Auburn, November 20, 2002 --- Alabama farmers and agricultural professionals will have the chance to become seasoned world travelers in 2003, by taking part in one or more of a series of study tours organized by the Auburn University College of Agriculture’s Office of International Agriculture.

The first tour, scheduled for February 15-28, will take place in Argentina and Brazil. Stopovers will include the Argentine cities Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, Balcarce and Cordoba as well as the Brazilian cities of Carambei and Ponta Grossa.

Sites will include the wet pampas region of Balcarce and the dry pampas region near Cordoba. Agricultural sites will include small and large beef cattle ranches and a dairy farm as well as a fee-hunting enterprise operated in tandem with a large grain operation. Visits to large-scale peanut, corn and soybean operations are also planned.

The Brazilian facet of the tour will acquaint visitors with the ways in which conservation tillage practices are being used in the region. Visitors will also be introduced to the important role cooperatives play in the Brazilian farming economy.

The 12-day Guatemala tour, scheduled for sometime after mid-September, will include visits to Guatemala City, Antigua, Panajacel and Flores, the site of Tikal, the site of the ancient Mayan temples.

The agricultural facet of the tour will focus on forestry and reforestation, large-scale asparagus and avocado production, coffee, peach and citrus production. Visits also will include cotton, peanut and cattle operations.

Participants also will visit the Guatemalan Ministry of Agriculture and meet with officials of the Partnership of the Americas.

A trip to South Africa is planned for mid- or late-May. The Cape Town region will comprise the first leg of this visit, with stops at Stellenbosch University, Cape Peninsula and Table Mountain. Participants also will visit wheat, sheep and ostrich farms in the Oudtshoorn area, followed by a trip to Knysna and Port Elizabeth via the Garden Route, which will include stops at beef and dairy farms.

At Bloemfontein, they will tour a goat farm and later visit the University of the Free State. Following stopovers at Pietermaritzburg and Shakaland, they will visit the Umfolozi Game Park, famous for white rhino, then travel to Kruger National Park, one of the largest and

best-known game parks in the world. Johannesburg will be the final stop of this tour.

A three-country tour of Central Europe – Hungary, Czech Republic and Germany -- is scheduled for July 17 through August 1. During the first stop in Hungary, visitors will be greeted at a reception by the agricultural dean at the University of West Hungary in Mosonmagyarovar, the oldest agricultural university in the world, followed by a reception by the town’s mayor. Other stops will include Babolna, site of a huge agribusiness, and the active but ancient Abbey of Pannonhalma, one of the oldest sites of Christendom and a United Nations-designated World

Heritage site. Stopovers also are planned for Lake Balaton, Herend, site of a world famous porcelain factory, and Sopron, where the first free crossings of the Iron Curtain began in 1989.

During their stay in Budapest, participants will visit all of the major landmarks of this ancient capital city as well as St. Stephens University’s agricultural campus near Godollo.

Visits planned for the Czech facet of the tour include Chesky Chumlow, with streets and a castle dating back to the Middle Ages, and the capital city of Prague.

The pace will be slowed down considerably during the tour of Germany. Staying in one country inn throughout the entire German visit, participants will visit nearby Berlin, Potsdam and other sites and farms in Brandenburg state.

Finally, visits to the People’s Republic of China have been scheduled for June and September. The two-week tour in June is scheduled primarily for schoolteachers, who will be eligible to receive three semester hours of credit upon completion of the trip.

The September trip, targeted to farmers and agricultural professionals, will include visits to several Chinese agricultural institutions that have maintained longstanding partnerships with Auburn University.

Participants will also visit the Panda Breeding and Research Center and cruise approximately 350 miles on the Yangtze River.

For more information about any of these tours, contact George Young, coordinator of Extension International Programs, at (334) 334-844-3513.

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