Can Brazil save the Amazon and produce enough beef to feed the world?
Restoring 40 million hectares of pasture could feed billions and ease pressure on the Amazon. Is the world paying attention?
Can Brazil save the Amazon and still feed billions? World Without Cows: The Battle for Balance explores this question from the perspectives of Brazilian cattle ranchers on the front lines of one of agriculture's greatest challenges.
Scale: The potential of pastures
Brazil
by the numbers
0
Beef cattle in Brazil
0
Hectares of pastureland
in Brazil in 2023
in Brazil in 2023
0
%
Reduction in pastureland in Brazil since 2004
0
Million tons of beef exported in 2024
0
%
Brazil’s share of
global beef production
"We have 40 million hectares of pasture in some stage of degradation, from moderate to severe. If we use these 40 million hectares, we could double our grain, livestock and forest production without cutting down a single tree."
Mariana Aragão
Researcher, Embrapa (the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corp.)
"We doubled production on the same land. That’s why I say sustainability is tied to the entire chain we’ve put together: genetics, pasture, crop-livestock integration. Brazil’s potential is so great. We don’t need to expand any further. We just need to make better use of what we already have and optimize it."
Junior Cavalli
Fazenda Pureza, Santa Rita do Pardo, Mato Grosso do Sul
"We have an enormous capacity to produce food, but we still face challenges. And the size of the challenge matches the size of the opportunity we have as a country."
Liège Correria
Sustainability director, JBS Brazil
Liège Correria, sustainability director, JBS Brazil
"We have an enormous capacity to produce food, but we still face challenges. And the size of the challenge matches the size of the opportunity we have as a country."
Brazil has the capacity to double food production without clearing
a single tree.
Scale
Brazil is the world’s #1 beef exporter. It supplies 1 in 5 kilos of beef traded globally and holds 40 million hectares of degraded pasture — an area the size of California. The country is working to increase production on existing pasture through better management rather than expanding into forested areas.
Safeguards
While headlines often accuse cattle ranching of driving deforestation, few outside Brazil know that ranchers must comply with one of the strictest environmental laws in the world, requiring them to preserve 20–80% of their land. The Forest Code balances productive farming with conservation, requiring producers to preserve native vegetation, protect sensitive areas like riverbanks and restore illegally cleared lands.
Solutions
Agriculture accounts for 80% of global deforestation. Brazilian ranchers are helping shape a more sustainable future. Restoring degraded pastures can sequester carbon, rebuild soils, protect watersheds and increase productivity without deforestation.
Stories
Beef ranching is vital to Brazil’s culture, and its ranchers are stewards of the land interested in preserving their family’s agricultural legacy. They love the land, and they are committed to preserving it.
Scale
Brazil is the world’s #1 beef exporter. It supplies 1 in 5 kilos of beef traded globally and holds 40 million hectares of degraded pasture — an area the size of California. The country is working to increase production on existing pasture through better management rather than expanding into forested areas.
Safeguards
While headlines often accuse cattle ranching of driving deforestation, few outside Brazil know that ranchers must comply with one of the strictest environmental laws in the world, requiring them to preserve 20–80% of their land. The Forest Code balances productive farming with conservation, requiring producers to preserve native vegetation, protect sensitive areas like riverbanks and restore illegally cleared lands.
Solutions
Agriculture accounts for 80% of global deforestation. Brazilian ranchers are helping shape a more sustainable future. Restoring degraded pastures can sequester carbon, rebuild soils, protect watersheds and increase productivity without deforestation.
Stories
Beef ranching is vital to Brazil’s culture, and its ranchers are stewards of the land interested in preserving their family’s agricultural legacy. They love the land, and they are committed to preserving it.
Brazil has the capacity to double food production without clearing
a single tree.
Scale
Brazil is the world’s #1 beef exporter. It supplies 1 in 5 kilos of beef traded globally and holds 40 million hectares of degraded pasture, an area the size of California. The country is working to increase production on existing pasture through better management practices and innovations in animal nutrition rather than expanding into forested areas.
Safeguards
While headlines often accuse cattle ranching of driving deforestation, few outside Brazil know that ranchers must comply with one of the strictest environmental laws in the world, requiring them to preserve 20–80% of their land. The Forest Code balances productive farming with conservation, requiring producers to preserve native vegetation, protect sensitive areas like riverbanks and restore illegally cleared lands.
Solutions
Agriculture accounts for 80% of global deforestation. Brazilian ranchers are helping shape a more sustainable future. Restoring degraded pastures can sequester carbon, rebuild soils, protect watersheds and increase productivity without deforestation.
Stories
Beef ranching is vital to Brazil’s culture, and its ranchers are stewards of the land interested in preserving their family’s agricultural legacy. They love the land, and they are committed to preserving it.
get Facts
Download our fact sheets to learn more about the challenges and opportunities in Brazil and discover how Brazilian ranchers are using climate-smart practices to produce more beef on less land.
Explore
As the world’s top exporter of beef and home to 60% of the Amazon rainforest, few places matter more to our planet’s future than Brazil. Learn more about how cattle ranchers are balancing their dual role of nourishing the world and addressing climate change.
Food or forest?
New mini-doc explores deforestation, food security and the Brazilian cattle sector’s path to a more sustainable future
The world has beef with Brazil. Here’s what’s missing from the debate.
Mention Brazilian beef, and you’re likely to spark discussion about familiar themes: deforestation, emissions and blame. What do we find when we dig deeper? Here are the answers to five top questions about Brazil’s role in protecting the Amazon and feeding the world.
get Updates
Sign up for World Without Cows updates to learn about our latest videos and companion content, find out about upcoming screenings and film festivals, and discover ways to get involved.
World Without Cows Brazil: The Battle for Balance is a companion mini-doc produced by the filmmakers of World Without Cows, a feature-length documentary that examines the cultural and economic significance of cows, their role in feeding the world and their impact on climate. Through interviews with farmers, ranchers, scientists and other experts, award-winning journalists Michelle Michael and Brandon Whitworth take viewers on a global journey to deepen their understanding of everything cows contribute and what the world might look like without them.
