The date for Brazil to climb to the posi-
tion as biggest global beef producer has al-
ready been set. It will be in 2020. Fernando
Sampaio, executive director of the Associ-
ation of Brazilian Beef Exporters (Abiec),
maintains that, besides the position as big-
gest exporter, the Country is trying to out-
strip the North-American cattle raisers in
productive performance.
According to him, Brazil is responsible for
17% of the total amount of bovine meat pro-
duced on the planet, while the United States
accounts for 19%. Another nation in a position
to compete with Brazil on that score is Austra-
lia, but this country suffers from serious water
availability limitations. In the meantime, the
scenario in the United States does not favor
further increases because, although exporting
a lot, the domestic market is very strong, with
consumption exceeding production.
Sampaio understands that one of the fac-
tors that should favor Brazilian cattle farm-
ing operations is the use of technology on a
large scale. “Beef cattle production is no lon-
ger dependent on huge physical areas, and
no productivity losses are incurred”, he stress-
es. “Grass-fed cattle is still our predominant
system, mainly because of the cost, whilst
in the United States calves are sent to feed-
lot systems right after weaning”. Although
there is no shortage of technology for boost-
ing our national production gains, Guilherme
Cunha Malafaia, researcher at the Economy
Department of Embrapa Beef Cattle, in Cam-
po Grande (MS), has it that, in a gradual man-
ner, Brazil’s pastureland areas are bound to
decrease, whether through the recovery of
degraded areas by agricultural operations or
through the expansion of rural zones.
This information is corroborated by Scot
Consultoria, in São Paulo. According to the
director of the company, Alcides Torres, land
availability will suffer a reduction of 12.3% by
2030 in Brazil. “Brazilian beef cattle produc-
tion will experience gradual changes over the
next 10 years, through an ever-increasing use
of cereal grains to feed cattle’, he explains.
On the other hand, Rabobank officials, a
Dutch bank, leading financer of global agri-
business, maintain that in 2024, approxi-
mately 40% of Brazilian bovine meat will
rely on some type of intensive system, that
is, cattle will be reared on grain-feed. “Cur-
rently, about 10% of the animals slaugh-
tered in Brazil come from intensive feed-
lot systems, with a diet based on soybean
meal and corn”, says Malafaia. “In general,
Brazil resorts to feedlot systems to comple-
ment the supply of beef at off-season time,
when pastures are of low quality”.
What makes a real difference in grain-fed
cattle is the chance to anticipate the average
slaughter age, whilst increasing their weight.
These elements attest that progress should
be achieved in the integrated systems, like in-
tegrated crop-livestock farming systems, or
models that equally integrate forests, over
the coming years in the Country. These tech-
nologies are viewed as positive, in that they
reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases
fromcattle rearing, they alsoboost theproduc-
tionof grains, recover degradedareas andgen-
erate other environmental benefits.
Currently, the
Country accounts
for
17
% of the
beef produced in
the world
Countdown
Brazil is bound to become the biggest global beef producer,
by 2020, according to estimates by specialists of the sector
bem na foto
Doing well
Perfil da bovinocultura de corte
brasileira em 2014*
Fonte:
Abiec, junho* de 2016.
Área total de pastagem:
167 milhões de
hectares
Rebanho:
208,3 milhões de cabeças
Taxa de lotação:
1,23 cabeça por hectare
Abate:
42,07 milhões de cabeças
Produção de carne:
10,07 milhões (TEC)
Importação de animais vivos:
273 cabeças
Peso Médio de Carcaça:
239,5kg
Rendimento Médio Carcaça (zebu):
52,3%-55%
Exportação de carne:
2,09 milhões TEC
(20,77%)
In Natura:
1,62 milhões TEC (80%)
Industrializada:
257 mil TEC (12%)
Miúdos e outros:
215 mil TEC (8,4%)
Exportação de animais vivos:
681.312
cabeças
Desfrute:
20,11%
Confinamentos:
4,66 milhões de cabeças
(11% do abate total)
Mercado Interno:
7,9 milhões TEC (79,22%)
Consumo per capita:
39,2 kg/ano
Inor Ag. Assmann
14
