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| 'Merica to the rescue.... |
We arrived at CATIE after a filling breakfast of gallo pinto and platanos at a local restaurant. We were greeted by two men who showed us around the center/campus, which proved to be quite extensive. We drove past the labs, housing facilites for students (they offer graduate and doctoral programs... ;).... un chiste... no more school please), the cafeteria, etc. Next, through coffee fields containing local varieties and hybrid varieties from Africa (especially Yemen and Ethiopia) that were crossbred with Latin American coffees. The result: double the yield. Sugarcane fields for commercial use, other fields planted for experiments and research, etc.
Most of our time was spent talking about silvopastoral systems (aka: grassland+cows+trees) and its role in their dairy farm. The trees serve as a connector between plots on the farm and forests bordering the farm so small mammal and bird habitats are not fragmented. They also serve as shade for the cows in order to reduce their stress level. This is essential for dairy farms because if the animals are stressed or unhealthy, they will not become pregnant; a necessary element to he production of milk.
Another way this farm mitigates the effects of Turrialba's tropical heat on the cows is by crossbreeding European cows with Asian cows, which are heartier and more able to endure the conditions.
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| We're so excited to see the cows! |
We took a tour of where the cows live and get milked starting from the little guys to the big ladies. The babies are taken from their moms on the third day after they are born and given a milk substitute instead of letting them drink the liquid money coming out of their mom's udder. The milk is sold for roughly $0.60/kilo and the milk substitute for the baby cows only costs $0.20/kilo. Our first reminder that this is a business and milk is money. Side note: milk sold to the market is measured in kilograms because more quality milk contains more solid matter and less water, and therefor warrants more money per weight, not per volume.
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| I WANT ONE.... does this cow kind of look like a deer or is it just me?... |
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| A little bit older, still adorable. |
After fawning over the little ones and not listening to a word our tour guide said as we pet the critters, we moved on to where the milking magic happens twice a day...
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| Foreground: Brian, our fearless leader. Background: well trained dairy cows walking single file to the milking stations. |
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| The stars of the show, chowing down. |
Our tour guide was quick to point out the structure for the cows to eat, drink, and be milked in the cool shade. Cupping both hands at chest level, our tour guide said dramatically, "these ladies have been telling me it is no fun to eat and wait out in the sun, with their BOOBS FULL OF MILK!" Oh the power of handguestures, personification, and mistranslation to creating one of the most memorable field trip quotes to date. Our professor corrected him twice before he finally got the hang of using the word "udder" instead of "boobs".
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| Our tourguide and the milking stations. |
He showed us the milking stations and explained that by using a biodigester to convert the methane in cow manure, they power the entire station using the power of poo. It is then released as CO2 which the trees absorb.
We got to witness this power production from the beginning as mutliple cows took the opportunity to relieve themselves on the floor as they ate. One of the bigger cows did not appreciate her neighbor doing just that on the floor and rewarded the behavior with a kick in the rear. Poo-ing on your friends is uncouth in cow culture too.
I hate to end a blog post with a bowel movement reference, so I will leave you with this .... Fuffi welcoming me home after a long day on the farm. "You smell like a cow, where's my milk?"
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