Our sincere condolences

It is with great sadness that we learned that Julio Cesar Bustios passed away due to Covid 19 in Cajamarca, Peru. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

Julio (on the right) with dairy farmers in San Lorenzo, Cajamarca Region

Last week, we received news that Julio Cesar Bustios had died due to Covid 19 in Cajamarca, Peru. Julio worked for the AgriBusiness Group from early 2017 until the end of 2020 in the role of Regional Coordinator for the Cajamarca Region as part of the Peru New Zealand Dairy Support Project (PNZDSP). It was a privilege to work with Julio who I first met in October 2016. I was greatly impressed with his extensive experience and passion for pasture-based dairy production. He recognised the many advantages this farming system had over the traditional feedlot system that was used in the region – much of this knowledge had been built on his association with Gallaghers and their electric fences. His promotion of the PNZDSP, oversight of the pilot farms and the subsequent extension of results to other farmers in the region was helped by this passion and the large network of friends and colleagues he had in the region. The uptake of the knowledge generated by the project and the positive impact this has had on the lives of hundreds of small farmers in the region is a significant legacy of his work. I greatly appreciated Julio’s honesty, his sense of humour and commitment to the project. I knew that following the end of the project in November 2020 Julio had plans to continue the work promoting the outputs of the PNZDSP project in Cajamarca and I know that he would have continued to make a big impact. Covid 19 has been a disaster for Peru and its people - it is only with the loss of close friends that you understand the impact so closely. Julio’s many friends in New Zealand are extremely sad with his passing and we have passed our condolences to his family at this moment of great sadness.

Words written by Jon Manhire