On Thursday 25 July we traveled north from Eau Claire to Duluth on the western end of Lake Superior. Duluth is in Minnesota, just over he border from Wisconsin and not far south of the Canadian border. En route, we stopped at the Chickadee Hills Homestead Farm. It raises Mangalista hogs described as the Kobe beef of pork, fed only on non-GMO foods. These rare animals come originally from Hungary!
As we approached the farm HQ we drove past stacks of grass feed for the coming winter months before seeing lots of little pens containing the hogs.
The farm also hosted a variety of other livestock including Alpacas, geese and pea-hens.
When we got to Duluth, we found a huge port where grains and other rural produce from much of the US mid-west arrived and were stored in a monumental collection of silos before being loaded on to large vessels for transportation through the Great Lakes system for either export or consumption in the eastern parts of the United States. We took a lovely boat trip to examine these facilities
The port also handled a variety of minerals for transit to eastern locations. The last day of our field trip saw us return from Duluth to Minneapolis Saint Paul. The first stop was at Grantsburg in Wisconsin. We had a rather nice lunch at Brickfield Brewing, but it was worth knowing that the residue of the grains used in processing beers were fed to dairy cows at the Four Cubs Farm owned by the same family.
So, after lunch, we headed to the Four Cubs Farm and an interesting surprise. This modest size farm was home to around 700 cows, housed as before inside a large shed. They received feed in troughs.
But when they felt the need to discharge milk, they walked to what might be termed a milking station. There they lined up to take their turn to be milked, not by a human but by a machine with artificial intelligence. At their turn to be milked, cows walked into an empty stall. Then a robotic machine attached itself to the animal's teats
And, when the milk had been extracted, the machine let go its hold on the teats, the cow walks off back to the feeding stalls, and the next 'customer' enters.
And so we leave for our last appointment on this trip, the 40 acre Common Harvest Farm, south of Osceola in Wisconsin. Founded in 1989, the farm was an outreach of an urban peace and justice community. Today, it produces 40+ different herbs and vegetables, including basil, broccoli, onions, cabbage, eggplant, hot peppers, lettuce,potatoes, spinach and zucchini. This community farm not only provides 'ethical' food but shares the risks between producers and consumers.
We were welcomed, unusually, by a country music group! They were called the Camp Dawgs - and great entertainers!
This visit was a great way to end the conference. Thanks to the organisers for making things work. Let's hope that next year's meeting in Zagreb (Croatia) will be just as good. One last comment. En route for Saint Paul we were scheduled to see a herd of American Bison on a property near the twin cities. Alas, when we got to the top of the viewing platform there was no animal in site. That's strange. I have a problem with viewing bison. In Poland several years ago we tried to nail down some European Bison, but we also couldn't find any - see one of my earlier posts.
AS
As we approached the farm HQ we drove past stacks of grass feed for the coming winter months before seeing lots of little pens containing the hogs.
The farm also hosted a variety of other livestock including Alpacas, geese and pea-hens.
When we got to Duluth, we found a huge port where grains and other rural produce from much of the US mid-west arrived and were stored in a monumental collection of silos before being loaded on to large vessels for transportation through the Great Lakes system for either export or consumption in the eastern parts of the United States. We took a lovely boat trip to examine these facilities
The port also handled a variety of minerals for transit to eastern locations. The last day of our field trip saw us return from Duluth to Minneapolis Saint Paul. The first stop was at Grantsburg in Wisconsin. We had a rather nice lunch at Brickfield Brewing, but it was worth knowing that the residue of the grains used in processing beers were fed to dairy cows at the Four Cubs Farm owned by the same family.
So, after lunch, we headed to the Four Cubs Farm and an interesting surprise. This modest size farm was home to around 700 cows, housed as before inside a large shed. They received feed in troughs.
But when they felt the need to discharge milk, they walked to what might be termed a milking station. There they lined up to take their turn to be milked, not by a human but by a machine with artificial intelligence. At their turn to be milked, cows walked into an empty stall. Then a robotic machine attached itself to the animal's teats
And, when the milk had been extracted, the machine let go its hold on the teats, the cow walks off back to the feeding stalls, and the next 'customer' enters.
And so we leave for our last appointment on this trip, the 40 acre Common Harvest Farm, south of Osceola in Wisconsin. Founded in 1989, the farm was an outreach of an urban peace and justice community. Today, it produces 40+ different herbs and vegetables, including basil, broccoli, onions, cabbage, eggplant, hot peppers, lettuce,potatoes, spinach and zucchini. This community farm not only provides 'ethical' food but shares the risks between producers and consumers.
We were welcomed, unusually, by a country music group! They were called the Camp Dawgs - and great entertainers!
This visit was a great way to end the conference. Thanks to the organisers for making things work. Let's hope that next year's meeting in Zagreb (Croatia) will be just as good. One last comment. En route for Saint Paul we were scheduled to see a herd of American Bison on a property near the twin cities. Alas, when we got to the top of the viewing platform there was no animal in site. That's strange. I have a problem with viewing bison. In Poland several years ago we tried to nail down some European Bison, but we also couldn't find any - see one of my earlier posts.
AS
No comments:
Post a Comment