Thursday, February 25th
The ambitious SDARL class left Cordoba in the dark. Though
it was tough on the sleepy bodies, it was well worth it to see the beautiful
sunrise over the hills full of olive trees. The early start was also worthwhile because we received plenty of time at the COVAP cooperative.
This cooperative is the second largest in Europe and quite
the site to see. Understand that the function of the cooperative is a bit
different then what we are used to back home. This co-op was started by
twenty-two dairy producers more than a half century ago with the goal of
creating a place to process and market their product. Since those humble days, the
co-op has really grown to over 15,000 members as well as a waiting list to gain
membership.
They have expanded from dairy to feed supplier, beef, lamb,
and pork. The brand is very visible in the major grocery stores here in Spain and
is an example of the power farmers can gain with collaboration. The power this
cooperative has is keeping a foreign corporation from coming in and controlling
the area’s markets.
First we went to the dairy plant where they produce many
boxes of milk using ‘Ultra High Temperature’ pasteurization. Let’s take a look
at what this is. In the United States we go to the store and grab a carton or
jug of milk out of the refrigerator just the way God intended. In Europe, you
go to the store and buy a box of room temperature milk off the shelf and drink
it warm. They can do this because of Ultra High Temperature (UHT) pasteurization.
The milk stays good unopened at room temperature for up to six months! This is
safe to do because the milk is pasteurized at a much higher temperature than
here in the States.
The next COVAP enterprise to tour was the lamb feedlot. All
the lambs were fed under roof to a kill weight of about eighty pounds. This
seems to be significantly less that what is typically seen in the United
States. We saw no tails docked and all bucks were intact. These different
practices were based on what the European customer wanted.
And the last stop for the COVAP cooperative was the beef
feedlot. This seemed similar to American feedlots. A couple things stood out
like all the feeder bulls being intact. It is not common practice to castrate
in Europe, and because of this, hormone implants are not used. The cattle
looked much the same as our northern plains cattle we see back home. They feed
them almost as heavy as is common in South Dakota.
Now I write this to you as I look out the window and watch
the world whiz by at over 185 mph. This is done from the comfort of my roomy
seat aboard the high speed bullet train on our way to Madrid. Our tour is
almost complete!
