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Published on: Monday January 24th 2008
“Cattle breeders on the other hand, have a different future. It is absolutely mad what those people are doing with land. Currently, there is a terribly extensive form of cattle breeding. So they are being told to intensify.” Farmers rightfully point out that moving cattle into other areas is cheaper than intensifying, which needs investments. “I’m absolutely sure that its cheaper, no doubt about that. But food safety is becoming a real issue at the moment. There are many diseases at the moment, which could affect the export market”. In that respect, Mr. Zuurbier agrees with José Roberto Moreira who concluded the same. “He was proven absolutely right,” he says. “In 2004, the EU discovered that Brazilian laboratories were not equipped to trace specific residues in beef. Threatening to close the market for Brazilian beef, the EU asked the Brazilian government to improve this situation. After not complying with the request, the European Commission reduced the Brazilian beef import quota by one-third in December 2007. Because of that, Brazilians have no choice but to intensify into cattle ranches because it is the only way to control diseases”.
Apples and Oranges
Mr. Zuurbier acknowledges that Brazil has a problem with deforestation. He also sees the displacement of soybeans, in favour of sugarcane and he also sees cattle and soybean production appearing near or in the Amazon region. What he however doesn’t see, is sugarcane being the direct cause of this chain of events. “The solution has to come from a clear system of land titles, strict legislation on both illegal timber trade and the production of crops near sensitive biomes, intensification of cattle breeding and sustainable development of 10-30 million hectares in the Cerrado region. At the end, it is also a farmer’s decision what he is going to cultivate. In fact, I’ve spoken to some farmers who will switch back to producing oranges next year, simply because ethanol prices are forecasted to be even lower than last year.”
Peter Zuurbier is director of the Latin America Office of Wageningen University and research center. The office is located at the University of São Paulo’s campus in Piracicaba (SP). He is an Associate Professor in Business Administration focusing his research, training and consulting activities on food chain development domestically and internationally. In particular his research centers on internationalization strategy in the Americas. He co-developed the Agri Chain Competence Center in the Netherlands, managed food chain projects, participated in congresses and published extensively on the subject. Between March and September 2006 he was visiting professor at the University of São Paulo.
© Ethanol Statistics 2008
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