Australia & New Zealand 2010
The MAB completed its fourth international trip with an agribusiness tour of New Zealand and Australia April 16 - May 1, 2010.
Watch our trip documentary, MAB Down Under (34 minutes):
Read about the trip and view photos at: ksumabblog.blogspot.com
The trip included stops at cattle, deer and sheep farms, dairies, fruit and vegetable farms, grain and cotton farms, as well as, agricultural and food related industries. Participants were treated to an overnight farm stay with local farm families in Australia.
The land down under... New Zealand is sometimes called “the world’s biggest farm”, with agriculture being the largest sector of the economy. Pastoral farming is the major land use, but there are increases in land area devoted to horticulture. Agriculture products include: wheat, barley, potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wool, beef, lamb and mutton, dairy products and fish. New Zealand is the world’s eighth largest milk producer, with about 2.2% of world production.
Agriculture industries in Australia are comprised of a wide variety of crops, horticulture, viticulture, dairy, fiber, fisheries and livestock. The beef industry is the biggest agricultural enterprise with more than 60% of Australian beef exported primarily to the United States and Japan. Despite the harsh agricultural environment susceptible to drought, dryland salinity and acidity of soils, Australia is one of world’s major exporters of agricultural products.
