In December of 2016, OCW members traveled to Brazil for a market study tour to gain a better understanding of Brazil’s role in the worldwide agriculture market.

During the market study tour, the team discussed corn and ethanol production, imports and infrastructure.

Corn & Ethanol Production

In the last several years, Brazil has put a special focus on increasing their second crop corn production, and better utilizing the land available to increase production.

The potential to incorporate corn ethanol into existing sugarcane ethanol plants has become a possibility for Brazil.

Imports

With their main focus on exporting their corn, Brazil’s livestock producers have often had to rely on other countries for their grains. In the future, it’s predicted that the United States will be exporting more grains to Brazil to maintain their livestock industry.

Infrastructure

Brazil is working toward improving road, rail and barge infrastructure to improve grain movement by better utilizing the Amazon River and its tributaries similarly to how the United States uses the Mississippi River.