Die studiegroep het nogal altyd probeer om `n leersame omgewing vir sy lede te bied, dalk nie altyd op die konvesionele manier van klaskamers en dosente nie. Ons verkies eerder die lande en `n profielgat en dan ‘n braai na die tyd.
Die studiegroep was nog nooit oorsee as `n groep nie en die beplanning het altyd net by praat gebly. Na `n baie suksevolle toer Kaap toe in September 2022 waar ‘n fabriek en `n gemengde boerdery met `n groot melkery en saaiery besoek is, het die lede al meer gevoel die tyd is reg om iets buite die landsgrense aan te durf. Met die dat soja aanplantings die afgelope paar jaar baie toegeneem het en min lede wat al Suid-Amerika besoek het, het die besluit geval op Brasilië, dit is immers die grootste uitvoerder en produsent van soja’s in die wêreld.
Portugees die spreek taal in Brasilië bied `n uitdaging aan enige moontlike toer wat na Brasilië beplan word, bitter min mense is Engels is magtig en selfs van ons Vrystaters praat beter Engels as die Brasiliane. Hendrik Jordaan is `n bekende toergids wat al baie toere na verskillende lande in Suid-Amerika gelei het en hy kan komunnikeer in Spaans en Portugees. Ons wou die land, sy kultuur, mense en natuurlik boerderye beleef.
Brasilië is groot, daar is verskillende tydsones soos jy deur die land beweeg en die ervaringe en dinge wat jy sien, laat jou besef dat ons Suid-Afrikaanse boere baie klein vissies in `n baie klein dammetjie is. Een van ons besoekpunte was die GTS fabriek wat alumumuin “flex” tafels vervaardig, daar is `n 65 voet tafel aan ons gewys of 19,812 meter. Dit is ook waar die eerste bottle Cachaca aan ons oorhandig is, ‘n tradisionele drankie gemaak uit gedistillerde suikkerriet, maak busritte inttressant en `n lang pad kort.
In Cascavel het ons die eerste ervaring van `n Brasiliaanse braai restaurant mee gemaak wat, die restaurante word genoem “churrascaria”. ‘n Suid Afrikaner wat vleis eet se droom, daar is min snitte of diere wat nie daar gebraai word nie en as jy honger daar uit stap is dit jou eie skuld. ‘n Landbou maatskappy wat insetfinansiëring doen, graan hanteringsfasiliteite besit en proewe namens hul kliënte doen was een van die besoek punte hier. `n Privaat universiteit is ook besoek, hul bedryf `n redelike groot boerdery en daar word baie proewe gedoen en ook opleiding verskaf in landbou asook verskeie ander studie rigtings. Die ontvangs by die Universiteit was baie gasvry en vriendelik met T-hemde en hoede wat aan ons uitgedeel is en die rektor wat ons welkom geheet het.
Ons volgende besoekpunt was die Itaipu dam wat op die grens tussen Paraguay en Brasilië gebou is en voorsien al Paraguay se krag en hul oorskot word verkoop aan Brasilië. Al die krag word deur hidro elektrisiteit opgewek, net die “Three Gorges dam” in China wek meer krag op in die wêreld. ‘n Helikopterrit oor die wêreld bekende Iguaçu watervalle op die grens tussen Brasilië en Argentinië en `n stappie na die valle aan die Brasilië kant laat jou die mag van water besef en hoe klein ons as mens in die skepping is. Die volgende dag het ons `n besoek aan die Argentinië kant van die valle gebring waar ons goeie stap ingewerk het om alles te besigtig. `n Bootrit aan die onderkant van die valle is iets om te beleef veral as hul die boot se neus onder die vallende massa water indruk, heerlike stort na `n warm dag. Een van ons toerlede het sy bril geoffer aan die Parana rivier nadat die stroom water dit van sy gesig gewas het.
