Brazil looks to lift its beef marketing game

They are also aware of the room they have to boost productivity and, again, are looking closely at how Australia has made efficiency gains.

These were some of the insights to come from a group of Brazilian beef industry representatives hosted by big agribusiness outfit Rabobank as part of Beef Australia 2018.

As Brazil continues to hold its position as the main exporter of beef to the world over the next decade, it will be looking for additional customers, Rabobank’s Brazilian-based beef analyst Adolfo Fontes said.

However, such is the opportunity in growing worldwide demand for beef, particularly from China, that “there will space of all to compete,” he said.

In the long run Brazil is expected to export 3m tonnes of beef annually, Mr Fontes said.

Between 2017 and 2027, it’s production is forecast to increase by a whopping 59pc, compared to Australia’s 11pc, India’s 27pc and the United State’s 5pc.

Brazil and Australia are similar in size but half of Brazil’s 170m hectares of pastoral land has some degree of degradation.

“Our pastoral land is under-used,” Mr Fontes said.

Likewise, lotfeeding is under explored. Only 10pc of Brazilian beef comes from feedlots.

But things are changing. Cropping areas are increasing and productivity of the land is going up, said producer Fabio Jacintho, who with his brothers runs five farms over 60,000ha based in Navirai in the mid western state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

The operation has a herd of 50,000 Nelore, Charbray and Bonsmara cattle and all beef produced is sold domestically.

Mr Jacintho said he was impressed with how resources in Australia were used to the optimum.

“Each region has different rainfall, soil and cattle. There is much environmental diversity but all farms are achieving the most productivity possible in their situation,” he said.

“We can learn lessons from this. In Brazil, for example, there is a lot rain but it is not used nearly as well.”

Rabobank’s just-released beef quarterly outlines a situation of heavy animal protein availability on the Brazilian domestic market at the moment.

That has come about due to growing beef supply and a decline in poultry and pork exports due to restrictions in the international market.

It says low dometic protein prices may force more Brazilian beef overseas - indeed their  exports increased 20pc from January to March.

Hong Kong is the main destination for Brazilian beef but efforts were in place to open Japan and Korea, Mr Fontes said.

And Brazil saw “big opportunities” to develop its marketing - something it believed Australia does very well, he said.

However, growing consumption rates of beef internationally would mean plenty of opportunity for all suppliers, he argued.

“For example, China’s per capita consumption is only 6 kilograms per person per year - for Brazil it is 37kg,” he said.

“They have 1.3b people. If there is just a little increase per person, we will not have enough beef to fill demand for 20 years.”