The Canadian Western Agribition in Regina has a way of shrinking the distance between farm families all over the globe.
It was not a quick trip for Uruguay farmers Pepe and Fernando Alfonso, who took several flights and travelled nearly 28 hours to attend Agribition for the very first time.
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“It was a long way, but totally worth it. We love to come to Canada and meet people that we are already friends with, and it’s just fun to come and see the cattle and get in touch with the people.”
They have a fourth-generation operation in the agricultural sector in Uruguay, handling genetics and cattle, as well as crops and forestry.
Despite this being their first time at Agribition, the pair are no strangers to Saskatchewan.
“We’ve been here, probably five or six times, touring ranches and building relationships, learning and trying to get the best from the ag sector in Canada,” said Fernando.
“We come every year to Canada to check out genetics, how people work their agricultural businesses, just to stay in touch with people in the north and see what they are doing, so we can take ideas back home,” added Pepe.
They are heifer breeders, but they also provide genetics to various countries.
“We export a lot of genetics from Uruguay to other parts of the world, South America, and back here into Canada, Africa, Asia, and Australia. We are lucky to be able to travel to different parts of the world and make lots of friends and learning from them, and have fun and have good relationships through cattle,” said Pepe.
Pepe said they have even taken genetics from people in Regina, with Fernando adding they mostly look for animal genetics that aren’t too big, or too small.
“Genetics that can work on our breeding conditions; in Uruguay, cattle graze all year round. We do not have snow in winter, just a little bit of frost,” said Fernando.
“Cows lose a lot of conditioning in winter, and need to adapt quickly and gain fat again in order to raise a good start, so it’s important they develop on grass.”
From Agribition this year, they are hoping to continue to make friends and find the perfect genetics to take back to Uruguay.
And they hope to come back next year.
– with files from 980 CJME’s Gillian Massie