`n Busrit volg na ons volgende bestemming na Dourados in die Mato Grosso du Sul provinsie. Dit is Sondag en die beplanning was om net lande te kyk en bietjie te gesels met die mense naby Guaìra. Hier ervaar ons Brasilaanse plattelandse gasvryhied soos net boeremense dit vir jou kan gee. Die boere en hul gesinne van die streek nooi ons onbepland vir Sondagmiddagete in `n stoor op `n plaas met hoender, worsies en bees wat op die kole vir ons gebraai word, vatbier en inheemse vrugte en geregte is deel van die ete. Net ons toerleier kan die taal praat maar dit het vir ons en die Brasilane nie gestop om `n heerlike kuier in mekaar se gebroke tale te geniet nie. Ervarings soos die is wat reis in ander lande die moeite werd maak.
Die internet en sosiale media maak die wêreld `n klein dorpie ek het Fabio op X(Twitter) ontmoet en met kontak gemaak om ook `n besoek aan hul boerdery te bring. Die paar dae daar deurgebring by hulle plase en ander boerdery in die distrik van Dourados het ons die werklike skaal van mega boerderye in Brasilië laat besef. Daar is ook geëet en gedrink op mega skaal, die Brasilane het orals uit hul pad gegaan om dit vir ons lekker en inttressant te maak.
Een van die familieboerderye bedryf drie besigheidseenhede in drie lande, 55000ha in Paraguay, 45000ha in Colombië en die plaas wat ons in Dourados besoek het is 36000 ha groot. 19000 ha word gebruik vir mielies en soja’s. Soja’s is die hoofgewas en dan word mielies op die soja hektare geplant wat bekend staan as die Safrinha oes wat klein in Portugees beteken. Hulle kry ryp in die area so hul het `n afsny datum van 5 Maart om mielies te plant, die hektare wat nie mielies geplant word nie word dekgewasse geplant en word deur die beeste benut vooor hul na die plaas voerkraal gaan om afgerond te word gewoonlik plant hul so 6000 ha dekgewasse. Die boerdery het ook 4000 ha suikerriet en `n voerkraal met `n kapasiteit vir 15000 beeste. 3000 ha van die plaas is ook onder aangeplant weiding waar die kalwers bietjie uitgegroei word voor hul na die voerkraal gaan.
Daar is ook 10000 hektaar wat natuurlik en onotwikkel moet lê volgens Brasiliaanse wet sodat die natuur bewaar kan word, daar mag nie beeste daar wei of enige ekonomiese aktiwiteit plaasvind op daardie gedeelte nie. Dit is verpligtend in die hele Brasilië as jy nie op jou plaas instaat is om die area op sy te sit nie kan jy by iemand in `n bewaringsarea die hektare gaan koop om jou verpligting na te kom.
`n Besoek aan ‘n Bayer saad fasilteit, navorsings proewe, boere en `n produsent wat saad produseer vir Bayer was van die volgende besoekpunte in Uberlandia distrik.
Die volgende deel van ons uitstappie was ‘n besoek aan Rio de Janeiro. Ons toergids het vir ons `n gids wat bekend is met Rio en al die besienswaardighede hier gereël. Ek sal dit sterk aanbeveel, hy weet watter tye om waar te wees om al die toeriste rye te mis en praat uitstekende Engels. Die wêreldbekende Christusbeeld en Sugar Loaf berg is hier besoek. Die uitsigte van altwee van die ikoniese besoekpunte is iets om te sien.
Teen hierdie tyd was ons al bietjie deur geeët aan “churrascaria” die Brasiliaanse braai restaurante en ons het ons toerleier vriendelik maar ferm gevra om eerder `n goeie visrestaurant aan te beveel, die dekor van die restaurant sal enige iemand wat van snuisterye in oormaat hou beindruk, die kos was ook uitstaande met vis wat op allerlei anderste maniere voorberei word en visspesies wat uit die Amasone en vele riviere van Brasilië kom.
Ons hotel was teenaan die wêreldbekende Copacabana strand geleë, was iets om te beleef, restaurante op die sand, vlugbalbane, waterpompies met petrol enjins en lekkende tuinslange wat seewater op die voetpaadjies pomp dat die warm sand nie jou voete brand en die skoner geslag wat jou kop laat draai. Op Sondae word een hele baan van die hoofweg teen Copacabana en Ipoanema strand gesluit sodat stappers, drawwers, fietsryers en enige iemand wat die uitsig wil benut en `n bietjie oefening inkry. Dit is amper 10 kilometer teen die see sonder verkeer met net ander mense wat ook oefen daar word verniet water uitgedeel soos op `n padwedloop maar jy het geen inskrywing betaal nie. Rio is in my opinie een van die beter en vriendelikste toeriste aantreklikhede wat ek al besoek het.
