buff meeting George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.  These men were two of the early pioneers of no-till in Brazil and they went from being ridiculed in the 1970's to being heroes 30 years later.  From their few thousand acres of no-till in 1975, Brazil now has over 55 million acres under continuous no-till - more than twice the area under continuous no-till in the United States.  I will try to convey some of what we say today in the captions of the following pictures.

• Nonô Pereira show us his museum of no-till.  This is one of early no-till seeders that he imported to help get started no-tilling. Nonô had over twenty restored tractors, seeders and other no-till tools in his little museum.	The walls of Nonô's building were lined with pictures and documents chronicling the progression of his no-till system and no-till throughout Brazil.  The picture that struck me the most was a picture of Nonô shaking hands with Norman Bourlaug, the father of the "Green Revolution".  Think of the number of lives that have been saved and improved because of the contributions of these men to our food production system.  It was humble privilege to be here with Nonô.	Talk about your shallow soils - this is one of Nonô's farms where the soil is only about 10" deep before they layer of rock you see in the foreground. They can farm these soils with no-till and over 60" of rainfall but they are very susceptible to dry periods.  A two week period without rain is considered a drought in these fields.  These beans will probably yield around 55-60 bu/acre.	One of Nonô's combines - same color but a different number!  Nonô farms around 4,000 acres and has a cattle operation and has 15 employees.  Labor in Brazil is relatively cheap ($2.50 - $5.00/hr) so most farms have more pieces of smaller equipment with more people to run them.
  These are some pictures of the slopes that Nonô farms.  With these slopes of 18% you can imagine the amount of erosion that was occurring when Nonô and other area farmers were conventional tilling these fields.  For Nonô and other, no-till was not an alternative crop production system, it was a matter of survival because his soil and his profits were being washed away.   With conventional tillage and these slopes, they were only able to farm about 50% of their acres with the rest being in low quality beef production.  Now with no-till the are able to farm these slopes with almost no erosion.			Nonô's soil under his cornstalks - notice the dark color - this may not look like anything special but realize that these native soils are very red, very acidic and very low in phosphorus.  35 years of no-till has changed the color of the soil by more than doubling the amount of organic matter.
  Nonô showing us his soybean crop.	No-till pioneer Frank Dijkstra showing us his fields.  Frank has also been no-tilling for over 30 years and farms just under 4,000 acres as well as having a dairy and hog operation.  Frank came to Brazil in 1947 when he was 5 when his family (and many other Dutch families) immigrated from Holland.	Frank showing us Asian Rust damage in from the neighbor's field.  In this and many other areas of Brazil they must spray every 15-20 days for Asian Rust or they can loose 50%-75% of the soybean crop.  This year they have sprayed most of their soybean fields 3 or 4 times with a fungicide.	Drilling pearl millet cover crop into soybean residue. Later in the year the will use black oats as a cover crop.  We questioned Frank about the high disturbance that this drill opener seemed to be making but he was  not too concerned about it.  In this tropical climate with abundant rainfall this millet crop will have the soil covered quickly and will produce lots of biomass to return to the soil.
  One of Frank's combines - he is one of the only farmers we have met so far that is using any precision ag equipment or a grain cart.  He is using a yield monitor that showed this corn to be making around 165 bu/acre.  In talking to Marco, Frank's agronomist, I learned that they are not really using the yield data for anything but they question its reliability and accuracy.  They have done some variable rate application of lime and phosphorus and Marco is hoping to come to the states later this year to learn more about precision ag and swath control of planter units.		Frank has a 500 head dairy operation and feeds out about 5,000 hogs per year.  All the manure from the operations is separated out and the solids are composted for fertilizer while the liquids go into these digester pits for methane biogas production.  Frank is able to dry his corn and soybeans using the biogas as well as run a generator to supply electricity for the farm.  Frank thinks he has enough methane production to run a 500 hp engine 24 hours a day - a very impressive system.

