Minnesota, Iowa students enjoy overseas trip
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 07/29/2010 9:43 AM
E-mail article | Print version
Five students from Minnesota and Iowa were among the 12 agriculture students in the country selected for the 2010 International Collegiate Agricultural Leadership Program, or I-CAL.
The students: Daniel Helvig, a senior at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Ryan Hrubes, an Iowa State University graduate; Caitlin Kasper, a University of Minnesota senior; Adam Miller, a Ridgewater College graduate, and Grant Christensen of Iowa State University traveled to Malaysia and Taiwan in May to study international grain marketing, trade and global agriculture. They also fit in time to experience the culture and visit tourist landmarks.
Reflections
"Overall, I was very impressed with the I-CAL trip," said Kasper, an Owatonna, Minn., native. The trip exceeded her expectations.
Helvig said he works with a lot of people from Asian cultures and said it was cool to study a little bit about their culture.
"I've always wanted to travel a little bit more," he said. Taiwan and Malaysia are two places he wouldn't necessarily vacation, so the opportunity through I-CAL was a once in a lifetime opportunity, said Helvig, a Truman native. "It was a great opportunity and I'd suggest it to any student."
Hrubes, a native of Garner, Iowa, has traveled internationally, but wouldn't have taken a personal trip to Malaysia or Taiwan. However, he appreciated the opportunity provided through the FFA and U.S. Grains Council and applied to participate in the trip.
In both countries, they were concerned about what is used to grow the crop, Miller said. They want a good, quality product.
Tropical Malaysia is located near the equator and has limited arable land, Hrubes said.
Yet, Malaysia has a larger agricultural industry than Taiwan. Both have smaller agricultural industries than the United States, Kasper said.
Taiwan is a mountainous country located south of Japan and off the coast of China.
Malaysia
Demand is driven by religious practices in this country with a majority Muslim population, Hrubes said. About 60 percent of the population is Muslim and they consider pork unholy. Everything is blessed, Halal, before being consumed, he said.
Chicken is the primary meat consumed in Malaysia, Kasper said. They toured a chicken farm and a chicken processing plant. The farm owner studied in the United States and is using technology and ideas from the United States in his farm expansion project, she said. They were able to go in the barns under construction. The tour was one of the trip highlights for her.
They also visited a hog farm. The facilities were built sometime around World War II, Helvig said. Everything is outdoors on a cement floor. The hogs are washed every afternoon because it is so hot.
The hog farmer told him that the government only gives out so many licenses to hog farmers and the farmers police each other to make sure the herd size remains constant . The constant herd size means their price remains constant as well.
The Malaysian pork industry is much smaller than the chicken industry, Kasper said.
Palm oil is the largest agriculture industry in Malaysia. Fields of palm oil were as common as corn fields in southern Minnesota, Kasper said.
It takes three years before a palm tree will yield oil, but it can be harvested until it is 25 years old, she said. Palm oil bunches are harvested by hand and the fruit squeezed to extract the oil. Harvest goes on throughout the year. Palm oil accounts for 60 percent of Malaysia' agriculture production, according to a blog post about the trip at www.thegrainboard.com, and Malaysia exports 90 percent of their production.
Malaysia imports it's corn from Argentina because they prefer its color, moisture and quality, Helvig said.
"We're not the only producer anymore," Hrubes said. The United States is still king in corn, but others are "playing in our pool."
Taiwan
Guests are treated with the highest, utmost respect in Taiwan, Kasper said. Meetings were more formal here, with the Taiwanese interested in making sure all the meetings were conducted in a professional matter.
Pork and chicken are the main meats consumed in the country, Helvig said. The livestock are fed corn primarily imported from the United States. Taiwan imports 81 percent of its corn from the U.S., he said. Some of the corn is also turned into biodegradable plastics. The students visited a bioplastics company, Wei Mon. Products include cups, plates, to go containers and cake and fruit trays.
They also visited the China Grain Products Research and Development Institute. Here, chefs and other students are taught to cook breads, cakes and pastries with barley and wheat instead of rice, Helvig said. It's part of the Institute's diversification programs, according to the blog.
The United States and Taiwan have long relationships, Hrubes said.
Wet markets
The group toured a wet market in each country.
In Malaysia, the market was outdoors and in Taiwan, it was indoors.
At the Malaysian market, live animals are brought to market at 4 a.m. to begin butchering, Kasper said. By 6 a.m., customers arrive to pick up fresh meat. The market is open through the afternoon, with the price of meat discounted as the day goes on.
There wasn't any refrigeration, but frozen meat is considered of lower value than fresh meat, Kasper said.
They went in the morning and saw chickens and frogs butchered. Sides of pork were being cut.
"It's something we're not used to, but they do it," Kasper said.
Besides meat, vegetables, spices and baked goods are sold the the market.
The fresh fruit was magnificent, Helvig said.
But you had to be careful where you stood at the market. He was splattered with guts while an animal was butchered. After touring the market, he went back to the hotel to shower and change.
"It was really cool, don't get me wrong … but it was disgusting," Helvig said.
"That was quite an experience," Miller agreed.
It was not for people with a weak stomach, he said.
The Taiwanese wet market was indoors and didn't seem as messy, Kasper said.
Both were butchering animals on-site.
"That's about as fresh as you can get," Miller said.
Dried distillers grains
They lobbied for dried distiller's grains, Helvig said, promoting its nutritional content and its price. The Taiwanese liked the idea of using DDGs, primarily because they saw the potential to save money.
In Malaysia, however, the alcohol odor of DDGs makes it less palatable to a culture where alcohol is forbidden, Miller said.
"There's a lot of different things to think of when working with different cultures… different religions," Miller said.
What's the take-home message?
Asia and southeast Asia are going to experience the most population growth of any region in the next 20 to 50 years, Kasper said, and their demand for U.S. grain and agricultural products will increase. It's important for those in the U.S. agricultural industry to be aware of what's happening in those areas. If the U.S. doesn't meet their demands for agricultural products, they will seek out other suppliers.
There are opportunities for the United States to sell into Asia, with China holding the largest potential, Helvig said.
Religion plays a big part in demand, Hrubes said. Also, the United States needs to be careful on pushing biotechnology. They had to tiptoe around the issue while on the trip. Taiwan doesn't necessarily care if the corn they buy is GMO or not, but Malaysia is concerned. He said the market will take care of itself, but the U.S. needs to be aware of the concerns when marketing to a country.
U.S. exporters need to educate importers in Taiwan and Malaysia on how to use products that we have in their rations, Miller said. There is the potential to increase sales, but quality must be a No. 1 priority.
The I-CAL program is a partnership of the U.S. Grains Council and The GRAINS Foundation.