Agricultural News
OALP Class 14 Enjoy Viewing Spanish Milk and Ham Production
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:11:59 CST
The Oklahoma Ag Leadership program is winding down its time in first Morocco and then Spain. The host of SUNUP, Clinton Griffiths, has traveled the entire journey with Class 14- and he has been offering observations from the travels of these Oklahoma agricultural ambassadors. Earlier in the week, Clinton talked to John Leonard of El Reno, a member of Class 14, about the incredible Greenhouse industry that Spain has assembled along the Mediterranean Sea. Click on the Listen Bar below for the conversation that John had with Clinton.
The group continues in the Madrid area through Monday morning- then flies home, chasing the sun and arriving just a little after dark on Monday evening at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City.
The following is the comments from Clinton Griffiths of the travels of this week.
Thursday February 25, 2010
The Oklahoma Ag Leadership Class 14 continued it tour through Spain on Feb. 25th and 26th. The group left Motril Spain on the coast and drove four hours into the high plains to a small town called Pozoblanco. There the group visited a 14,000 member cooperative called the Andalusian Cooperative Cattle Raising Corporation of the Valley of the Pedroches or COVAP for short.
The Co-Op started with a company overview and its main businesses include cattle, dairy, sheep and pigs. COVOP has built a modern, mechanized, dairy plant, two slaughterhouses and an aging facility for the world famous Spanish Iberian ham.
During the tour class members were amazed at how many processes are different from American production. For instance, the milk is packaged into special containers that allow it to sit at room temperature, on a shelf, for up to three months. Of course once it's opened, it's refrigerated and good for about a week. Once the milk is pasteurized no additional refrigeration is required.
The second interesting visit was in the Iberian ham facility. The hogs are slaughtered and the hindquarters, ham, hock and hoof is sent to the processing plant. There the hams are washed and packed into sea salt for several days. Then the meat is hung up to dry for anywhere from two to four years. The meat is a delicacy in Spain and the Iberian hogs are fed only natural acorns, which they eat from under the oak trees covering the landscape. Because of this ration, the Iberian pork is said to high in Omega 3 fatty acids. COVAP recently increased production, going from slaughtering 25,000 hogs a year to 65,000. Yet while touring the plant, workers were unpacking pork that had been returned after not selling over the Christmas holiday. One Iberian "leg" costs around $500 dollars depending on its size and the financial crisis is heavily impacting these kinds of luxury goods around Spain.
The team spent the night in Cordova, a centuries-old epicenter for trade in the world. It was here that the Silk Road from India and the East met the main trade route with Africa. In 900 A.D., Cordova was the knot tying international trade and commerce together.
Friday, February 26
On Friday the class began its morning with a tour of Cordova including its historic quarter and the Mezquita, a Roman Catholic cathedral built inside what was originally a mosque. At one time it was the third largest mosque in the world up to 20,000 people could pray inside at one time.
Following a morning of cultural education the group hopped aboard a high-speed train to the capital city of Madrid. The first stop was the United States Embassy for a meeting with the Office of Agricultural Affairs and Peg Thursland, the Agricultural Counselor for Spain and Portugal. A surprise visit from the U.S. Ambassador to Spain was especially nice. Alan Solomont took the ambassadorship in January of this year and is excited about a budding relationship between the countries. He complimented the group for taking the time to visit other countries and learn about the agricultural sector from another perspective.
After Mr. Solomont left, the discussion turned the current agricultural imports and exports to Spain, Spanish crop production and livestock numbers. The major issues facing the country were again the current financial crisis, which is contributing to 20% unemployment and falling construction and real estate numbers.
On Saturday the 27th, the group will travel to the John Deere Iberica Training Center located just outside of Madrid. Then it's on to Toledo and a 5,000 head cattle ranch.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
