Last Day in Malaysia: Putting the Pieces Together

Our day started off bright and early with a trip to the wet market at 6:30 a.m. We found a much different setting at the wet market in Malaysia than what we found in Vietnam. It was very similar to an American farmer’s market, but the major difference was the option of purchasing fresh meat. There were fish that were actually still alive at the market, just waiting for someone to buy them before they were “prepared for purchase.” We saw of a wide variety of meats for sale including frog, shark, sting ray, and squid. Other interesting produce items included a variety of exotic fruits and vegetables.

We returned to our hotel to prepare for our meeting at Westport export and import container facility. We were given a brief overview of Westport’s business model by Mr. Sohan Singh, the director of conventional shipping at Westport. Westport is one of three ports in Pork Klang (which is the oldest and largest port in Malaysia). The port has $1 billion in annual revenue and moves approximately 1,000 vessels in and out per month. They have 67% of the market share within Port Klang and are currently expanding their operation.

Their expansions are expected to be completed in 2013. In terms of connectivity, Westport has eight countries with mainlines, with China being their largest. They rank 13^th out of all the ports in the world and have a goal of being in the top ten. Types of bulk transported out of the port include dry, vehicle, break, and liquid bulk. They also have a value-adding facility on site which allows private companies to import raw materials and manufacture on site before turning right back around to export the finished good. Westport was an impressive operation and we all enjoyed the opportunity to tour the facilities and the delicious cultural meal they provided us at noon.

A Little Taste of Malaysian Agriculture

Our day began at the U.S. Grains Council office in Kuala Lumpur where we were briefed on Malaysian agriculture markets and trade agreements with the U.S.

Chris Rittgers, agricultural attaché for Malaysia and Singapore for the USDA, gave a presentation regarding leading industries in Malaysia and their economic growth from a developing country to a developed country. Mr. Rittgers also enlightened us on many career options that we have in agriculture after college, especially in the international sector.

Afterwards Adel Yusupov, regional director for Southeast Asia for the U.S. Grains Council, gave a very detailed presentation on current markets in the entire Southeast Asia region. Adel has traveled with us since our arrival in Vietnam and has been an amazing asset to our team. One of the biggest lessons we learned was the growth in halal products in Malaysia. Halal is a religious process used by the Muslim culture in terms of agricultural processing and has allowed Malaysia to become a global leader in halal products around the world.

We spent a majority of the afternoon at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board outside of Kuala Lumpur. Palm oil production provides over one million jobs in Malaysia and is the country’s number one export around the world (40 percent of the global market.) While palm oil has played a controversial role for environmentalists over the past few years, the members of the MPOB that we met with confirmed that the Malaysian government was protecting its remaining forested land and was instead working to increase palm oil yields in current plantations. The most interesting fact was that farmers use almost every single part of the palm tree in processing, not just the oil, and palm products are found in almost every product you can think of.

The evening was spent visiting downtown Kuala Lumpur where we experienced the busy yet exciting night markets. Our bargaining skills have definitely improved over the past two weeks! Tomorrow we are visiting a wet market, large container port, and attending a reception event with the U.S. Grains Council.

Margery Magill, University of California-Davis

Breanne Brammer, University of Missouri

New Agriculture Adventures and Learning

Leaving the beach this morning from Pangkor Island Beach Resort, the I-CAL team was rejuvenated and excited for the new adventures that awaited us!

We took a ferry back to the main land and headed to the first tour of the day, the Malayan Flour Mill. The flour mill was opened in 1965 and the first to open in Malaysia.  It’s unique in the fact that it was designed by an architect and thus thoroughly designed with the ability to easily upgrade as time has passed since then.  We went on a tour of the plant and learned that it contains 70 silos with a total holding capacity of 65,000 tons raw product.

The flour mill is located along the river and has its own port, again something well designed and thought out by the architect at the time and offers MFM an advantage in the market place, as no other flour mill in Southeast Asia has this luxury.  They receive shipments of wheat from Australia, Canada, and the United States in the amount of 30,000 tons at a time, taking a full week to unload.  The flour mill produced 150 tons of flour per day.  It is stored in the silos located directly on the property and shipped out in both bulk and bagged form.  We were pleasantly surprised by the quality control testing that they perform, ranging from simply cooking with the final product to a numerous number of lab tests such as manolta tests (testing the color).  The mill is also vertically integrated; which leads us to our next tour of the day. Located directly next to the flour mill is a feed mill.

