A Few Early Morning Reflections Before We Hit The Road Again

The people in Panama continue to be some of the most genuine people I have ever had the privilege of meeting, they go out of their way every chance they get to make sure Jessica and I are comfortable and enjoying our time.  In the agriculture sector the problem is not production, yes there is plenty of room for improvement, but the primary obstacle is teaching ranchers to keep records as well expenses.  If the cattleman in the country could be taught basic budgeting and business planning, specifically pro forma accounting techniques, the potential for the producers is tremendous.  Luis and I have discussed the fact that the word population is growing so rapidly yet countries with developed cattle production  cannot keep up with the demand for affordable protein.  The tropics offer enormous potential in this aspect because it rains so much (everyday since we have been here) and they have the ability to produce forage for such extended periods of time.  Because of this factor, we believe the future of world agriculture production must include this area.

As we are touring these ranches I cannot help but have the upmost respect for the producers because of the hard work they are doing, but more than that, the passion they have.  It seems the producers here know they have room for improvement and they are constantly reading, researching, and experimenting with ways to improve and never want to stop learning.  We have been in some of the most rural places in the country and almost every cattleman has a cell phone and asks for our email addresses so they can keep in touch.  This may not seem like a big deal but if you saw some of the areas we were in you would not dream the people their had the ability to understand computers and technology (another huge factor in the potential that exists), yet they are more efficient than most americans.   This trip has had a tremendous impact on me personally because it has showed me the importance of finding passion in the things you love as well as not being afraid of starting somewhere and try.  If you succeed great, if you fail, even better because of the lessons you learned.

Writing is not my forte so it is very difficult to express the flood of experiences and thoughts Jess and I are inundated with everyday.  I continue to tell her  I want to write my experiences down between each stop so I will not lose them and can reflect back on them and try and give others a glimpse of such an enlightening experience.  Bare with me, and hopefully the pictures combined with improved writing (which won't take much from a 3rd grade level) will help convey what we are witnessing.