The Rural Voice, 2006-03, Page 37With high transportation costs,
Niekerk expects Brazil to ramp up its
livestock production. "They'll walk
the corn out on four legs," he said.
That's one reason Smithfield Foods
has set up shop in Brazil.
Brazil is the fourth largest
producer of pork in the world and the
fourth largest exporter. Pork
consumption is low compared to
other meats.
There are 180 million head of
cattle for 180 million people, most of
it grass-fed. That high human
population is an advantage to meat
producers because Brazil can eat its
way out of surpluses.
Poultry production is controlled
by huge co-ops with producers
making about 30 cents a bird. Of
course buildings are required mostly
for shade, though in the intense heat
there is animal discomfort.
Weppler gave a view of the
whole region, from
Northern Mexico down to
Argentina and said agriculture across
the region very much depends on the
local climate within a region that
stretches on both sides of the equator.
Northern Mexico is very similar to
the southern U.S., southern
Argentina is very similar to Canada
and in between are tropical areas
with totally different conditions.
The areas of Mexico where cattle
are fed are very dry and shade has to
be created for the cattle. A Mexican
feedlot would bring in 500-600
pound animals and feed them a ratio
of 60 per cent grain, 40 per cent
forage for 90-150 days. There are
some very modern feedlots there,
Weppler said. Cost of production is
about 84 cents a pound. The price
recently for live weight was $1.08 or
$1.10 for a hot carcass.
The cattle fed are mostly bulls
because it's more important to
produce volume than better quality
beef for high-end restaurants.
In Mexico the cow -calf operations
are typically in the tropical parts and
the south. Cattle are generally dual
purpose animals with a lot of zebu in
them (zebu is a breed that originated
in India). Farmers may actually leave
the calf on the cow to grow it, but
make sure the calf doesn't get all the
milk so that milk can be sold for
cheese or powdered milk.
One milking parlour Weppler saw
was just a shed in the middle of the
pasture, but many other cattle are
milked by hand.
Prior to Christmas, calves were
selling for the equivalent of
$ l .07Cdn for a 400 -pound calf while
milk sold for 13 cents a pound. Cull
cows sold for 58-73 cents a pound.
In Brazil, "wherever they can find
a flat spot they create a feedlot,"
Weppler said. A feedlot is generally
surrounded by cow -calf operators
feeding into the feedlot. There are
some Charolais cattle in Brazil.
There are three ways that stocker
cattle might be handled. A 400 -
pound calf can be sold to someone
Brazilian farmers have been
creating new farmland in the Mato
Grosso (shaded area).
who puts it on pasture and raises it to
1,000 pounds before sending it to a
feedlot. The calf could be put on a
good pasture, then finished with
grain. The producer might also start
the calf on pasture then put it in a
corral in the field for the last 45-60
days and finish it as if in a feedlot.
It costs about 28-42 cents a pound
to put on gain with producers getting
a price of $1.08Cdn.
A problem for producers in these
tropical countries is parasites,
Weppler said. "It's a real problem. It
will kill an animal."
Farmers run cattle through a tick
bath, a deep channel they have to
swim their way out of. The chemicals
are very potent. Many wouldn't be
allowed to be used in North America.
Conditions in Argentina are more
like Canada, Weppler said. Farms
have mostly British breeds or British
crosses because Argentina has a
lower tariff arrangement with Britain
if certain conditions are met. Cow -
calf operators are concentrated in the
north of Argentina where it's more
humid and tropical. Farther south in
the pampas area alfalfa, corn and
soybeans are produced and the
livestock production is centred on
fattening cattle and dairy. In the
much colder extreme south, sheep are
pastured.
Livestock producers face a strong
competition from cash crops for land
and cattle are moving to less
productive areas. Argentina has seen
a significant expansion of soybean
production.
Despite some of Brazil's
competitive advantages, Niekerk said
of the AALP tour group "80 per cent
of us were glad we were farming in
Ontario".
Weppler agreed that despite some
natural advantages that South
America has, Canada has its own
advantages. We worry about the
rising value of our dollar compared
to the U.S., he said, but most other
currencies have also been rising so
the situation hasn't changed with
most countries except the U.S.
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)
has been discovered in some areas of
Brazil with the resulting loss of
markets in Europe. The long-term
impact of such bans can be
devastating, Weppler said, noting
Taiwan and the United Kingdom
have never completely recovered
from disease outbreaks nor had
Thailand been able to win back its
poultry markets after an avian flu
outbreak. It's a reason to take
biosecurity seriously, he said.
The BSE crisis in Canada led to
the creation of more packing
plant capacity. While we're not
using that capacity right now, it gives
us the option to add value to meat
before exporting it, Weppler said.
"We're ahead of the U.S. in
identification," he said of the
Canadian Cattle Identification
Agency identity tracking program.
"In the global market people want to
be able to trace beef back to its
origin. We have to keep moving
forward (in identification tagging)."
One questioner also queried
Weppler on the advantage Canadian
genetics give our producers, pointing
out that many countries can't produce
quality beef at under the 20 -month
age limit set 'by Japan. Weppler said
Canada has leading genetics in beef,
dairy and pork that give it an
advantage.0
MARCH 2006 33
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