Thursday, 11MAR 2010

• 08.30 Visit at IAPAR, institute of research in Londrina, where Rolf Derpsch led various projects together with Ademir Calegari. Meeting and presentation about the work of IAPAR with RAFAEL FUENTES, researcher of IAPAR

• 12.30 lunch at idyllic fish park near Embrapa

• 14.30 Visit at Embrapa Soja, the most important research-institute for soybeans.

• 20.00 Invitation for Dinner with President, Alexandre Kireeff and some Directors of Brazils third most important Farmers Association (Sociedade Rural Paraná) at Churrascaria Galpão Nelore. (Brazilian Meat Rodizio)    Hotel in Londrina: Blue Tree Premium****

Today was a day of touring research facilities.  Brazil has made huge commitments to agricultural research - privately funded by farmers, state funded and federally funded programs.  We toured IAPAR - Institute of Agriculture - Parana.  This is where our intrepid guide Rolf Derpsch worked back in the 1970's and where Ademir Calagari- good friend to No-till on the Plains and veteran speaker also works.  Sadly, Ademir was not available to meet with us as he had other speaking engagements, but we were left in the very capable hands of Dr. Rafael Fuentes.  He informed us that IAPAR has 40,000 acres, 17 experiment stations, 180 researchers and 850 support staff to conduct research that will directly benefit farmers and consumers.  75% of all research is conducted using a no-till system.  The 15 million dollar annual budget is 75% funded by the state of Parana - did you hear that Kansas and Nebraska?  This level of state commitment to agricultural and no-till research is part of the reason for the explosion of agricultural production growth in Brazil over the past 30 years.  The following pictures will give you some ideas of the types of research going on at IAPAR.

In the afternoon we went to Embrapa - the federally funded institute for the research of soybeans.  This is a huge research program - headquartered in Londrina but with research stations throughout the country.  Since their inception in 1975, the mission of Embrapa is to increase soybean production in Brazil - that's it - soybeans.  There are other research facilities for the other crops.  Like IAPAR, the vast majority of all research is done using a high quality no-till system which includes low disturbance seeding, permanent soil cover and crop rotation.  Embrapa is showing Brazilian farmers that a diverse crop rotation including cover crops is more profitable and sustainable than raising continuous soybeans or just soybeans and corn.  In the 35 years since the establishment of Embrapa soybean production in Brazil has increased expotentially, with a 150% increase in production in just the past 20 years - and this with an increase of only 24% in the area being used to grow soybeans.  The biggest challenge they face in soybean research is the development of varieties that are tolerant to the Asian Soybean Rust - a huge problem in Brazil with up to 4 fungicide spraying required under certain conditions.  To this end, Embrapa is trying to identify genes to produce a tolerance to the devastating rust but it is a slow and extremely challenging process.  To try to slow the onset of rust each year, the government as established a NO HOST PERIOD, where it is illegal to have any soybeans growing (even volunteer) during June, July, and August (their winter).  Other challenges they face are trying to convince farmers to grow soybeans as a part of a diverse crop rotation system which includes cover crops - I guess stubbornness is a universal trait in farmers! 

Brazil has had the biggest increase in agricultural production over the past 30 years of any nation and research institutes like IAPAR and Embrapa have played leading roles in this growth.  If the United States wants to continue to be a leader in agricultural production in the years to come, we need to be committing similar resources to research at the private, state and federal government levels.  I asked the question on the bus "What could happen if 10% of all of our government farm payments was redirected and applied to no-till systems research aimed at improving the sustainability, profitability, and efficiency of our agricultural production system?   Everyone agreed that huge positive results could occur to keep us not only competitive but the leaders in world-wide agriculture.  Everyone also agreed that this is very unlikely to happen unless attitudes and priorities drastically change in Washington D.C., Topeka, and Lincoln.

