Argentina-As seen by a New Zealand farmer.

Travel diary: Celebrating 150 years in Argentina

BY JAN WILLS Sectetary General of World Hereford Council-based in New Zealand.

THE daytime temperature was only seven degrees when I left Costa and journeyed eastward towards the coast of the Chubut region in Patagonia. Costa is a small village near the Andes and although it was only mid-February autumn was already on its way.

Summers are very short and the growing season for the pastoralists in this area is limited to just a few months.

Trees really battle the elements and any new plantings need lots of protection for the first few years of their lives. The prevailing winds distort new growth and mature trees are a rare sight and always inclined with the direction of the prevailing wind.

I boarded a bus and found my seat was more like an armchair than a bus seat so I settled back to enjoy the scenery on my four-hour trip to Sarmiento. Once we left the town the landscape became bereft of civilisation as I know it in rural areas.

I could not believe I could travel so many kilometres without seeing any animals, houses or farm buildings. The land supported vegetation which looked like small scrub, like broom, which was grey/brown in colour. The road ahead was the only thing that broke up the monotony of the landscape for more than three hours travel.

Lake Musters suddenly came into view and before long the landscape changed completely. Poplar trees were waving in the wind and some green pastures appeared.

Sarmiento once supported a thriving dairy industry and it was easy to recognise remnants of that enterprise. I was not able to discover what happened to the dairy farmers and the dairy factory which was once famous for its special cheeses.

My schedules do not usually include city tours or much time for window shopping so my impressions of the town of Sarmiento were of little consequence, but here’s what I saw.

The main street in Sarmiento was not tar-sealed or paved in any way. I was told the dust was preferable to the large pot holes which always developed whenever the road was sealed. The footpaths were hazardous to say the least. Some parts were sealed and other sections were paved in very uneven paving stones while lots of areas were just metalled like the road.

Shops shut their doors against the elements and homeless dogs often slept in the doorways.

The point of my journey was to visit Hereford breeders and to view the Hereford cattle. My hosts were the Baltuska family. Alano did not speak English but his two children Marcus and Nora had both been selected as Rotary exchange students in their younger days so provided interpretation for me. Marcus’ second family was from Tauranga in New Zealand so I easily understood his English.

The drought was the main talking point at all the farms I visited – there was certainly no surplus feed about but fortunately water was not a problem. I asked about irrigation as most of the land was flat and well serviced by canals or rivers. I was surprised to find that the region of Santa Elana was even set up with an irrigation system but they had not used it as it was too expensive to run. I would have liked to investigate this further as it didn’t make sense, but it is very difficult to converse when you do not speak the language.

The Hereford bulls at Santa Elana were impressive. I inspected the show team and was surprised to find 15 bulls of the same age being prepared for the next show. Unlike our shows in New Zealand the bulls are sold at the show and only those not attracting a buyer return home after the competition. This gives showing a real purpose and the competition is different at every show.

The tourist attraction Monumento Natural Bosque Petrificado is just a few kilometres from Santa Elana so Marcus and Nora took me to see this petrified forest. Centuries ago volcanic lava covered the area and turned the trees to stone.

The region looks like a moonscape. It was an interesting visit and I enjoyed the walk into what I would term a howling gale. The wind is ever present and really makes life very difficult in Patagonia.

Volcanoes and the wind became the main topic that day as the Chilean volcano Chaiten decided to spew out great quantities of ash and this completely disrupted all air travel in the area. I had to guess which way the wind would take the ash and try to plan flights to suit. The gamble became untenable so on Marcus’ advice I took the 24 hour bus trip back to Buenos Aires.

Maximo and Maria Ayerza were my hosts in Buenos Aires. Maximo is a past president and current board member of the Argentinean Hereford Society.

He has represented Argentina at several World Hereford Council meetings and was a most helpful liaison officer when the New Zealand Hereford group visited Argentina in 2000. Maria teaches English at a nearby school and the entire family speaks very good English.

Like most rural families in Argentina they have two homes. They live in the city from Monday to Thursday then travel to their estancia (cattle ranch) on Fridays and drive back to Buenos Aires on Monday morning again. They have six children and they all live at home with their parents, even though four of them have

completed their university degrees. Augustin, the third son, visited New Zealand when he finished his Agronomy degree and used our home in Matamata as a base for several months while working at Waikato Stud.

The Argentinean Hereford office is situated in a very up-market area in Buenos Aires. It’s a nice building with an imposing entrance. Beautiful Hereford paintings adorn the walls and the silverware in the trophy cupboard was impressive. I spoke to members of the board and their technical advisors on the progress of the World Hereford Council’s research project for Hereford global evaluation and other matters which will be discussed at the next meeting.

It was overwhelming when their general manager Mr Juan Bullo presented me with a beautiful book commemorating my visit to Argentina. The book had just been released and was printed to celebrate 150 years of Hereford cattle breeding in Argentina.

Muriel Elizabeth Hayes.

Buenos Aires Argentina.

emmail: murielelizabethayes@yahoo.co.uk

web: www.argentinebeef.org.ar