Production Systems to Integrate Livestock Grazing and Grain Production in Southern Brazil and Midwestern USA

Production Systems to Integrate Livestock Grazing and Grain Production in Southern Brazil and Midwestern USA

Agriculture in the USA and Brazil has undergone similar and dramatic changes in the past 20 years. In both countries, production systems have become increasingly specialized. Large farms are characterized by single enterprises, simple crop rotations, and livestock production is segregated from grain production. The lack of diversification and high production costs expose producers to risk from economic swings of single enterprises and greater reliance on pesticides and synthetic fertilizers to maintain profitability, along with greater risk of soil erosion from continuous row crop production. Scientists in southern Brazil and Ohio are collaborating to develop no-tillage systems that integrate livestock grazing with cash grain production. The goal is diversified production systems that are profitable as well as biologically and environmentally sound.