By Matt & Mary Hookham
•
03 Jul, 2018
I am Jack & Dick's Store Manager Matt Hookham's wife, Mary and I'm writing today because I recently had the opportunity to travel with my Leadership Wisconsin group to Croatia for 15 days. I toured the entire country and arrived back in the States with plenty of exciting stories to share. But you may be asking why I am blogging about Croatia when my family operates a feed store.
One of the primary learning themes I explored with my group in Croatia was agriculture. The Leadership Wisconsin Fellows began an unforgettable Croatian tour along the eastern edge of the country in the city of Osijek, the breadbasket of central Europe. But first, a bit about the country itself...
Croatia has a population of 4.5 million people, uses the Kuna as its currency and joined the European Union in July 2013. Its capital city of Zagreb is a bustling city in the north-central part of the country. It's called Hrvatska, the country of 1,000 islands because it has more than 1,200 islands and all its websites end with ".hr." Neckties, or cravats, as they're called locally, were created in Croatia.
As a result of the recent civil war in Croatia, the economy, both agricultural and political, has suffered over the last 25 years. As the country emerged from Communist rule, it transitioned from a central planed economy to a market economy. This liberalization brought drastic changes in the domestic market as well as in the foreign trade market.
The eastern part of the country is made up of low, arable land and the main crop production consists of wheat and maize. Other agricultural products consist of sugar beets, oilseeds, tobacco, wine, livestock and fish farming.
Rural areas throughout the country lack vital population necessary to improve the agriculture economy and production. There is a general under-utilization of human and natural resources and infrastructural disconnects. The land is used to grow whatever products possible but most of the dirt is not of great quality. Farmers there are unable to afford fertilizer and don't have the skills or resources to experiment with other farming methods such as rotational grazing. Sixty-six percent of the land is under private ownership while 34 percent is owned and utilized by the government.
There are two major vertically-integrated agricultural companies that control the farming in the country. They have production contracts with farmers that give the farmers directions on what to plant, how much of it, maintenance methods throughout the growing season and the pricing for their products.
So we spent the first 5 days or so in Osijek, four hours east of Zagreb. We had a gracious local host, a gentleman who taught at the University of Osijek, J.J. Strossmayer University. We had the opportunity to meet a representative from one of the vertically-integrated agriculture companies, then he gave us a tour of some of his company's facilities. Some of us toured a salami processing plant while others chose other plants within the company to visit.
From Osijek, we took our bus back to Zagreb where we stayed to experience the local culture for just a couple nights. From there we moved on to Rijeka, a city on the western edge of the country. We took in the scenic countryside as we continued our journey down the coastline. And scenic is an understatement! No descriptions or photos can really do proper justice to the breathtaking mountains, the glistening Adriatic Sea, white, sandy beaches and winding roads heading down the coast.
At the halfway point in our trip, we arrived at Krka National Park (see waterfall photo above) part way down the coast. We spent a leisurely afternoon touring the scenery there before heading to our evening destination, the city of Split. Split is where the youngsters in the country dream of going because there are clubs, bars and other establishments that cater to them more than in any other city.
Our final destination on our trip was the city of Dubrovnik at the southern tip of the country. This is the city where several scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed. We spent the last few days exploring the city, taking tram rides over it and the Adriatic and simply soaking up the history and culture during our final days in the country.
My trip was one to remember, no doubt. I enjoyed so many diverse learning opportunities and was exposed to not only the Croatian lifestyle, economy and culture, but also the global perspective.