Montevideo

Arrived today in Montevideo, Uruguay, to start my South American trip.The city centre is built on the ocean front and thus miles of high rise along the coast. I had to go shopping tonight for cloths as I arrived without my bag thanks to AA again having lost it mid trip. The shops are open 7 days till 10 pm and most of the restaurants don't open for dinning till 10pm. It's no wonder they need a rest between 12 and 2pm each day.

Boston

I've spent the past week in Boston with family recovering from the past three and a half weeks and 6,500 miles of travel through the Midwest. It was great to catch up with Shirley, Sam, Jake and Emma, in fact it was the first time I had met the kids in person and it was great it be able to spend so much time with them . The Blond women is Aude, she's french, enough said.

Austin Texas

I spent the last two days of my trip though the mid west in Austin Texas. Austin is the live music capital of the US, it's also the home of Stevie Ray Vaughan who died 20 years ago on the 27th August 1990 and the town was in tribute mode when I arrived, which was great as I'm a SRV fan and every second place was playing the blues.

I also got to see Hot Hot Heat and Rooney at Momo's one of Austin best live music venues as well as about 15 other acts around the city both during the day and at night. Austin is unlike any other city in the US, it's very liberal and open and it celebrates it's culture and the fact it's different, in fact their saying is "Keep Austin Weird"

Noble Foundation

I spent two days at the Noble Foundation in Oklahoma and it was one of the highlights of the trip. There doing an amazing amount of work with some of the best ag research facilities I've ever been in. I had a look over some of their transgenic work including in lucerne and Tall fescue. Josh showed me some forage soy beans that looked great and Dave to kiwi showed me around the green houses which are some of the largest in the country. If bugs aren't your thing, then it would be a good place to avoid as their huge.

Driving

If there one part of the trip I've enjoyed the most it's the driving. The roads are great, the traffic move fast without ever stopping and the drivers are the most courteous I've ever encounted. Not once did I hear a horn, when you stop at a all ways stop ( which is like a round about, with out the round part) people all gesture at each other to go, the traffic merges without slowing down and the cars are big and fast.

Included in the collection of photos are some of the cars I would like to take home with me and the endless interstates that are so great to travel on. Also and most importantly is being able to turn right on a red light, Brilliant!

Oklahoma Livestock Exchange

I was traveling through Oklahoma when I saw a sign leading to the Stockyard Livestock Exchange. Firstly it's just outside the city's CBD due to the fact it's been there for more than 100 years and secondly it's a major tourist attraction. There's great places to eat and lots of western wear shops and if that's not enough you can see the cattle being auctioned. The livestock exchange is one of the largest in the country and auctions cattle nearly every day.

No Till in Kansas

Josh Lloyed and Doug Pallen are from Kansas, are two of the best no till farmers I've met. Their both pushing the limits of the system and in seems to me the harder they push the better the results. They've fired me up to re look at our no till system in both the equipment and techniques we use.

No Coast Derby Girls

On the Saturday night I decided to get a bit of American culture and go watch the roller derby in Lincoln. It was the Mad Maxines up against the Pikes Peak Roller Dames. Anna Wrexx-it and Flash Gloria assisted by Lt. SlamHer and Princess Lay Ya Flat dominated the game against Count Smacula, Slaughter Than Hell and Fanny Fister.

There was a mix of people from the hard core fans with posters and T shirts through to Families and people like me just curious to have a look. I have to say it was entertaining, they really put their bodies on the line and take each other out and there is allot of skill in the game. Check it out.

Anyone for free fertilizer

I spent the weekend with a friend of mine Bart Ruth from Rising City, Nebraska. After two and a half weeks and 4,000 miles of traveling through the mid west it was great to spend time with Bart and his family looking around his farm and generally relaxing.

Bart runs a great operation with his son Geof, growing soy bean and corn, no till with most under centre pivot irrigation. But the most interesting part is that a large amount of the water comes from a dairy next door. They need to get rid of the water and it's loaded with nitrogen, phosphors and potassium, a win win for every one. The dairy has about 6000 head and they cut corn silage on Barts place for the feed. A model example of nutrient recycling.

Iowa State Fair

I went to the Iowa state Fair today and had a great time. There was the usual Giant vegi comp, produce display and the butter sculptures.

There were the livestock displays featuring all sorts of breeds including giant boars, miniature Hereford cattle, giant cattle, giant sheep (230kg) and recent inductees to the klu klux klan of sheep. In case your wondering what the lady is doing with the hose, she blow drying them after their shampoo and grooming.

But it was the food that was the standout at the show. If it can be deep fried or covered in cheese, it's for sale here. For the record I didn't sample any of it, any one of those plates contain enough calories to feed a small African village for a month.

There is a serious side to the show and I'll blog about that later. All in all it was a very good show and the people of Iowa are always so welcoming and friendly.