Brazilian Ethanol and the Displacement of Cattle

ROTTERDAM – The discussion on the sustainability of Brazilian ethanol was off to a fresh start in 2008, at the European Motor BioFuels Forum 2008 in Rotterdam. On the 9th and 10th of January, industry experts once again gathered to discuss various aspects of the growing market for fuel ethanol, specifically in Europe and Brazil. Among the subjects was of course sustainability. Conflicting opinions were expressed about the real contribution of ethanol to the reduction of CO2 emissions, the impact of biofuels on food prices and food availability, and also indirect effects on tropical forests and biodiversity. Indirect effects, because the notion that Brazil is planting sugarcane in the Amazon region has proven to be factually wrong. The indirect effect seems to be a fair point however, since sugarcane fields are moving into areas that were previously used for cattle and soybeans.

In October last year, we interviewed José Roberto Moreira on the subject, who said that the idea of cattle moving into the Amazon would not be economically sustainable, because diseases in those areas would prevent Brazil from exporting beef. At the Biofuels Forum in Rotterdam, we discussed the issue again with Peter Zuurbier, Associate Professor and Director of the Wageningen UR Latin America Office. After having established the office in Piracicaba (São Paulo, Brazil), Mr. Zuurbier is now actively involved in research projects concerning the ethanol industry and an expert in the field of ethanol feedstock. In October last year, he organized a conference at Wageningen University, specifically aimed at exploring the indirect effects of sugarcane and soybean production on the Amazon. According to him, deforestation leads to soybean production near the Amazon, not the other way around.

The role of (il)legal timber trade
“It’s a dynamic process between roughly two regions in Brazil,” he says. “One is the Amazone region and the other is the rest of Brazil surrounding it. Over the past 15 years, soybeans have been moving North into the savannah-like Cerrado region, and up to the tropical rainforests of the Amazon. However, what happened after that was an interaction with often illegal timber trade in the Amazon region. Well organized groups and corporations with questionable land titles, but also official land owners began to chop down large acreages of forest to trade timber, both legally and illegally. Usually, after the empty strips of land were abandoned, cattle owners would move into these cheap lands. However, after 3 to 4 years of cattle breeding, the thin soil of the Amazon is completely useless without any form of fertilization and livestock owners usually move into the next abandoned area. Soybean farmers meanwhile replace the livestock in these areas, recognizing the opportunity to fertilize the area for soybean production. Now the question is, can you blame the cattle owners for moving into these empty strips of land, or the soybean farmers for moving in after the cattle has left? I personally don’t think so. I think the real problem lies in illegal deforestation and lack of property rights, as around 50 percent of the Amazon region has disputed titles and this is an invitation for timber companies.”