What comes to mind when you think about Brazil?
Brazil nuts, perhaps, with Christmas treats enjoyed in recent memory? The Amazonian rainforest? Rio de Janeiro, The Girl From Ipanema, the breathtaking statue of Christ the Redeemer? Maybe the Copacabana and the famous nude beaches?
Notice that agriculture doesn’t figure on the list – except for the nuts, and a lot of those come from Peru.
Yet Brazil is an agricultural powerhouse that is gaining momentum each year. It already has the world’s largest commercial cattle herd and it’s the third largest beef exporter. It is the world’s fourth largest pork producer and is also expanding its poultry industry.
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Brazil produces vast amounts of soybeans and lesser amounts of corn, cotton and wheat, yet much of its arable land is still uncultivated. Some estimates indicate Brazil could increase its current cropped area to more than 450 million acres, five times the amount of farmed land in Canada. And with its mostly tropical climate, Brazilian farmers can reap three crops per year.
Brazilian agriculture already plays a role in international agricultural trade. Its soybean presence controls prices for canola, as one example.
The country leads the G20, a group of developing countries that formed a coalition at World Trade Organization talks last year to seek compromise and subsidies from developed countries.
And with so much potential for greater production and export, Brazil is poised to become a force with which Canadian farmers must further reckon.
But how? That will be a fundamental question behind Western Producer reporter Ed White’s interviews in Brazil, which start today. White is our point man in investigating the potential of South American’s largest country to affect Canadian markets.
Our reporter will be in Brazil until Jan. 27 and will tour agricultural operations in several of Brazil’s 26 states – Sao Paulo, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. He is slated to visit cattle farms, soybean plantations, seed processing plants, cattle slaughter facilities and dairy farms.
You’ll see White’s story about Brazil’s potential on page 3 of this issue. Communication systems willing, he will also provide stories and photographs from Brazil over the next several weeks.
The last thing on his itinerary is a stop in Rio, famous for its vibrant night life, harsh dichotomy of rich and poor, and the aforementioned beaches. White will doubtless keep us adequately covered.
