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Hevener tours Spanish ag plants
BY JAMES JACENICH • STAFF WRITER
 | | State FFA officers from around the nation, including Thomas Hevener Jr. of Highland County, attended the FFA state officers leadership seminar in Spain. Some of the officers posed in front of Saint Tome Church in Toledo: (l-r) McKenzie Crabtree, Alabama; Thomas Hevener Jr., Virginia; Sara Ervin, Georgia; Mark Ryan, Washington, and Erika Barth, Florida. (Photo courtesy Nate Jannsen) |
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MONTEREY - Thomas Hevener Jr. leaned forward in his chair as he talked about his trip to Spain with Future Farmers of America. Hevener, the son of Tom and Lisa Hevener of Monterey, is state FFA secretary and was invited to go to an international leadership conference for state officers. He is serious and businesslike in demeanor. He graduated from Highland High School only last year, but he has matured with the experience of leadership, travel and knowledge gained.
His dark eyes rarely blinked as he explained what he saw. He emphasized his words with animated hand gestures. His voice rose and fell, emphasis placed appropriately, where it counted, words clear, properly enunciated and carefully chosen.
 | | Thomas Hevener Jr. toured an olive processing plant during his trip to Spain with the FFA. The olives are being ground for olive oil. (Photo courtesy Nate Janssen) |
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"I saw a piece of another country's agriculture," he said simply.
FFA state officers from all over the United States were in Spain Jan. 4-17. It wasn't a pleasure trip - there would be no nighttime parties, no carousing, and no indiscretions.
AgriTours U.S., which provides agricultural tours worldwide, guided the group through the southern part of Spain, taking in research facilities, meat plants, citrus groves, a winery and a farmers' cooperative. He spent time in Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Granada, Seville, and Valencia.
"COVAP, la Sociedad Cooperativa Andaluza del Valle de los Pedroches, started in 1959 when five farmers banded together," Hevener said. "It's grown into a major corporation that supplies milk to the majority of Spain. They also incorporate dairy cattle, sheep and pigs into the business.
"Each farmer pays dues and agrees to sell all their produce, whatever they raise, to the cooperative. The cooperative handles advertising and marketing, processes and sales the products, and the farmer gets paid for their products.
"Sheep and pigs are slaughtered and processed much the same as in the United States," Hevener added. But the milk is different.
In the United States, milk and cream are blended together and pasteurized. In Spain, however, milk is sterilized so it doesn't need refrigeration. "It didn't taste good to me," said Hevener. "It tastes like canned milk."
COVAP sells farmers feed and equipment, too. Hevener said COVAP was the most interesting part of his trip.
Compared to the Spanish meat industry, United States beef is still superior, Hevener said, adding that they are trying very hard to catch up.
The Spanish are also willing to import the technology they don't have to compete on a global level. Hevener said he saw a John Deere dealership in Spain.
He was impressed with the experimental research facilities he visited. He went to one that was testing different types of grapevines to see what would work best. The winery does not produce vintage years of product as the French do, but rather aims for a uniform product from year to year. "They brought in the grapes each year," Hevener said. "There were three levels of barrels. New wine was put in the top level of barrels. After a certain period of time, about two-thirds of the wine was removed from the top barrel to the next row of barrels below, leaving the top barrels about one-third full." The second row of barrels were emptied in the same way, transferring twothirds to the bottom row, leaving one-third in the barrel. The bottom row of barrels therefore contained three years worth of wine, evenly mixed. "This insured every bottle of wine was the same," he said. "Each bottle had some old wine and new wine."
French wine, on the other hand, specializes in vintage years, he said. The difference is in the marketing, he explained. The Spanish are able to produce a consistently uniform product from year to year whereas the French emphasize vintage years. They can charge more when the grapes were good, making up for years when the vintage wasn't so good.
Hevener said olive oil is a major Spanish industry. He saw how the Spanish harvest olives with tree-shaking machines, causing olives to fall off. The olives are trucked to a plant, ground up and made into olive oil. The olive is heated and cooled in a carefully predetermined way to produce oil, in this case extra virgin olive oil, which is more expensive and of higher quality than other olive oils.
"We learned that olives that were used for olive oil were picked when ripe, edible olives are picked before they are ripe," said Hevener. "That gives them two different seasons for picking, depending on whether the olives are for eating or olive oil production."
Hevener took a walking tour through the laboratories of a research facility specializing in citrus production. He was allowed to sample lemons from certain trees that were not part of an ongoing experiment.
Hevener also had some time to relax. He swam in the Mediterranean Sea. It was very cold, he said, but he wasn't going to go to Spain and miss an opportunity to swim in the Mediterranean.
The FFA officers also toured cathedrals, visited palaces and sampled local cuisine.
"The food was different," he said. "They used different spices and combinations of food. For example, I bought a sandwich with tomatoes, boiled eggs and raw salmon. I also tried pate - duck liver - one day. I was not impressed with the food - it wasn't to my taste. So I went to Burger King."
Hevener was impressed with the energy saving measures in use in the country. "There are no huge cars, none," he said. "And the hotels didn't leave hall lights on. They had motion detectors. I had only one room key. When you entered the room, you couldn't turn the lights on automatically. You had to put the key in a slot to activate all the electricity in the room."
He also saw an industrial wind turbine facility on a Spanish ridgeline as the tour bus went from one agricultural plant to another. "The Spaniards didn't have a problem with them," he said. "They are fine with alternative energy. Besides, the mountains were windy. And gas cost over a Euro a liter - that's six to eight dollars per gallon."
The American influence was everywhere, said Hevener. From Burger King to McDonald's, they even had Wal-Mart style store (El Corte Ingles). "Many more people speak English over there than speak Spanish in America," he said.
"For the most part, people were helpful," Hevener said. "At times, though, we felt unwelcome. Some people would see us and shouted at us 'Americano' in a disdainful way."
In an age of global terrorism, Hevener said he saw no signs of it in Spain. He also said the Spanish people are more liberal than Americans, especially in alternative lifestyles.
After hours, the FFA officers stayed in their hotels. "The group kept very businesslike and professional - no parties, no after hours discos or such things," he said.
Hevener wouldn't have been able to go to Spain if it weren't for the financial support of civic organizations and individuals in Highland County. He is thankful to all who helped finance his trip to Spain.
After he has completed his term as state FFA secretary, he intends to go to Virginia Tech to major in ag. economics or political science.
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