Fiji with Heidi and Isaac

I arived into Fiji on Monday morning and meet Heidi and Isaac on Monday night. What a great way to finish 10 weeks of Nuffield Study and 16 weeks of travel this year.

Close to the END

As i appraoch the end of my travels it is time to thank my followers and all those who have helped with my Nuffield trip. I hope you have been able to follow my footsteps and understand my journey. It has been an amazing expeience which will evolve over the years to come. It is with the support of Nuffield and all those involved in the spray application and ag industry which has made my journey very rewarding.
Now the hard part, to get my thoughts together so our industry can continue to move forward, be profitable and sustainable. Spray it right.........TO FIJI next.......

UC Davis

On Thursday i visited University of california at Davis just outside Sacramento. I visited Ken Giles in the Ag Engineering Dept who has visited Australia a few times and is at the for front of new technology development. He developed the Pulse Width Modulating Solenoid which is called the AIM Command system on most CASE SP sprayers. While there are guys like this in the industry technology will continue to evolve.

California Dept Pesticide Regulation

I visited the California Department of Pesticide Regulation in Sacramento today. They are the best in the world....Balancing food production, environmental issues and community and worker health is a big job as California is a unique place. It provides America with half of its fruit and vegetables but is a large urban population. It is interesting that Agriculture gets all the blame for pesticide use however more than HALF of the products regulated by DPR are for commercial, industrial and home use.

Another time zone

Tuesday afternoon i made it to Sacramento, California and another time zone. This is the fourth zone in the States i have gone through. I flew through Seattle, Washington today and another flight and airport complete --- only a few more to go.

Denver, A great City

I spent the weekend in Denver, Colorado. It is a great place which is very clean with fresh air for a city. Number 16 St. is great for a walk, there is a big bear outside the Art Centre which gives Bundy a run for his money and The Curtis Double Tree hotel was a funky place to stay and good value. On Saturday night i had a BBQ with Jason and Chelse. Great company, and look forward to seeing them in Aus one day.

AutoFarm ParaDyme-the new steering revolution

Friday i was with Jason Kidd and Aussie working in Denver,CO with Autofarm. This is the view from the top of his office which is the call centre. ParaDyme is the new autosteer system just launched in Australia but in the US for over a year. Check it out at www.gpsfarm.com It has WiFi, and cell phone built and can link a number of networks or towers. Faults are easily fixed by the remote connection to a technichan who can see what is happening in the field from his office and make adjustments on the go.

On the edge of the Rockies

I am at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains around Denver Colorado. It is amoungst ranchers, running water, tourism and the wild west.

Loveland Products

On Thursday i learnt more about adjuvants and water conditioners. Including surfactants, penetrants, organosilicants, stickers, conditioners, drift management, acidification agents, antifoaming agents from Loveland Industries based in Greeley, Colorado. It is another complex issue we need to know more about to improve deposition and uptake whilst reducing drift.

Wednesday-Lunch time at Ole's, Paxton, Nebraska

Greg and i had lunch on Wednesday just off hwy 80 at Ole's Steakhouse in Paxton. Not y0ur typical Aussie restraunt. All this game was hunted around the 1950's from around the world and is an example of what people like to do. Interesting place....

North Platte, Nebraska

Wednesday i was in North Platte, Nebraska which is on HWY 80 the main interstate road connecting East and West USA. The University fo Nebraska has several farms for reserch and extension work involved with irrigation, nutrient, spraying, cattle and field crops (corn, beans, wheat, sunflowers). The area only recieves 16-19" annual rainfall so irrigation is widespread using centre pivots. Dryland crops in the corner of pivots is also done usually wheat, corn, fallow. Also saw sugar beets and pumkins growing. Research is conducted on drought tolerent corn varieties.

Tuesday - Ohio to Nebraska

I said goodbye to Bill and JoAnn and flew to Lincoln, Nebraska via Chicago then drove 100 mile to Grand Island, to tour the New Holland Combine factory. It makes the Case 20 & 80 series combines for the world and yellow CR combines for Canada, US and Australia.
I drove west on Hwy 80, 200 mile to North Platte.

Monday, Last day in Ohio

Monday i toured with Bill again. I saw the dentist to get a filling fixed, went to a Sprayer dealership, John Deere outlet, and Honda car factory and car research testing facility. The car track is a 7 mile circuit with many different tests (water, cobble stones, skid pan, hills etc). Cars get tested 24 hours a day driving at different speeds. Bill farms inside the track and has beans and corn. The factory purchased 8000acres to build it in the 80's. This is Bill and JoAnn's farm