Ranchers in the Amazonian state of Para are being asked to tag cattle to determine if they are grazing on illegally cleared forest. The goal is to make cattle easier to sell in key markets like the European Union, but not all are on board with the plan. - REUTERS
00:01Cattle ranchers in the Amazonian state of Pará are looking to fix cattle ranching,
00:06one of the world's biggest drivers of deforestation.
00:09It comes as Brazil's beef industry evolves under pressure from some of the world's greatest export markets.
00:17Cattle have started being tagged with airchips as part of a government program
00:21to make cattle in the Amazonian state traceable.
00:24It's hoped millions will be tagged when world leaders arrive for the United Nations climate summit in November.
00:31Vice President of the state's cattle ranching association, Moretio Fraga Filho,
00:36says it will greatly improve herd management.
00:45What we're seeing is the need for a national program.
00:48Uruguay has been tracking for a long time, Paraguay is already tracking.
00:52So all our competitors, both international and national, are going to track their cattle
00:57and if we fall behind, we will lose market share.
01:01Producers are setting their hopes on exporting to the United States and Europe.
01:05They are pricier and more demanding markets that buy from some Brazilian states,
01:09but not Pará because of concerns around animal health and links to deforestation.
01:15Pará, which has a herd of 26 million, about the size of Australia's, wants to tag all its cattle by 2027.
01:22The state is a test for a wider policy that will be adopted nationally by 2032,
01:28in a major shift for the world's largest beef exporter.
01:32Environmentalists have argued improvements in cattle traceability gives law enforcement a powerful tool to choke off ranching in illegally deforested farms.
01:41Several big-time farmers, interviewed by Reuters, are throwing weight behind the policy.
01:48Small farm owner Maria Gorechi Rios also likes the idea.
01:53For control and market reasons, because there is a better vision of the market.
02:02If my animals attract, I will have a better sales opportunity just for that.
02:09But some are resisting as they think it will take them out of business,
02:12and few believe the government will meet its goals this year.
02:16I've seen enough in the marketplace.
02:18Final reasons that I'm happy to do the market so that I might not establish the market the market.
02:20I've done this in a few years.
02:22If there is a slightly smaller field, I don't have a better vision of the market.
02:24I've been looking for the market, but I think it is a really big part of this market.
02:29I'm going to look for the market that I've seen and I'm going to look for.
02:30Now I've seen a lot earlier and I'm thinking about that.
02:32I hope I can see all the marketer of this market.
02:34And I'm trying to understand that.
02:36So, let's find a lot of friend of the market directly who's looking at the market for sales.
02:39First of the markets as a trend I'm trying to get.
02:40The markets and that are a lot of friends I am going to be looking for,
