Grange Beef Research Center, Sheplands Farm, and the Irish National Stud

 By Anne

On Wednesday, our itinerary showed that we would be spending most of the day at the Grange Beef Research Center. As a vegetarian of eight years, I was not looking forward to this day at all. I thought we were going to see slabs of meat, learn about slaughtering, and maybe even taste some meat (grass-fed vs concentrate-fed, maybe?). Thankfully, none of that actually happened.
I learned that cattle in Ireland are mostly grass-fed. Since Ireland has the great weather where there's a downpour of rain one minute, then bright and sunny the next, the green, green grass there is lush, fresh and beautiful. So, if the feed for the cattle is free and nutritious, why waste money on buying concentrates and supplements (like the U.S. has to do)? Grange has nine key concepts to obtain the optimum beef: beef systems, genetics/breeds, animal reproduction, nutrition, forage conservation, grassland, animal housing and storage, animal welfare and health, and beed quality. There are 3 beef production systems: beef from suckler to heard, beef from dairy herd, and modeling beef production. There is a beef production index for sucklers, a growth index in dairy beef cattle, and feed efficiency in sucklers called RFI (residual feed intake). Production of feed is where most of the expenses lie, so it is important for the cattle to have a well-balanced diet while also not running the farm out of business. Grange uses molecular technology to improve fertility. This is relatively controversial, however most of the population has accepted techniques like artificial insemination. Concerning nutrition, the calves are weaned at 7 weeks old and go into bull beef systems and bull growth paths to ensure a healthy growth and development. Forage conservation focuses on ensiling and feeding alternative forages, grass silage/traditional bales, industrial uses, and gaseous emissions. Conservation is incredibly important because the last thing a farmer wants is a deficit (or on the opposite end of the spectrum, an excess) throughout the seasons. Grange is an environmentally conscious company, so any gases emitted during forage processing are monitored and limited. Studies on grasslands focus on maximizing grass in the diet and grazing on legumes. Pasture rotation is maintained so the cows do not graze on grass to the point where it is too short or lack of grazing so the grass gets too long. There was a specific length of grass where it was not too short but not too long and the nutrients were optimal. Even though I would never pursue a future in anything beef related, I definitely learned a good amount of information at the Grange Beef Research Center.
All of my favorite parts of this trip consist of spending time with the locals. Fortunately, we were able to go to Sheplands Farm, a beef cattle farm run by a German man named Heinz Eggert. I am more of a visual learner in general, so I was paying more attention to my surroundings than what the farmers were saying, but that's not to say I didn't learn anything here. We were given a handout upon arrival that contained a graph with the breakdown of farming costs. As expected, feed costs took up a majority of the finances. While here, we learned that Mr. Eggert is running the farm with an organization called Teagasc, associated with Alltech, on a program called the Better Farm Program. The goal of this program is for the farmer(s) to have a steady increase of gross profit, which Mr. Eggert has achieved. The program ensures this by reducing production costs and increasing farm output. There are a few other variables, of course, but so far the program has been quite successful.

Mr. Heinz Eggert on his farm

After our lectures and seeing the farm, we took our bus to the Irish National Stud and Japanese gardens.  The founder of the stud had a fascination with japanese gardens and astrology, an odd combination with breeding horses, but he was definitely doing what he loved. Our tour guide took us around the grounds of the stud and showed us several of the mares with their foals. Then, he lead us over to where the stallions stay. All of the stallions had their own individual paddocks with plenty of space to gallop and do whatever they please. They were all quite beautiful but one stallion really stood out. Invincible Spirit is his name and he is insured for 60 million euros. SIXTY MILLION. For a horse! It's total madness to me, but I'm sure the people there know what they are doing. Invincible has an incredible amount of offspring, most with great records like him.

After our tour of the stud, we were able to explore the Japanese gardens on our own. The gardens were so beautiful with the exotic flowers and vibrant colors. Even the stonework was beautiful. Definitely a must-see if you're even in this area of Ireland! The pictures really do not do it justice.

Much like every other evening after our learning time was over, I was starving! So, me and the lovely girl from the University of Wyoming made our way on to the other side of the Liffey to check out the restaurant scene. We didn't have to look far because right in front of us was a place called O'Shea's Merchant.

