July 24, 2007

Brazil set to become the world's biggest beef trade player

Brazil's fertile pastures have helped produce 9 million tonnes of beef, up from 6 million tonnes a decade ago, to become the biggest beef exporter in the world.

Brazil is the second-biggest beef producer in the world after the United States, but it is geared towards the export market.

Ranking sixth place among beef exporters 10 years ago, producing a little more than 300,000 tonnes, Brazil has emerged to the top, exporting more than 2.4 million tonnes in 2006.

The transformation has its roots in the 1970s, when farmers began migrating from the traditional farmlands of the south of Brazil -- where the soil is among the most fertile in the world. They moved farther north to the formerly semiarid cerrado, a low scrub.

The soil was acidic, high in aluminum and low in nutrients. The farmers solved all three problems by adding limestone.

Institutions have developed further advances such as developing strains of grass that increased potential density of cattle to about one animal per hectare.

For years, Brazilian beef has been fed on pasture alone. Farmers and researchers have formulated developments to provide nutrients for soil to grow grass to feed cattle.

However, problems abound such as financial support and sanitation which has been partly responsible for outbreaks of foot and mouth disease.

Nevertheless, world markets should brace themselves for another surge in Brazilian beef exports over the next few years.