Beef Production- Cade and Andrea

Brazilian beef is highly competitive on the global market due to its low production costs, which are 60% lower than in Australia and 50% lower than in the USA. The lower costs are attributed to factors such as abundant grass species and seed production, as well as the use of breeds that are adapted to the hot and humid climate and resistant to parasites. Brazilian beef is also attractive because it is naturally raised without antibiotics or growth hormones. Beef production in Brazil has become a major source of employment and wealth generation in the country. The industry experienced significant growth between 1961 and 1981, largely driven by the expansion of exports. Hi, this is Andrea. I'm going to be talking with Cade about the beef production and trade in Brazil. What makes Brazilian beef competitive on a global scale? The production costs of beef in Brazil are an estimated 60% lower than in Australia and 50% lower in the USA, which makes Brazilian beef highly competitive on the international market. There's not much else the U.S. or Australia can do to compete with Brazil. There's factors which cater to this, but overall Brazilian beef is the cheapest and it has the cheapest production costs. With that leg on the global scale, what are some sources of the lower cost? Furthermore, what cuts back on those costs? Brazil has about 100 million acres of cultivated pastures and eight grass and a total of 20 species registered in the seed production of the Ministry of Agriculture. So cattle not only rely on human input, but they also rely on the environment. And Brazil has got plenty of grass species and plenty of seed production species that allow for the lower cost. Okay. What is the most prominent breed of cattle in Brazil? Really 75% to 85% of the Brazilian herd is a bow-indexed content. The beef breed with the largest number of animals is the Nolor breed, followed by the Gazura and the Geyer. All of them reside from India. Why do farmers and anchors choose these breeds compared to breeds that are commonly in the U.S. or around the world? These cattle are built to withstand the hot and humid weather, tolerant to intense sunshine, and they resist parasites very well. Parasites are a big deal, especially in their location, obviously, with vast jungles. But also, even when their ground is cultivated, there are still many pests around. And furthermore, they do a good job in poor-quality forage. They don't need a whole lot to live. They don't need a whole lot of food to live. So that's what helps out the lower cost in this cattle breed as well. Okay. What makes Brazilian beef attractive around the world? Since 2006, Europe has banned the use of antibiotics in animal production. But Brazilian packing plants have regulated their use, especially in the antibiotics and growth hormone producers. But they've been doing that for years. There's no – with Brazilian cattle, there's no antibiotics. There's no growth hormones. There's nothing like that. They're all naturally raised, open-pasture cattle. So going back to Brazil, what type of cultural impacts does beef production have in the country? Over the last eight years, beef production in Brazil has become one of the most important activities in terms of generating employment and wealth for the country. It employs by far the most people out of the whole country, without a doubt. So going back to Brazil, what type of cultural impact does beef production have in the country? Over the last eight years, beef production in Brazil has become one of the most important activities in terms of generating employment and wealth for the country. It's its number one employer. It provides many cultivation jobs, jobs all over the country. Beef in Brazil hasn't always been a huge part of the economy. When did that change? Between 1961 and 1971, the beef cattle herd grew 45 percent. And again, between 1971 and 1981, there was another 46 percent increase of the herd. This large increase occurred due to the rapid industrialization of the beef production. What led to that drastic expansion? Brazilian beef expansion is one of the main factors that contributed to the expansion of the beef industry. As a percentage of total beef production, export had increased from 31.4 percent to 28.2 percent from 2002 to 2007.