Our stomachs were roaring so we weren't about to be picky, as long as there was a place to sit. I really enjoyed this little pub. It was dimly lit and relatively quiet, considering that in nearly every pub there is almost always live music and large crowds. Perhaps it was because we were having an early dinner, but either way, this was a lovely place to end the day. Also, my meal here was particularly delicious and the presentation of the food! Maybe it was just because I was so hungry, but look for yourselves :) This was also the first place that I managed to stuff down a dessert as well. Totally worth it.

Alltech

http://www.alltech.com

After a very restful night's sleep, I felt 100% ready to learn!  We arrived at one of the Alltech buildings which was about an hour or so outside of Dublin.   Alltech is a facility that focuses on helping farmers succeed and produce high yields of crops while still being as environmentally as possible.   Every single product in all Alltech buildings is created internally.   I do not have much background in agriculture in the United States, but even I could see that this organization, which had headquarters all throughout Ireland, was nothing like what we have in America.   Alltech's three "pillars" are research, production, and marketing and all of these branches work together to form a cohesive organization whereas I feel that America is based mostly on competition between several companies.   Alltech created something called the ACE principle: "A" stands for animal, which Alltech works to increase the performance of, "C" is for consumer, whom Alltech works to benefit, and "E" is for environment, which Alltech strives to keep safe.
After an introduction on what Alltech is and what the people there do, we were lectured on the European Union. Twenty-seven countries working together to have a free market.   I thought this was very rare seeing as how the United States seems to actually be quite divided when it comes to most topics.   One topic that did have a good amount of controversy within the EU was genetically modified organisms.  It seems like GMO's, though there is a good amount of controversy in the U.S., are needed in order to have higher produce yields and efficiency to feed our growing population.  However, in Europe, there are a few countries that completely banned GMO's and most have very strict guidelines as set by the EU.  If the EU is confident enough in their crops that they feel GMO's are unnecessary, then they must be doing something right over there (like, maybe not using corn to make everything, like the United States...).
Following these briefings, we then had a short lecture on general animal science in Ireland. I don't know about you, but when I think of Ireland, I think of rolling green hills speckled with sheep.  Well, as it turns out, cows, not sheep, are the animals used most for production in Ireland.  Cows are definitely their biggest market whether it is for beef or dairy.   A whopping 90% of Ireland's beef cattle are exported!  That is HUGE.   Over half of a farmer's profit comes from dairy cattle. So, next time you think of Ireland, replace the sheep with cows and you'll be significantly more accurate!
Now, it really wouldn't be Ireland if play didn't immediately follow all of this work! Still at the Alltech headquarters, we were taught about the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) and major sports. The one sport that we had the most experience with is hurling: the fastest game on grass. To the American eye, its seems a lot like lacrosse but it also has aspects of baseball, soccer, and football (however hurling was around way before these other sports). After learning about how the game is played, we were lucky enough to see some of it in action. We hopped on the bus and made our way to the Dunboyne GAA.  Dunboyne is a small town outside of Dublin, a great place to visit. After getting off the bus we were immediately greeted with, can you guess it? More fantastic Irish hospitality. We were given lunch, hot tea and the company of a few hurling players and coaches. After lunch, they took us outside to the hurling pitch (field) and showed us basic hurling techniques and even gave us the opportunity to try out handling the stick used (a hurley) and try to hit the ball. I don't know how these guys (and for girls, hurling is called camogie) are able to do this as such a fast pace! Their hand-eye coordination was clearly incredible and to be fair, most of them have been playing hurling since they were wee lads. To end our fun with even more Irish hospitality, they invited us to their next hurling game on that Friday! We accepted their invitation with permission from our professor who was nice enough to arrange transportation for us.
Then, we headed back to the hostel for an hour or so to get ready for our "welcome dinner." Now, I absolutely adore the Irish hospitality, but sometimes, it can be from the wrong people. While we were walking to the restaurant, the man who arranged this trip from Global Education Partners (GEP), Craig, was telling us places we should avoid in Dublin, basically, do not go past the hostel and try to stay on the other side of the Liffey. He may have mentioned that if we were to go past the hostel and away from the Liffey and O'Connell Street, we would run into bad things, heroin dealers/users and whatnot. Well, wouldn't you know it, but one of those heroin users happened to be right behind us and felt it necessary to direct us to where we could actually get good heroin and proceeded to tell us that Craig was full of it. At the moment, this was completely terrifying because this strange, smelly man appeared directly behind us without any of us realizing it (beware of pick-pockets!) but after we were safely away and going in the opposite direction of the not-so-great area, we all had a good laugh about it. Poor guy thought he was really helping us out! Dinner was delicious as always, I had a brie and cranberry chutney toasted sandwich. Oh, how I miss the food! After dinner, we parted ways with our professor and Craig and went back to the hostel and out to a lovely, small local pub that was just a stone's throw away from the hostel. Also, on our way back to the hostel, we passed our helpful-if-you're-into-illegal-drugs friend and he seemed to have forgotten us already as he walked right by us.
Below is the link to the pub that we went to that evening. The atmosphere was fantastic with live music and friendly people. The venue is on the small side and from the outside, it looks like it is falling apart, but it was a great taste of local life.
http://www.cobblestonepub.ie