Brasilië was ‘n ongelooflike ervaring, nie net die landbou nie, maar ook die mense, die land en die vele ervarings wat jy kan beleef daar. Ek persoonlik dink nie ons Suid-Afrikaanse boere hoef terug te staan vir die ons Brasiliaanse kollegas nie. Die reënval in Brasilië maak landbou makliker en die feit dat hul 2 somer oeste redelik gemaklik kan plant met natuurlike reënval gee vir hul `n ongelooflike mededingende voordeel wat minder ander lande in die wêreld het. Hul het ook uitdagings, hul kry ook `n 30 dae periodes party seisoene wat dit nie reën nie, ryp kan hul 2de oes beskadig, daar is al weerstandige onkruide en peste en plae met die baie reën. Wat reggekry is in Brasilë met landbou en hoe dit die land ontwikkel het wys wat kan gedoen word as jy `n regering het wat die wil het en vermoë om die regte beleide en praktyke te implemnenteer.
ENGLISH
Members of the Grootpan Study Group farm between Bultfontein and Hoopstad in the Free State. At the start of the group’s formation, it mainly consisted of farms bordering the Grootpan farm, which lies roughly halfway between Bultfontein and Hoopstad. From the beginning, the study group has always tried to create a learning environment for its members—perhaps not in the conventional way of classrooms and lecturers. We prefer the fields, a soil profile pit, and then a braai afterwards.
The study group had never travelled overseas as a group before, and planning had always remained just talk. After a very successful trip to the Cape in September 2022, where a factory and a mixed farming operation with a large dairy and cropping enterprise were visited, members increasingly felt that the time was right to attempt something beyond South Africa’s borders. With soybean plantings having increased significantly over the past few years, and few members having visited South America, the decision was made to go to Brazil—after all, it is the world’s largest exporter and producer of soybeans.
Portuguese, the spoken language in Brazil, presents a challenge for any tour planned to the country. Very few people speak English fluently, and even some of us from the Free State speak better English than the Brazilians. Hendrik Jordaan is a well-known tour guide who has led many tours to various countries in South America and can communicate in Spanish and Portuguese. We wanted to experience the country, its culture, its people, and of course its farming.
Brazil is vast, with different time zones as you travel across the country, and the experiences and sights make you realise that we South African farmers are very small fish in a very small pond. One of our visit points was the GTS factory, which manufactures aluminium “flex” tables. We were shown a 65-foot table, or 19.812 metres long. This is also where the first bottle of cachaça was handed to us—a traditional drink made from distilled sugarcane—which made the bus trips more interesting and the long distances feel shorter.
In Cascavel, we had our first experience of a Brazilian barbecue restaurant, known as a churrascaria. It is a meat-loving South African’s dream—there are few cuts or animals that are not grilled, and if you leave hungry, it is your own fault. One of the visit points here was an agricultural company that provides input financing, owns grain-handling facilities, and conducts trials on behalf of its clients. A private university was also visited; it operates a fairly large farming operation where many trials are conducted and training is provided in agriculture as well as various other fields of study. The reception at the university was extremely warm and friendly, with T-shirts and caps handed out and the rector personally welcoming us.
Our next visit was the Itaipu Dam, built on the border between Paraguay and Brazil. It supplies all of Paraguay’s electricity, and the surplus is sold to Brazil. All the power is generated through hydroelectricity, and only the Three Gorges Dam in China produces more power worldwide. A helicopter flight over the world-famous Iguaçu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina, followed by a walk to the falls on the Brazilian side, makes you realise the power of water and how small we are as humans within creation. The following day, we visited the Argentine side of the falls, which involved quite a bit of walking to see everything. A boat trip at the bottom of the falls is something to experience—especially when they push the boat’s bow under the falling mass of water, a wonderful shower on a hot day. One of our tour members sacrificed his glasses to the Paraná River after the force of the water washed them off his face.
