April 15, 2011 Rio de Janiero

I traveled to Brazil with fellow Auburn University faculty members to learn more about agriculture there. And I finally found a “horse” stout enough to carry the load. Brazil is an amazing country. I’ve visited Guatemala, Ecuador, Chile, Belize, Costa Rica and Mexico and of all the countries south of the border, Brazil is by far the most advanced in terms of technology and science. Their agricultural industry is staggering in size compared to ours.

They have state-of-the-art feed mills, chicken processing centers, hundreds of acres of roses (those dozen roses you buy most likely came from Brazil), ethanol production, huge eucalyptus groves which they use for biomass in addition to sugarcane. My most notable memory was visiting Itaipu Dam. One of the largest hydroelectric dams in the world. Its capacity is more than all the 25 Alabama Power dams and seven times larger than the Hoover Dam. I want to go back there with my wife. And the food is out of this world. I used to keep tropical fish as a youth and in Brazil you get to eat the ten- pound versions!