- Anne

"As the light declines, I remember Dublin City, in the rare old times..."

I arrived in Dublin around 8am on May 14th.   A majority of the girls on the trip were from NCSU and their flight arrived a few hours before mine (Philadelphia to Dublin via American Airlines) so I was traveling with one other girl from Rutgers in a foreign country.   Fortunately, it didn't take long for us to experience how kind and helpful the Irish are! We were instructed to get on a bus from the airport and get off at a certain stop and then take a 20 minute walk to our hostel (http://www.generatorhostels.com/en/dublin/). We got off at our stop, no problem, but as soon as I opened up a map, the lovely bus driver asked if we knew where we going and then told us that we could stay on the bus for a few more stops and end up just across the Liffey from our hostel. Taking his advice, we got back on the bus and had about a five minute walk (on a much safer route) to the hostel.

After meeting up with the rest of the group (all girls, most from NCSU, 2 from Rutgers, 1 from UConn, and 1 from University of Wyoming!) and getting settled in our rooms, we set out to take a tour of Dublin City!  Our tour guide's name was Donal and he was everything you would think a young Irish man would be: smart, charming, and wearing a green sweater and wool hat.   He told us all about the history of Ireland, why Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick's Church were so close together, that the seemingly random shapes on the cobblestone outside Christ Church were actually outlines of former villages, and how George Salmon (Provost of Trinity College) fought to keep women from receiving degrees from Trinity College and shortly after his death, the first woman was admitted.   This day turned out to be mostly a day to take in the scenery.   I wish I could have recorded everything that Donal had to say, but like most of the girls, I was beyond tired from my journey and still could not believe that I was actually in Ireland!   Below are some pictures from my first day in Ireland during our tour.

Donal the Tour Guide

Christ Church Cathedral

The Four Courts on the River Liffey

At the end of our tour, everyone was thoroughly exhausted and STARVING! Donal recommended a few pubs where we could get good food.   A few girls and myself decided on the Brazen Head:

Now, as a vegetarian I knew my options were going to be slim and at the Brazen Head the only thing on the menu that was not a salad that fit my dietary restrictions was the deep fried brie. I was pretty nervous about getting a deep fried food, typically not my favorite, but I quickly found out that there is a monumental difference between American deep fried and Irish deep fried. Granted, fried cheese is in no way a healthy meal, but hey, with summer classes less than two weeks away, this was as close to a vacation as I was going to get this summer. So, the waiter brings out this wedge of deep fried deliciousness, a small salad and a side of cranberry chutney and this immediately became my favorite meal that I would indulge in three or four more times during my stay in Dublin. Also, a drink that was highly recommended by the locals is Bulmer's Irish Cider. In the U.S. (and anywhere outside of Ireland, I believe) it is called Magner's Irish Cider and I have found is rather difficult to find on tap in the States, so I was told to savor every sip.   After this meal, I felt like I was falling into the Irish lifestyle pretty well! Except for the fact that I, along with several others, went to sleep around 6pm to get a good night's rest before our education on agriculture started!

Sláinte!

- Anne

Prep Work For Ireland!

Hello, all! Welcome to my blog about my adventures during my study abroad program focusing on Animal Science and Agriculture in Ireland and the European Union!