Life…are your tires inflated?

Maybe the last couple of weeks have gone a little like this for you:

• Practice for spring sports for hours after school
• Conference and State competitions and games
• Banquets for clubs and organizations
• Turning in the last weeks of homework
• Finishing end of the year projects and taking final…after final…after final
• Getting ready for graduation
• Applying for scholarships
• Preparing for summer jobs and internships
• Spending the last bit of time with friends before summer break
• Reconnecting with family and friends after school is out
• Doing some spring cleaning
• State FFA Conventions!
• Budget meetings
• Selling your home
• Replying to tons of emails
• Staying connected through YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, texting, calling, watching TV…
• And the list could go on…and on…and on

      Life can get…well, crazy!  There is so much going on around us and the world gives us so many options.  I don’t know about you, but I like to stay busy and have a tough time saying “no”.  While everyone is more than happy to have you on their team, in their group, or listen to your thoughts, we can not forget to slow life down every once in a while and keep a balance.

Culture and Karaoke

Our first day in Malaysia was spent getting acquainted with Malaysian culture. Our team participated in a wide variety of activities including, snorkeling, jet skiing, boating and hiking.  While snorkeling and boating we had the opportunity to indulge ourselves in the Malaysian culture by visiting local shops and cafes and interacting with the residents of Pangkor Island.

Before we headed to dinner, we did our S.W.O.T. (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis reflecting our time in Vietnam. Some of the strengths we saw in Vietnam include: agricultural diversity, utilization of resources and an increased consumption. Weaknesses present in Vietnam include: lack of infrastructure and poor food security methods. With every developing country there are many opportunities for growth. The opportunities we saw in Vietnam includes: a shift in protein sources, a demand for Vietnamese commodities and increased trade through the coastline. Along with opportunities come threats which include: disease outbreak, feeding a growing population and the inability to compete with China in the marketplace.

After dinner we were able to partake in some karaoke at our restaurant before heading back to the hotel to pack and prepare for Monday.  Tomorrow we will continue our journey in Malaysia by beginning our day touring a flour mill, feed mill and a poultry processing plant. In the afternoon we will head to Kuala Lumpur for dinner and to spend the next few days gaining new experiences in Malaysia to take back home.

By: Sarah Warren – University of California – Davis and McKenzie Baecker – University of Wisconsin – River Falls

 

Off to Malaysia

We departed Vietnam this morning to begin our adventures to Malaysia.  Out experiences in Vietnam, including the aquaculture, feed mill and poultry farms, will serve as a starting point to compare the rest of our time on I-CAL and American agriculture to.

Today’s transportation included a plane, bus and ferry that delivered us to Pangkor Island.  Tomorrow, we will experience Malaysian culture and end the day with a debriefing of our time and experiences in Vietnam.  Our first week abroad was amazing and we are looking forward to experiencing yet another culture and ag industry.

By: Nellie Hill – Kansas State University and Daniel Alvey – North Carolina State University

Good morning Vietnam (for the last time)!

Yesterday we took full advantage of what time we had left in Vietnam to explore the culture and grow as agriculturalists.  Although we only visited one agricultural facility we took a lot from the visit.

Our day began with a visit to the Ba Huan egg processing plant, which included both chicken and duck eggs.  To our surprise the company was owned and operated by a female.  All of the previous operations had male leaders.  She has had 40 years of experience under her belt.  Also, her business was one of the first in Vietnam to invest in poultry and egg processing.  The meeting room was filled with pictures of company members and certificates, which showed the pride that the leaders had in the operation.

 

We began the visit with an introductory video of the company, which included the groundbreaking ceremony for the operation’s second location which was just this month!  The video showed how the layers were housed and fed, which was all automated.  This even included automated manure collection.  Although the operation is almost completely vertically integrated, 70% poultry/egg production is contracted out to about 200 farms.  Approximately 400 million eggs per year come through the plant and supply a majority of the eggs available in the Vietnam supermarkets.  After the introduction video, we toured the processing portion of the operation.  We watched the washing, drying, candling, and packaging of the eggs.  The chicken and duck eggs were separated into two different lines.