The front of the IAPAR research headquarters outside of Londrina - a very nice facility.	Doug Palen, Keith Berns, Dr. Rafael Fuentes, and Rolf Derpsch at the IAPAR classroom.	IAPAR does lots of coffee tree research and breeding.  They have developed varieties of coffee now that are resistant to over 40 different strains of coffee rust disease.  They have also developed shorter trees that are easier to harvest and trees that will begin producing sooner (at about 2 1/2 years)	A rubber tree - another unique crop in the state of Parana that IAPAR is doing research and breeding on.  The make cuts like this in the bark to allow the rubber sap to seep out into the bucket.  The cuts will heal up and new cuts must be made every month to allow new sap to be collected.
REsearch on growing coffee and rubber trees together - seems to improve the production of both.  Coffe and rubber trees and being grown in no-till conditions with no cultivation occuring between the rows.	Close up of the coffee beans.  When the majority of the beans turn red they are ready for harvest.  Most coffee is still hand harvested to avoid damage to the tree from a mechanical harvester.  It takes about 180 man hours to harvest 1 acre.   If trees are properly cared for they can be productive for up to 25 years (if they do not get frozen!).  An acre of coffee can cost up to $1,500 to get to the first harvest and yield around 2,500 lbs of coffee per acre which is worth around $1.00/lb before processing, roasting and bagging.	Rolf and Dr. Rafael Fuentes in a field of cassava.  Cassava is a tree that is grown for the edible tubers that grow under the ground.  A cassava plant will reach full production in about 18 months and can yield up to 20 tons per acre.  Brazilians use this tuber much like we would use potatoes.	A very large avocado tree laden with fruit.
A sunhemp cover crop.  This crop can produce enough nitrogen to supply all of the needs of a wheat crop that will planted into this residue.  This make wheat very economical in this system.	Upland rainfed rice (nonirrigated).  Rice is a crop that is very often grown for the first year or two after clearing a piece of tropical land.  Rice is grown because it can tolerate the very low pH of the native soils (3.5% - 4.5%).  Once enough lime is applied to the soil, other crops such as soybeans, corn, and cotton can be grown.  Most of the soils in Brazil will require lime applications every 2-4 years to maintain a pH of around 5%.	The federally funded Institute for Soybean research (Embrapa)	Some of the research greenhouses.  Unfortunately we arrived too late to get a tour of the complete facility but we were able to listen to two Embrapa researchers who discussed the purpose of the facility and some of their ongoing projects.  This is a very impressive and powerful tool for Brazilian agriculture.
Friday, 12MAR 2010 08.45 Visit at Fazenda Solana – Cultivation of medical plants on about 1500 ha and pioneer-farm of no-till in Northern Paraná. Meeting with Herbert Bartz, pioneer of No-Tilling in Northern Paraná and former owner of the farm. 12.00 Lunch at Restaurant Holandesa in Rolandia 13.30 visit of Farm Klaus Ranke, farmer with No-till technology since over 30 years in Rolandia A very interesting day today - probably the warmest day we have experienced so far - bright sunshine and 90-95 degree but the humidity was moderate so all in all in was bearable.  We had a very interesting tour of Fazenda Solana where the are growing a corkwood bush which is a  nightshade type plant from Australia that produces high concentrations of scapolominas from which they make a medicine called Buscopan.  Many medicines are originally discovered in plants and then the desired chemical is synthesized in labs at less cost then growing the plant and going through the extraction process. Not so with scapolominas - this molecule is so complex that is more feasible to grow the plants and extract the chemical than to try to do it in a lab.  This medicine has been used around the world for over 20 years to relieve stomach cramps and pain and is especially useful against menstrual cramps.  You probably have never heard of this drug because it has not gained FDA approval for UUSA sales.  According to Adrian von Treuenfels, the farm manger, the FDA is concerned that the drug will mask the symptoms of pain and cramping and might lead to a missed diagnosis for something more serious.  He is hopeful that someday this product will be on the shelves of American stores.  It is very interesting that they are able to grow this bush under no-till conditions.  