However, before I could embark on my incredible trip, I had some work to do and not a lot of time to do it in.   I had my last final for the Spring 2012 semester on May 9th and my flight to Ireland was booked for the evening of May 13th!   So, I had four days to move out of my apartment at Rutgers, unpack my belongings at home, pack for Ireland, while simultaneously packing for my new apartment in New Brunswick since Summer classes began the day after I got back from Ireland (yikes!).  It was all totally worth it, of course!  But as I was cramming for my finals, I had to read "The Great Hunger" by Cecil Woodham-Smith and write a 2,000 word paper on it for my course.   This course, by the way, was offered by North Carolina State University and lead by Dr. Morrow, a wonderful professor and person!   "The Great Hunger" was an incredibly informative and depressing novel about the potato famine and if you have any Irish roots at all, you'll be mortified at how the people in power essentially let so much of the Irish population starve to death.   As difficult as that book was to read, you can't help but feel so much empathy for the Irishfolk, so I got on this plane knowing that the Irish people are fighters and survivors and even more, that my ancestors survived the harshest conditions in the mid-1800's!   It was an incredible novel, but a difficult read, emotionally, because of the intensity of the situation that happened in Ireland with the famine.

So, with the educational prep-work finally complete, I could focus on packing up as many sweaters as I possibly could, while still keeping some room for souvenirs! I would be leaving out an important part of my story if I did not mention that I am raising a puppy to be a Seeing Eye dog through the Rutgers University Seeing Eye Puppy Raising Club (https://sites.google.com/a/scarletmail.rutgers.edu/ruseprc/). Several people inquired whether or not I would be bringing my puppy abroad with me.   Unfortunately, I could not as we would be taking day-long trips, staying in hostels that did not allow dogs (since our puppies in training are in-training, they are not covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act), and the flight was simply far too long for a 5 month old pup!   With that said, I would like give a HUGE "thank you!!" to Rachel Jeronimus and Lauren Wheeler for watching Nita while I was away!!   I would not have been able to enjoy my trip as much as I did if I was not 100% positive that Nita was in good hands. With this part of my story included, that added to another thing to take care of: packing up my puppy's necessities for her own little vacation!   As with any trip abroad, you always feel like you're forgetting something or that your suitcase simply is not large enough.   I am happy to say that I remembered everything, however in the last few days, I threw out a few of my belongings to make room for my new, Irish possessions, mainly my wool sweater from Dingle.   But, more about that later.

As stressed as I was in the days before my flight, I would not have had it any other way.   Also, when you have a future with Ireland in it, you work really, really hard to finish all that you have to do so you can finally get your sweet, emerald reward.   When I finally had a moment to catch my breath, I was on a plane to my homeland! Well, one of them, at least.   As some of you may remember, May 13th was Mother's Day and oddly enough, my mother is who I have to thank for my Irish ancestry.  So, here is a special shout out to my lovely mother!   The non-educational parts of this trip were when I was scoping out the territory for my mom to finally make her first trip over to Ireland in the hopefully near future.

With this background information on my life, I hope all of you readers are more prepared as I take you on an adventure through Ireland!

P.S. Here is a VERY special thanks to Leigh Newman-Bell for helping me take advantage of this incredible opportunity to study abroad and fulfill my dreams :)

- Anne

Better Late Than Never

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for the delayed postings! I did not have internet for the first five days here. I borrowed a laptop from the University, and unfortuately it is very slow and limited in its usages. However, I managed to upload some pictures, and so I'd like to share a few things with you that I should have shared a while ago. Here are a few thoughts from my first week here.

July 28, 2012

The realization that I was going to Germany did not kick in until the plane started to move. I felt like a child at Disney World, getting excited and antsy with the adventure ahead of me. It dawned on me that in approximately 7 hours, all me, every cell of my body (minus a few skin cells) would be on a completely different continent.

Take-off was an interesting experience...I have not been on an airplane since the age of 12, so I was beyond excited. People were giving me funny looks, as I was giggling and smiling at my classmate Phil, who was much calmer than I was. My mind was blown that I was in the air. It sounds silly - but being thousands of feet in the air, hovering over clouds - it was a moment I truly admired mankind's ambition to travel, explore, and create. And at the same time while admiring how far we as people have come, I also realized how tiny we are in the grand scheme of things; how little we are in this vast, big, beautiful planet.

Taking off from Newark Airport was a rewarding experience. The view was beautiful as we climbed high up into the air. All that could be seen was the sparkly night time glimmer of the east coast. It was noticeable contrast to the landing in Zurich. Unending pastures of pale green grass, large pine-like trees, and a clear blue sky. It was rural, but somehow very modern at the same time, if that makes any sense. The trains in Zurich were very quiet and run smoothly, in comparison to the loud rumbles of the New Jersey Transit and MTA trains that I am used to.