After the tour we were able to ask questions and learn more about the facility and the egg processing industry in Vietnam.  In 2003 there was a Bird Flu outbreak in Vietnam which caused drastic drawbacks to the entire industry. In response, the government now supports efforts to prevent and maintain disease control.

More Adventures in Vietnam via Boat, Bus, and Moped Dodging!

For the next two weeks, participants in the 2012 International Collegiate Agricultural Leadership (I-CAL) program will be blogging about their travels in Malaysia and Vietnam.  Check back often, as they’ll be sharing some great insights from their trip along with some amazing photos!  (To see even more photos of the trip, check out U.S. Grains Council’s Flickr site.)

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Hello from Ho Chi Minh City!

Our second full day in Vietnam was filled with many different cultural and agricultural learning opportunities, and a full night’s rest prepared us all for a full day. We started out with bus ride south towards the Tien Giang Province to visit an aquaculture farm.

Along the way, we passed by hundreds of rice plantations and observed Vietnamese rice farmers transplanting and spraying the fields. Their work is very laborious compared to the mechanized American way of farming, so it was very interesting to see these practices.

We unloaded our bus and boarded a small boat that transported us up the Mekong  River to tour a small family aquaculture farm. The farmer greeted us with fresh coconuts filled with coconut juice from his garden, which we all happily accepted.

Nothing is Impossible in Vietnam

After a hearty breakfast the team met with Jeanne Bailey and Tran Quoc Quan of the Foreign Agriculture Service here in Vietnam.  Topics discussed included an overview of Southeast Asia and U.S. trade. The importance of Vietnamese food security was stressed with FAS prediction that it will soon be an impending leading rice producer. Adel Yusupov, SEA Regional Director for the U.S. Grains Council, ended his presentation by predicting that the countries of Southeast Asia will soon be as successful as Japan, Taiwan and Korea.

The tour then progressed to Thanh Binh Feed Mill which was an integrated agriculture facility that included a broiler breeding farm, rubber tree plantation and swine facility.

Thanh Binh Feed Mill began in the 1960’s with one hog and has progressed to include 20,000 head. Mr. Ph Duc Binh, owner and operator of the facility, gave students a first-hand tour of his operations.

Compared to most U.S. feeds, Vietnamese feeds contain 10 ingredients which create a more cost effective product. After learning about Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) from member presentations at orientation and the U.S. Grains Council, the group finally got to see DDGS in person.

The tour concluded with a Vietnamese dinner hosted by Mr. Ph Duc Binh. Today’s tour opened delegate’s eyes to all of the possibilities of Vietnamese trade and future industry opportunities.

“Farming is an extremely tough job,” Bailey said. “You not only feed part of the U.S. but the world.”

We’re headed to an aquaculture farm tomorrow!

Until then,

Breanne Brammer, University of Missouri and Margery Magill, University of California Davis

I-CAL 2012: Vietnam and Malaysia

For the next two weeks, participants in the 2012 International Collegiate Agricultural Leadership (I-CAL) program will be blogging about their travels in Malaysia and Vietnam.  Check back often, as they’ll be sharing some great insights from their trip along with some amazing photos! 

Here’s their first report:

The 2012 International Collegiate Agricultural Leadership (I-CAL) program started in San Francisco, California with orientation and briefings on varies industries on Sunday, May 20.  Everyone got to meet with each other and get familiar with one another as well as learn about the industries that we will be learning about while in Southeast Asia.   During our training we learned about industries ranging from palm oil, aquaculture, rice, poultry, corn and much more before leaving from San Francisco International Airport at 1:30 am Monday.

We had a quick stop-over in Hong Kong, followed by a layover in Singapore.  From there we made our connection to Vietnam, where we have met with our overseas contacts from the U.S. Grains Council.  After making it to the hotel, we had our first meal of Vietnamese noodles before doing a quick debrief of our day.  All of our luggage made it safe and sound and we are all very excited for the next few days in Vietnam before heading to Malaysia!  Tomorrow we will start off with a meeting with representatives from the US Embassy, followed with a tour of a local feed mill later in the day.