Did I mention it rained today? Off and on, hard and soft. But we didn’t really care.
Take this happy IFAJian out in the rain, happily picking his wild blueberries.
They were very good and not the only wild berries we found in this beautiful mountain stop.
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When we visited the Rustad-Skog moose lodge we all fit into a 250 year old cabin to listen to owner, Nils Rustad give us a history of the place and how they manage the moose population in Norway.
After Nils spoke we got to sample some very tender moose meat and drink the spring water that he sells from his property and which represents half the income of the “farm.”
You can listen to part of Nils’ presentation here: 
Nils Rustad Remarks (8 min MP3)
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After our group got a taste of the forestry business here in Norway we moved on out into the mountains and communed with nature.
We visited Rustad-Skog which is a moose hunting lodge. On the way out of the place people on the front of the bus said they saw a moose but those of us on the back did not.
We had rain off and on but it was beautiful either way. We learned how intertwined nature is to Norwegian people and everything they do, including farming.
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At the Moelven tour stop we got to walk through the workshops and see them taking an agricultural product (trees) and turning them into functional elements of office buildings, ampitheaters and basically all kinds of buildings.
The Moelven company oversaw the construction of multiple 1994 Winter Olympics facilities like the one here in Hamar that housed the skating competition.
Here you can see a board moving through the assembly line. It’s being coated on one side with glue before it gets put into a stack and pressed together to form a laminated building material.
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There were 3 separate tours going on today at the IFAJ Conress. I got picked to go on the forestry and nature tour. We started out at the Moelven company timber plant where they mainly make laminated trusses.
Here you can see a worker trimming a curved truss that’s made out of many separate boards of pine wood.
To get a better perspective you can watch a short video clip of this guy at work: 
Trimming a Truss (2 min WMV)
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At our opening night reception and dinner we heard from the CEO/President of Tine, the Norway dairy cooperative that makes Jarlsberg cheese. This year is the 50th year since they began making this great cheese. You can see the nice display of food we had with a Jarlsberg cheese wheel centerpiece.
I interviewed Tine President Hanne Refsholt prior to the reception and asked her to describe Tine and the dairy business in Norway. It sounds like dairy producers here have some of the same concerns as dairy producers in the United States.
Listen here to learn more about the dairy business in Norway: Hanne Refsholt Interview (6 min MP3)
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The president of the IFAJ Congress 2006 organizing committee is Mari Bjorke, Geno (pictured here with one of our tour bus drivers).
I finally got a chance to interview her late yesterday. Since I’m on the committee that’s planning the IFAJ 2009 Congress in Ft. Worth, I asked her about what it took to put together this meeting. She says they started almost 7 years ago.
Listen to Mari tell us how the Norwegians are going to “feed our senses” while we’re here: Mari Bjorke Interview (3 min MP3)
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Karen Simon (L), Iowa Soybean Association and Diane Johnson (R), Livestock Publications Council, wanted their picture on AgWired today, so here they are.
They’re posing at the Moelven company office where we learned about the forestry industry in Norway today. The little munchkins with them are the mascots from the winter Olympics that were held in this area in 1994.
I’ve got a lot more to post for you but it’s going to have to wait until later this evening after dinner since we’ve got to go get on another bus.
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The swine industry has become increasingly alarmed just in the past year or two about the incidence of what has become known as PCV-AD, or Porcine Circovirus Associated Diseases.
At a PCV-AD update meeting sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. last week, veterinarians and members of the media were updated on the latest information available about this emerging disease complex. One of the presenters was Dr. Tom Gillespie, a swine practitioner from Rensselaer, Indiana and immediate past president of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. He is also chairman of the AASV committee on PCV-AD.
I didn’t get a good picture of Dr. Gillespie at the meeting, but I did do a fairly long interview with him about this issue which the broadcaster in me decided to make into an audio report. It’s a pretty darn complicated issue that needs more than just a post to explain – so here is a 4:30 report with Dr. Gillespie. Tom Gillespie.
To find out more about PCVAD, check out these websites – pcvd.org, thepigsite.com and pighealth.com.
Here’s a the view from my room. I have this fantasy of going upstairs on this break and taking a nap. Shh. Don’t tell anyone.
I know you’re probably thinking, “Chuck, can you post any more today?” How much can we absorb in one visit? I posted a little heavy on purpose because we’ve got a reception/dinner thing tonight and then have to get up early to leave for an all day adventure and I don’t know when I’ll have time to post next. I’m betting late tomorrow evening.
So, sit back, relax and scroll down. Read, listen and enjoy. In fact, just Feed Your Senses!
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