4 ms·

Please correct me if I'm wrong. My understanding is that the primary economic interest driving the Amazon's deforestation is (wealthy) cattle ranchers and to a

Please correct me if I'm wrong. My understanding is that the primary economic interest driving the Amazon's deforestation is (wealthy) cattle ranchers and to a lesser extent loggers. The loggers make money off a tract of land once, the ranchers make money off it for years. Neither of those groups employ a particularly large share of Brazil's poor, nor do they exert a price effect that particularly benefits the poor.

meiraleal 5y ago
No, it is not for cattle ranchers but for soy farming which is mostly exported to US and China.
- Jeff_Brown 5y ago
  Ah, it looks like you're largely right. Brazil export 83 million tons of soy in 2020[1] and produced 137 million tons in the 2020-2021 "marketing year"[2]. Can I assume most of what it didn't export went to feed Brazillian livestock? [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/721215/soybeans-export-volume-brazil/#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20exports%20of%20soybean,billion%20U.S.%20dollars%20that%20year https://www.statista.com/statistics/721215/soybeans-export-v.... [2] https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/pecad_stories.aspx?regionid=br&ftype=prodbriefs#:~:text=Brazil's%202019%2F20%20soybean%20production,8%20percent)%20from%20last%20year.&text=Soybean%20area%20continues%20to%20increase,the%20world's%20leading%20soybean%20producer https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/pecad_stories.aspx?re....
  - meiraleal 5y ago
    > Can I assume most of what it didn't export went to feed Brazillian livestock? Not really, what is used to feed cattle is the byproduct of soy processing, the rest after taking the oil for cooking and biodiesel.
  - jgilias 5y ago
    This 2004 World Bank report on the issue outlines cattle ranching as the main driver of deforestation: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/758171468768828889/pdf/277150PAPER0wbwp0no1022.pdf https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/7581714687688288...

meiraleal 5y ago

No, it is not for cattle ranchers but for soy farming which is mostly exported to US and China.

Jeff_Brown 5y ago
Ah, it looks like you're largely right. Brazil export 83 million tons of soy in 2020[1] and produced 137 million tons in the 2020-2021 "marketing year"[2]. Can I assume most of what it didn't export went to feed Brazillian livestock? [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/721215/soybeans-export-volume-brazil/#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20exports%20of%20soybean,billion%20U.S.%20dollars%20that%20year https://www.statista.com/statistics/721215/soybeans-export-v.... [2] https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/pecad_stories.aspx?regionid=br&ftype=prodbriefs#:~:text=Brazil's%202019%2F20%20soybean%20production,8%20percent)%20from%20last%20year.&text=Soybean%20area%20continues%20to%20increase,the%20world's%20leading%20soybean%20producer https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/pecad_stories.aspx?re....
- meiraleal 5y ago
  > Can I assume most of what it didn't export went to feed Brazillian livestock? Not really, what is used to feed cattle is the byproduct of soy processing, the rest after taking the oil for cooking and biodiesel.
- jgilias 5y ago
  This 2004 World Bank report on the issue outlines cattle ranching as the main driver of deforestation: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/758171468768828889/pdf/277150PAPER0wbwp0no1022.pdf https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/7581714687688288...