Coming in on the home stretch..

I believe we have all just about recovered from DISCON 2011 last weekend. Yesterday we toured the DVF Dairy Farm in Talavera, Nueva Ecija, only 130 km north of Manila. While the area is known for it's rice production, a breed of carabaos (you read that correctly, carabao... not caribou a.k.a. reindeer), have been introduced by a Rotarian, DANILO “DANNY” V. FAUSTO. These carabaos provide sustainable milk income and livelihood for the surrounding farm communities. The carabao is the national animal of the Philippines and is pronounced “care-i-BOW".

Here is the presentation we watched which provides background information as to why this is a sound financial investment for the farmers of Nueva Ecija, along with how the milk is more healthy for the people of the Philippines: http://www.map-abcdf.com.ph/documents/presentations/Agribusiness/Food%20Processing%20and%20Manufacturing/P20101111.pdf

We were able to drink carabao lattes, eat carabao halo halo, and eat carabao pastillas.. which are sooo good. We also got to experience farm culture of milking a carabao and watching a carabao become pregnant. Fun.