Mayan pyramids ...

The Mayans were building pyramids in Mexico more than 2,000 years ago. It's interesting to note the similarities between these structures and those erected by the Egyptians. In Cholula we visit the pyramid that is recognized as having the largest base of any in the world, measuring 410 meters on a side. It is said to have been enlarged generation to generation as the Mayans covered it with dirt to put in another layer of stone. We learn from our guide that the Cholula pyramid was used for sacrifice and worship, not for burial of rulers as some others in Mexico were used.

K. Elliott Nowels   2/9/07

Agriculture in rural Mexico ...

Day two of our visit in Mexico City. Our wonderful hostess, Laura Perez, picks us up for the journey to Puebla, the colonial city. Traffic is especially crowded today, Laura shows great expertise in making her way through the chaotic scene. Sights and sounds rush past us for many miles: people, street peddlers, billboards, hundreds of shops, rows of cars and more people!

As we make our way out of town the scene changes. It is replaced with quiet stretches of rolling hills and occasional areas of crowded homes. Off in the distance looms the beautiful volcanoes, Popocatepetl (kneeling man) and Ixtacihuatl (sleeping lady). Here we begin to see many small farm plots of crops. Laura explains here agriculture is "low tech". There are many workers in the fields. Farmers till the land with horse drawn plows. Some of the crops grown here are white corn, cucumbers, Italian pumpkins, floral crops, wheat and cilantro. Workers pile corn stalks manually into shocks to prepare for the next planting season.

When we reach Puebla we meet Dupont representative Alejandro Moreno. We visit a small local dealer that services the farmers here. His business looks much like a feed store, stocked with products available for his customers. Alejandro gives us a tour of a farm that grows horticulture potted plants. All is done by hand. Rows of beautiful mums, pansies, geraniums, dianthus, poinsettias, lilies and roses greeted us. Upon visiting with the grower I asked him what he sells 4" potted geraniums for. He answers seventy cents each pot. I tell him we buy them in the United States for 3-4 dollars. He was surprised.

Louanne Deerkop  2/8/07

A tour of Mexico City ...

Up early for our flight to Mexico City. We are heading for cooler temperatures and a city culture. My first view of Mexico City was from the airplane with a surprising amount of smog generated by the activities of some 20 million people.

Laura Perez, who handles research and regulatory issues for DuPont in Mexico, had a friendly greeting for us at the airport. Though traffic was busy and thick, she masterfully whisked us through the downtown of this huge place.

Then Laura leads us to the upper deck of a double-decker bus for a tour of this great city. Our bird’s-eye view of busy Mexico City held monuments, statues and lots and lots of people. Cabs were green and white VW Beetles and cabbies seem to have no fear, often challenging the huge bus for a spot on the street.

After our tour we visited the Museum of Antrhopologia, where we spent most of our time on learning about the Mayan civilization. Cool tools and weapons made from stone, flint spear heads 20-inches long and beautiful art and sculpture. Their ancient architecture – Mayans built pyramids hundreds of years before Christ – has certainly stood the test of time, as many of these structures are still standing up to the elements. According to what we read here, agriculture was very important for the Mayans, with considerable attention given to studying the plants and the growing season.

Ted Deerkop  2/8/07

One museum writing points out that those Mayans who studied the way corn grew and became experts in these agronomic activities were revered as having a special knowledge of their gods. These ancients studied the weather, the soil, the path of the sun, they studied the plant -- sounds like an ag dealer, I say to Ted, and we consider a moment the similarity of the position. Then we decide that perhaps he wasn’t charging enough for this special knowledge of “the gods.

K. Elliott Nowels  2/8/07

Our air travel inland to Mexico City takes us across one time zone and drops us into a different world than the rural and resort areas we've seen so far. This city of more than 20 million faces the same sort of air pollution challenges that U.S. cities like L.A. and Phoenix have been fighting. Some working in downtown Mexico City commute two hours, one way, to work. DuPont's Laura Perez greets us and we see much of Mexico City's historic downtown area by double-decker tour bus.

K. Elliott Nowels  2/7/07

On the open ocean ...

Our hotel in Mazatlan is beautiful – swaying palm trees and a flamingo or two just outside our hotel room patio. All against the calming roar of the ocean. The weather is in the 80s and sunny.

Today’s adventures began early – six in the morning. We boarded a chartered fishing boat named Betsy and powered out to find the “ocean blue water” for fishing. We hoped to catch some exotic fishes – marlin, tuna, shark – but no such luck. The only thing we caught today was a bit of sea sickness. Even the captain!

Louanne Deerkop  2/6/07

The food on our journey has been remarkable. The use of peppers, tomatoes, and tortillas (these real tortillas are much better than the ones we get in the U.S.) all used in different combinations – fantastic. I will be bringing some of these ideas back home to brighten my own culinary projects. And, no where else will you see such a focus on a single cultural attribute: the tomato. It seems as if everything you see has a tomato on it or close to it. They have been growing them for hundreds of years and they must rate high on the list of the products making up Mexico's GNP.

Ted Deerkop  2/6/07

A refreshing perspective on matters
large and small ...

