April 4, 2014 - Cuenca Chamber of Commerce Tour

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Today we joined 28 other expats (Gringos) on a tour bus provided by the Cuenca Chamber of Commerce.

We took a drive for about 30 minutes to the University of Cuenca's Experimental Dairy Farm. It is located on 563 acres of land that used to be owned by the government. They only have about 55-60 head of cows, a couple of horses and about 50 guinea pigs.

They told us how they are trying to get the Ecuadorian cows to match the milk output of the International cows (from the US and other countries). The Ecuadorian cows produce about 12 - 15 liters of milk per day. The International cows produce 20 - 30 liters per day. They are doing this strictly through research, not through steroids or hormones.

They also showed us how they do an ultrasound on the cows they believe are pregnant. When they did this one they discovered that the cow was about three months pregnant.

The farm also produces Queso Fresco (fresh cheese). This is done in small quantities at this time, but they are improving the building so they will be able to increase production. We even had some samples and they were very good.

They showed us the way that they tranquilize the horses through physical manipulation rather than shots.

When we went to see the guinea pigs we even had to wipe our feet in some sort of powder before entering the building.

It was a very interesting tour.

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