They are getting excellent yields of these bushes and they are growing them under no-till conditions.  They grow the trees for three years then rotate to a grass cover crop for two or three year to rebuild the health of the soil.  We had an excellent tour of the plant processing facility where the leaves are separated from the branches.  The branches are collected and burned to produce heat to dry the leaves so they can be baled and then prepared for shipment to Germany where the extraction of the chemical takes place.  Fazenda Solana also just recently purchased the adjacent farm of Herbert Bartz, who is widely recognized as the first farmer in Brazil to implement the no-till system.  Herbert saw the tragic erosion that was occurring on his soils and was able to make contact with two pioneers of no-till in the United States - Harry Young and Shirley Phillips.  In 1972, Herbert traveled to Kentucky and had a one hour meeting scheduled with these men but ended up spending the entire day with them.  Herbert was so appreciative that he offered to take everyone out for T-Bones and wine.  Herbert tells the rest of the story as follows:  "I only had about $500 dollars with me for the whole trip and when the bill came it was almost $300!  I went ahead and paid it and it was the best investment that I ever made!"  Herbert ended up purchasing an Allis Chalmers no-till planter and had it shipped at great cost to Brazil where he began using it.  We were honored to be able to stand in one of his fields that has been under continuous no-till for 38 years.    Herbert Bartz, Frank DIjkstra, Nonô Pereira, Rolf Derpsch - these men are legends of no-till and we got to meet them all.  It's kind of like going to a Hall of Fame but instead of reading about the people, you actually get to talk to them and learn from them.  I think we should start a No-till Hall of Fame and I nominate these men to among the first members.   Our tour of no-till pioneers was no yet complete as we toured the farm of Klaus Ranke, a friend of Herbert Bartz who has been no-tilling for 34 years.  Klaus showed us his sugarcane fields, corn fields (which looked to yield 170+ bu/acre) and his recently harvested soybean field.  He was a little disappointed in the soybean yield (45 bu/acre) - he attributes lower yield to excessively wet conditions - they had over 46 inches of rain in December, January, and February!  Klaus immigrated to Brazil from Germany with his father just prior to World War II.  Many Germans and German Jews fled Germany just ahead of Hitler's total closing of the borders.  Most of the people who fled were educated and professional and had enough money to make it out.  They were not allowed to send their money to Brazil directly (already government regulation) but instead took their money and purchased railroad rail in England and sailed with the rails to Brazil where they traded the rails to the Brazilian government for land.  They were given land in the state of Parana - but it was solid tropical rainforest 100' tall!  These immigrant families, most who had no agricultural training, had to clear the land and plant one of the few crops that would grow profitable in the poor soils - coffee.  Coffee was raised for many years, but in 1975 a devastating freeze killed all the coffee trees in the area over night and these farmers were forced to start over.  Coffee was not replanted but rather soybeans took center stage of Brazilian crop production.  Some like the above mentioned men began practicing no-till - others tilled the soil as was the practice in their native countries and their soil paid dearly for their efforts.  Tons and tons of top soil was lost before the no-till system became widespread during the decades of the 1990's.  We salute Herbert Bartz, Frank DIjkstra, Nonô Pereira, and Rolf Derpsch for enduring the social and economic pressures that were put on them during these early years and setting the example for thousands of others to follow. Our last stop of the day was to a soil testing laboratory in Londrina.  Here we nearly suffered our first major causality of the trip.  When the agronomist in charge of the soil lab told us that he recommends plowing no-till land in order to incorporate lime and the high concentration of phosphorus on the surface, I thought Rolf was going to have a heart attack on the spot!  The agronomist made the mistake of telling us that he had made this recommendation to  Klaus Ranke (who we had visited 1 hour earlier) because Klaus's soybeans were only yielding 15 bu/acre because of these soil problems.  