The visit to Pro Agro was both educational and    flattering. A great facility and yet it was as if they wanted us to provide some answers that weren’t yet obvious to them. Had they only known that I learned much more about business from them for a few short hours of our visit than back home over the past few years. Seeing someone else’s crop input business in another country offers a different and refreshing perspective.

Pro Agro is a rapidly growing business that has made some drastic yet essential changes to ensure the future of its service and employees. As with our business, change has been somewhat frightening, yet the leaders of Pro Agro have, I think, focused on the most important of all things,

providing security for their good employees. It’s the kind of security that leads to everyone being able to focus on what needs to be done without fear about what will happen next. It is a flat organization with people able to make the right choice to serve the customer.

Cosme Cota of Pro Agro shared with me that the struggles of change were much easier now that they have adjusted their focus. I must admit after seeing their facilities (wonderful emphasis on environmentalism) and hearing of their business intentions, I am impressed. They will do very well in their endeavors I am certain. Their hospitality was sincere and appreciated -- I wish to see them again!

Ted Deerkop  2/5/07

Inside Pro Agro ...
The team gets a look at this award-winning retail facility

The Environmental Respect Award team met with 2006 Ambassador of Respect Pro Agro. During the visit, they had the opportunity to tour the award-winning operation and exchange ideas with their colleagues in Mexico. Cosme Cota of Pro Agro described how Pro Agro became ISO 9001 certified, a designation they earned by improving business processes throughout the company. Pro Agro voluntarily follows the lead of the U.S. EPA so that their customers experience no difficulty in marketing their produce in the U.S. Ted also presented information on The McGregor Co. to his hosts. McGregor now has 42 locations in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The agronomists from Mexico were very interested in the unique terrain and equipment found in Ted’s business.

2/4/07

The "real Mexico" and a city tour ...

Late in the afternoon we toured Culiacan in an open air trolley. Our hosts, DuPont’s Mario and Fernando, have been wonderful.  We are finding our way across the language barrier – and they are doing most of the work, I think.

Louanne Deerkop  2/3/07

Ted and Louanne have a cup of coffee and a short rest before an afternoon tour of Culiacan. Their agenda for the next couple of days: a tour of Pro Agro, the 2006 Environmental Respect Award winner in Mexico, a relaxing fishing trip and back to work with meetings at DuPont Headquarters in Mexico City.

                                                                                    2/3/07

Environmental
respect matters ...

... throughout the value chain. Representatives of DuPont and Pro Agro join their customer Jesus Omar Castro of Agricola Pony in carrying the banner of Environmental Respect. Distributor Pro Agro were Latin America "Ambassadors of Respect" for 2006 and were honored at a special ceremony in Washington, D.C. in the summer.

The group will be touring the Pro Agro facility in the coming days.

"The gravel is even clean here ..."
Stewardship shows at tomato production plant

My mind is full of so much new information and I have only been here for two days.  How much can one learn in such a short time?  Language, culture, people and yes, agronomics, too. 

Our visit to Agricola Pony is an example.  A business owned and operated by a father/son team, Jesus Masao Castro and his son, Jesus Omar.  Omar was fluent in English, and that helped me greatly.  His father began the business 40 years ago and they run it meticulously.  Nothing out of place.  Absolute cleanliness.  We are staying in a very fine hotel, but I don’t think they keep it as clean as the tomato processing plant at Agricola Pony.  The gravel is even clean here!

The family business grows and ships some five million boxes of Roma tomatoes each seven-month growing period.  About 3.5 million boxes are shipped to the U.S. and the remainder are marketed in Mexico.  The brands are Pony, Omar and Paloma, and are able to command a full $2 per box premium over others in the market because of their quality, amounting to about 20 percent over average market prices.  This is about adding value at its best so take note, everyone, it isn’t about the cheapest product.

Ted Deerkop  2/3/07

Today we toured Agricola Pony, who grow and process tomatoes. The huge compound was immaculate. All white buildings, the cement roads looked like you could eat off of them. The plant itself was also spic and span. We got to see the big trucks come in with the roma tomatoes, they are dumped into a huge conveyer that washes the tomatoes, disinfects, rinses and dries before they are first sorted electronically by color. Many workers then sort the tomatoes again by size and color in a very big, very clean processing plant. It was quite the operation, computerized and very high tech. 

Louanne Deerkop  2/2/07

"My first clear view ... "

Jagged gray mountains of the Sierra Madre rising up along the Baja peninsula of Mexico -- my first clear view of the country we're visiting. As we descend into the city of Culiacan, the land becomes flat and there are acres and acres of crops. We learn from our hosts Mario and Fernando that this state, Sinaloa, is Mexico's leading agricultural state. Some 2/3 of the vegetabels produced here -- white corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers -- are exported north to the U.S. We're set to see tomato production this morning. What a great experience!

Louanne Deerkop  2/2/07

Their day started before sunrise in Spokane, WA and ended with a Culiacan sunset. After waking at 2 a.m. for their journey to Mexico, Ted and Louanne Deerkop of The McGregor Company met up with K. Elliott Nowels of CropLife magazine and DuPont host Mario Gastelum to begin their 8-day agricultural tour of Mexico. Their experiences and thoughts will be documented in this online journal throughout the coming week.