A bus trip then followed to our next destination, Dourados in the Mato Grosso do Sul province. It was a Sunday, and the plan was simply to look at fields and chat with people near Guaíra. Here we experienced Brazilian rural hospitality as only farming people can offer. The farmers and their families from the region spontaneously invited us for Sunday lunch in a shed on a farm, where chicken, sausages, and beef were grilled over the coals. Draft beer and indigenous fruits and dishes were part of the meal. Only our tour leader could speak the language, but that did not stop us or the Brazilians from enjoying a wonderful get-together in each other’s broken languages. Experiences like these are what make travelling to other countries worthwhile.
The internet and social media make the world a small village. I met Fabio on X (Twitter) and made contact to arrange a visit to their farming operation. The few days spent on their farms and other operations in the Dourados district made us realise the true scale of mega-farming in Brazil. There was also eating and drinking on a mega scale, and the Brazilians went out of their way everywhere to make it enjoyable and interesting for us.
One of the family farming businesses operates three business units in three countries: 55,000 hectares in Paraguay, 45,000 hectares in Colombia, and the farm we visited in Dourados, which is 36,000 hectares in size. Of this, 19,000 hectares are used for maize and soybeans. Soybeans are the main crop, followed by maize planted on the soybean hectares, known as the Safrinha crop, which means “small” in Portuguese. They experience frost in the area, so they have a cut-off date of 5 March for planting maize. The hectares not planted to maize are planted to cover crops, which are utilised by cattle before they go to the feedlot to be finished. Usually about 6,000 hectares of cover crops are planted. The farming operation also includes 4,000 hectares of sugarcane and a feedlot with a capacity for 15,000 cattle. About 3,000 hectares of the farm are planted to pasture, where calves are grown out before moving to the feedlot.
There are also 10,000 hectares that must remain natural and undeveloped according to Brazilian law, in order to preserve nature. No cattle may graze there, and no economic activity may take place on that portion. This is mandatory throughout Brazil. If you cannot set aside the required area on your own farm, you may purchase equivalent hectares in a conservation area elsewhere to meet your obligation.
A visit to a Bayer seed facility, research trials, farmers, and a producer who produces seed for Bayer were among the next visit points in the Uberlândia district.
The next part of our trip was a visit to Rio de Janeiro. Our tour leader arranged a guide for us who is familiar with Rio and all its attractions. I would highly recommend this—he knows exactly when and where to go to avoid tourist queues and speaks excellent English. The world-famous Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain were visited, and the views from both iconic sites are something to behold.
By this time, we had eaten more than enough at churrascarias, the Brazilian barbecue restaurants, and we politely but firmly asked our tour leader to recommend a good fish restaurant instead. The décor of the restaurant would impress anyone who loves an abundance of ornaments, and the food was outstanding, with fish prepared in many different ways and species sourced from the Amazon and numerous rivers across Brazil.
Our hotel was located right next to the world-famous Copacabana Beach, which was an experience in itself—restaurants on the sand, volleyball courts, water pumps with petrol engines and leaking garden hoses pumping seawater onto the walkways so the hot sand would not burn your feet, and beautiful people everywhere turning heads. On Sundays, one entire lane of the main road along Copacabana and Ipanema beaches is closed so that walkers, joggers, cyclists, and anyone wanting to enjoy the view and get some exercise can use it. It stretches for almost 10 kilometres along the sea with no traffic, just other people exercising. Free water is handed out as if at a road race, even though you paid no entry fee. In my opinion, Rio is one of the better and friendliest tourist attractions I have ever visited.
Brazil was an incredible experience—not only the agriculture, but also the people, the country, and the many experiences it offers. Personally, I do not think South African farmers need to stand back from our Brazilian colleagues. The rainfall in Brazil makes farming easier, and the fact that they can fairly easily plant two summer crops with natural rainfall gives them an incredible competitive advantage that few other countries in the world have. They also have challenges: they sometimes experience 30-day periods without rain, frost can damage their second crop, and there are resistant weeds, pests, and diseases due to the high rainfall. What has been achieved in Brazilian agriculture, and how it has developed the country, shows what can be done when you have a government with the will and ability to implement the right policies and practices.
