Eye on Agriculture: Competing with Brazil

As the time to turn tires in the field for farmers in North Dakota draws near we're taking time t...  More »

As the time to turn tires in the field for farmers in North Dakota draws near we're taking time to look who our farmers are competing with on the global market. One of the emerging Agricultural superpowers is the South American country of Brazil. Brazil is now largest exporter of sugar, ethanol, beef, poultry and meat, along with other crops like coffee, orange juice, and tobacco. (Constanza Valdes, USDA ERS) Brazil has grown to become an agricultural superpower because they've already made a conscience effort to move away from a policy of industrialization. USDA economist Constanza Valdes says Brazil moved away from industrialization in the late 1970's and is concentrating on Agriculture . Over the past decade, Brazil-the world's 11th largest economy-has been consolidating its position as an important agro-food producer and major supplier to international markets like the European Union, the United States and China. (Valdes) We expect it will continue to grow and develop because the basis is already there. They are very large producers and exporters but most importantly they have this agro-industry that have been developed, they have foreign investment. Even U.S. agriculture producers have invested in Brazil. However with such a big investment in agriculture, the country is facing serious obstacles such as the country's transportation infrastructure. Most of Brazils farmers face long bumpy dirt roads to get their product to market. (Valdes) If they were to overcome their difficulty in transportation of the structure and the marketing of their agricultural faze they will even be more efficient and they will be able to put their produce in foreign markets that low cost don't even compare to very efficient producers like the U.S. The value of Brazil's 2005 agricultural exports reached US $30.9 billion dollars. With numbers like that it proves that everyone is vying for their share of the world market. With your Eye on Agriculture, Shaun Sipma, KX News.  « Less