Shopping for bull

Written to Rattle and Hum by U2

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.
- Will Rogers

On Saturday I visited Fazenda Santana da Serra, also referred to as Gir Leiteiro FB, a beautiful dairy and coffee farm located in Mococa à Cajuru, approx. 70 km from Ribeirão Preto. Upon arrival, I was met by the owner, José de Castro Rodrigues Netto, and his foreman, José Carlos, both of whom spent approx. three hours showing me their cattle, a combination of Gir Leiteiro and Girolando. The family has worked with these breeds since 1933, and the results are impressive. Many of their top cattle fetch prices ranging from R$40,000 to R$125,000 (€15,646 or $23,396 to €48,895 or $73,112); some of their rarer semen recently sold for R$7,500 (€8,228 or $12,304) per dose. Needless to say, these are truly exceptional animals. One of his dairy cattle produces more than 12,000 liters during a single lactation, which corresponds to approx. 40 liters per day for approx. 305 days. To put this in perspective, the average production for dairy cows in the US in 2005 was 8,800 kg (19,576 pounds). This cow definitely got milk!

Needless to say, I was not looking for anything quite so expensive, but I did find a stunning young bull, which I hope to be able to purchase in the coming weeks. The idea would be to breed this purebred Gir bull with a solid group of Girolando heifers.

In a positive coincidence, it turns out that Fazenda Santana da Serra uses the same tractor, an Agrale 4100.4, that we are thinking of purchasing. Fortunately, they rated it highly. It is always nice when you can get real-world feedback on a major purchase before taking the plunge. As an alternative, I am also considering buying a John Deere Gator™ TH 6x4 Diesel, which has the disadvantage of not being a tractor, but the advantage of costing slightly more than half as much as the Agrale. Boys and their toys...

Back at Alfheim, Clair and our newest employee, Dirlei, have begun planting the napier seedlings, and Marcos and his crew are finishing up the third house, the water troughs and our churrasqueira. If everything goes according to plan -and when does that not happen- they should complete the three projects this week.

Finally, Lone will return from her globetrotting and assorted political intrigues on Saturday, when I will pick her up at São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport. We will relax at Fazenda Alfheim before heading to São Paulo on Monday, where we will spend Monday and Tuesday. I have a big surprise planned for Lone on Monday (which she has been unable to guess despite her considerable posturing), and she has her monthly ladies' lunch on Tuesday.