After Rolf's heart started again he called Klaus on the cell phone right to get the "rest of the storey"  While we do not know all of the details we do know that Klaus's soybeans yielded 60 bu/acre last year - and he has not plowed for 34 years!  Much research has been done to prove that high phosphorus  levels in the top layer of soil will be perfectly adequate to supply all the phosphorus needs of the crops.  The agronomist did also finally admit that if the land is being no-tilled with permanent residue cover and cover crops (this is the key) then the acids the occur from the decomposition of the residue and cover crops will chemical react with surface applied lime and carry the calcium down into the soil profile.  Rolf was both shocked and dismayed that in this day and age that any agronomist would recommend plowing soil that would be exposed to horrific erosion potential in a 70" rainfall area - especially when research exists to show that it is not necessary for any reason.  We all agreed that no matter you go, there will always be people who will extremely difficult to be convinced and who may not ever change - and here we thought it was just in the gold old USA!
Adrian showing us the greenhouses where the nurture over 500,000 clone plants to be planted into the fields.	Elephant grass cover crop that has been rolled down to add organic matter and health back to the soil after several years of growing the bushes.  The grass also helps control nematodes which are a problem in growing the corkwood bush.	Just one of the many machines in the processing plant	The warehouse that can hold one year's production of dried and baled leaves.
A plaque commemorating the birth place of no-till (direct planting) in Brazil on the farm of Herbert Bartz.	Kent Stones checking out soil that has been in continuous no-till production for 38 years - the longest in Brazil.	Rolf standing by the Allis Chalmers planter imported by Herbert Bartz in 1972.	Fields of corkwood bush growing.  These will be ready for harvest soon.  Notice the soil between rows remains undisturbed in this no-till planting of bushes.
These "water pigs" were in the pond in Adrian's backyard.  These are actually  rodents of unusual size (R.O.U.S.).  These are the largest swimming rodents in the world.	Our group with no-till pioneer Herbert Bartz (center).	Klaus showing us his sugarcane.	The soil lab agronomist that recommended plowing no-till (boo...hiss...)  :)
Saturday, 13MAR 2010 09.00 Visit of the magnificent waterfalls „Cataratas do Iguaçu“ – lunch at Iguaçu-Falls at restaurant Porto Canoa directly on the falls 16.00 technical visit of Itaipu – the largest water PowerStation of the world with technical explanations 20.00 Transfer to Show Dinner Rafain with typical Brazilian music and dance show Overnight at Hotel Continental Inn****
I've been telling my 3 year old daughter Anna-Hope for a week now that I am going to go to Paradise Falls (for those who have seen the movie "UP" will understand this - those who have not seen it need to get together with Anna-Hope and watch it).  While Paradise Falls is fictional, we did go to a true paradise - Iguaçu Falls.  Iguaçu Falls is the widest waterfall in the world and ranks in the top 3 in volume of water.  Located on the Iguaçu River between Brazil and Argentina, these falls (over 200 in all) rank 2nd or third in the world for volume of water - I think they may rank first for beauty.  Some of us took the boat right up the river to the base of some of the falls - and we got soaked in the process.  Others in the group took the helicopter ride over the falls and got some fantastic views from their as well.  Since the river is the boundary between Brazil and Argentina, we were officially in Argentina when we crossed the halfway point!  I will le3t the pictures speak for themselves. After the falls, we to Itaipu Dam on the Parana river - the largest hydroelectric power project in the world.  Talk about a huge and impressive undertaking, this project was started in 1975 as a joint project between Brazil and Paraguay as the Parana River is the border between these countries.  The last of the 20 turbines was finally installed in 2007 and this massive plant supplies 90% of the electricity for Paraguay (using only 1.5 of the 20 turbines) and 20% of all of Brazil's electricity.  We got an inside tour of the plant and got to see one of the turbines - just the shaft was 8' in diameter and weighs tens of tons.  While touring the facility we crossed the border into Paraguay was well so we were in three countries today!