We were escorted to Constance by a student from the University. We met with Cornelia, our advisor for the trip. The minute I saw Constance, I fell in love. Cars are used sparingly, and bikers are seen everywhere. The buildings are quaint and pleasant, and it is obvious to the naked eye that they are old and rich with character. Cornelia took us by the water to this outdoor eating establishment. My first meal in Germany consisted of bratwurst mit curry sauce, a typical dish here, along with potato salad. In addition, I had a Radler, a popular drink here, which is composed of half beer, half lemonade.

After our wonderful introduction to German food, we were brought to Andy's hostel, in which we would be staying in for three days until we moved into the University. After putting down my bags and getting cozy, I don't remember much more, for I found myself absolutely exhausted as I laid down for well needed sleep...I knew that when I woke up, I would have a long day ahead of me.

My first view of Constance

A bench by the shore of the lake

- Emily

Rio Encouters

August 8, 2012 

The botanical garden was magical. Stopping in for 3hrs was not enough. However, our time was limited. We found Rio to be beautiful, exciting, diverse, but also to our understanding very different in some of the local ways of living. Some things that appeared different from our perspective, were the cross walks, supermarket aisles and even the metro. Rio appears to have a very disciplined set of rules, that can easily confuse foreigners. For example, riding on the metro from 8am-10am is a little different from any other times of the day. There is a separate metro cart for women for their safety, and no men are allowed in this specified cart.
It was really interesting to see different parts of the City Rio de Janeiro. Our next visit was Niteroi, a town where many people chose to live, because it was more affordable. Our destination was to see world known Oscar Nieyemeyer's museum of contemporary art. Here this public space in itself was great. Not only did it have great views as it rested at the edge of Niteroi facing Rio, but it also had a large public space in the entrance with great sketching opportunities. We entered the museum to inspire our sketching abilities. Within the museum, a lot of the contemporary pieces also included stadiums and plazas that were upcomming projects for the next world cup and the olympics. It was great to see the detail of the scaled models constructed. After observing these pieces, we decided to sketch some of the beautiful views outside the museum. I decided to also sketch my interpretation of the view from within the museum.

One of the great experiences of sketching in a public area is the interaction with other people who learn to see how you are interpreting a sense of place. Some people stop and admire and complement the work. Others are curious, as to who we are and what we are doing and become interested in more of our work. It was great to meet people and be able to understand what other people are saying despite our cultural differences. For instance, a lady approached me and asked me if I was a disenadora, and I could understand very little with some of my background in Spanish. I had to explain to her that i spoke Spanish because of my family background, but that I was a student in the United States. People were very friendly and glad to meet a foreign student. Some children were inspired to draw and observe what we were doing. It was great experience to interact with people from other languages and cultures.

- Maria Torres

Week 1

August 3, 2012

It's hard to believe our group arrived in Konstanz almost a week ago! There are 8 of us from Rutgers and one German student from the University of Konstanz who is studying with us.

This whole week we have had lectures in the morning, hands on work in the afternoons, and have been planning research projects in between. We're working in groups of 3 on different projects, along with a professor and grad student from the university. My group has decided to study the mixotrophic population in Lake Konstanz. We're using water bottles  to create 12 samples of lake water to test how algae growth response to different nutrients. There's a lot of lab work ahead of us but I think it's going to be an exciting project!

So far the program has been so great- the professors are amazing and the lake is a beautiful place to eat lunch and swim. One thing most exciting about being in a new country is trying out new food! I love to cook and bake at home so I am really excited to try some new things while I'm here. Of course we all have all bought some groceries to keep in the dorm- mostly nutella and haribo. We've also had the opportunity to try some traditional German cuisine that I've really enjoyed!

The first day here I had a delicious soft pretzel with my dinner! They are a specialty of southern Germany and the perfect snack with a little mustard.

I tried kasespazle on Sunday night. It is a mix of spatzle mixed with grated cheese and fried onions. Spatzle is another regional dish- it is a type of homemade egg noodle with a soft texture. It was my favorite thing I've had so far! It was salty, chewy, and really delicious- kind of like a German man 'n cheese (but way better than Kraft.)

I also tried wiener schnitzel when we had a welcome dinner with the entire program on Tuesday night. Everyone you ask in Germany doesn't seem to know what type of meat it is, but it's definitely breaded and fried and served with plenty of french fries.

Hopefully I'll have plenty more culinary adventures to share within the next two weeks!

- Alyssa DeVincentis