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Brazil is moving into carbon-neutral beef with a project targeting reduced emissions and increased sequestration, said Fabiana Villa Alves of Embrapa, the Brazilian counterpart of Teagasc.
“We’re talking about integrated forestry, crop and livestock systems,” she told the Global Conference on Sustainable Beef in Kilkenny.
The 12m hectares suitable area could store up to 35Mt of carbon dioxide per year – equivalent to twice as much as Irish agriculture’s total emissions – and more than offset emissions from cattle farmed on that land, Villa Alves added.
Pilot programme
A pilot commercialisation project with processor Marfrig is set to begin and carbon-neutral certified beef could ultimately represent up to 10% of Brazilian beef, all destined for export.
Claus Deblitz of the Thünen Institute of Farm Economics said such agroforestry systems could improve the sustainability of beef production across South America, with similar results achieved in Colombia.
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