March 30 - Cattle & Coffee

We started our day looking at a stud bull cattle genetics facility. Here were some of Brazil's best beef and dairy genetics - Brahman, Nelore, Gur, Red Angus, Black Angus, Simmental, Hereford. There are 120 bulls from which semen is collected and sold all over the world.

In the afternoon we spent time with the owner of a coffee processing factory. He showed us through his factory looking at how the coffee beans are ground.

It was also very interesting to see how the coffee taster sampled and graded coffee quality to determine the price the grower received. Basically its similar to wine tasting where a sample of the coffee is first smelt then tasted, with the sample being spit into a spitoon.

This district of Carmo do Rio Claro is right in the heart of the largest coffee growing region of Brazil. The best country for coffee is high elevation and inland away from sea breezes. This district has 2000mm of rain per year. Brazil is the world's largest exporter of coffee. Stayed at a beautiful lake-front hotel at Carmo do Rio Claro.