Wool and Auction

Friends and family,

Weather: Partly sunny. High around 63 degrees.

Yesterday morning our lecture by Neil Gow focused on entrepreneurship in New Zealand. One of the discussion points centered around the farm crisis of the 1980's. The country of New Zealand greatly reduced their number of farmers during this time. Before the financial burdens of the 1980's the country boasted nearly 43,000 farmer clients and after the debt crisis; less than 1,000. This was a difficult time for the farm economy, but led to New Zealand establishing themselves as a niche market in many areas. Neil reminded us in class that differentiation is a key to successful marketing and I strongly agree. Following this decade New Zealand agriculture developed with the cultivation of kiwifruit, blackcurrants, and deer farming.

Following lunch, our study tour group headed into Christchurch to visit a wool outlet store called Swanndri. Our Lincoln University coordinator, Errol and our bus driver, Robbie, said this was the best quality and value wool store in the area. I quickly agreed when I found a wool, olive green hunting cap with ear flaps. I snatched up the last one that they had in stock and quickly become the envy of my peers. I can't wait to show all of you when I get back to the states.

One of my goals of the trip was to visit a sale barn. Errol graciously agreed to drive me to the Canterbury Livestock Auction Yards after our trip to the wool outlet. Joe and Taylor accompanied me on the trip. Their was no sale while we were there, but they were loading out sheep on double-decker strait trucks. The facilities were extremely nice; nicer than any sale barn I have seen. Errol couldn't tell us the total capacity of the yards, but it was quite a few. The pens were all covered, similar to that of the Iowa State Fairgrounds. This has been one of my favorite stops on the trip. I made it official with a picture of myself auctioneering from the block.

A few of us were craving Mexican food and decided to find a restaraunt for our evening supper. I ordered a taco salad and it turned out to be enough for the entire group! What large portions! The rest of the evening consisted of a movie in our Hudson Hall lounge and a game of pitch. Dusty and I got back on track with another win bringing us to 7-3 on the trip. Tomorrow we head to Christchurch for a tour of the freezing works and then an overnight bus trip for whale watching the next day.

Sold on Canterbury,

Matt