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The Role of High-Volume Ranches as Cattle Suppliers: Supply Chain Connections and Cattle Production in Mato Grosso

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  • Raquel Carvalho

    (Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA)

  • Lisa Rausch

    (Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA)

  • Jacob Munger

    (Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA)

  • Holly K. Gibbs

    (Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA)

Abstract

Brazil’s zero-deforestation Cattle Agreements (CAs) have influenced the supply chain but their impact on deforestation has been limited in part because slaughterhouses monitor deforestation only on the properties they buy from directly. Consequently, deforestation continues to enter the supply chain indirectly from properties that are not monitored. Knowledge gaps and data limitations have made it challenging to close this loophole and achieve meaningful reductions in deforestation. Here we leverage our large property-level supply chain database that links together six years of records from the Animal Transport Guide (GTA), high-resolution satellite data, property boundaries, and land cover data to quantify different types of supply chain connections and characterize cattle production in Mato Grosso. We find that a relatively small number of high-volume suppliers—defined as the top 5% of cattle suppliers in terms of the volume of cattle sold–supplied 50–60% of the total volume purchased by major slaughterhouses. One-fourth of high-volume direct suppliers cleared forest between 2009–2018, and 90% of them also bought from indirect suppliers with deforestation, leading these high-volume direct suppliers to act as funnels for deforestation into the supply chain. Because they serve as important hubs in the supply chain, high-volume suppliers may represent a key starting point to expand the CAs to cover large numbers of indirect suppliers.

Suggested Citation

  • Raquel Carvalho & Lisa Rausch & Jacob Munger & Holly K. Gibbs, 2021. "The Role of High-Volume Ranches as Cattle Suppliers: Supply Chain Connections and Cattle Production in Mato Grosso," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-12, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:10:p:1098-:d:658046
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hecht, Susanna B., 1985. "Environment, development and politics: Capital accumulation and the livestock sector in Eastern Amazonia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 663-684, June.
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    1. Amintas Brandão Jr. & Lisa Rausch & Jacob Munger & Holly K. Gibbs, 2023. "Mapping Slaughterhouse Supply Zones in the Brazilian Amazon with Cattle Transit Records," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-17, September.

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