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by Stewart Truelsen

At the WTO meeting in Mexico, Brazil took the lead in bashing the United States and Europe for farm policies that they say drive down commodity prices in developing countries. Although Brazil is considered a developing nation, one certainly has to question its role as a champion for fairness in agricultural production.

Brazil is South America's leading economic power. It has characteristics of a developing nation because of the huge gap between its rich and poor. But the word "developed" certainly applies to Brazil's soybean production. In fact, soybean production is being overdeveloped much to the concern of the American soybean producers.

The USDA looked into the potential impact of competition from Brazil in soybean production. The statistics and analysis are certainly eye-openers. In the last five years, Brazil has increased the area under soybean cultivation by 43 percent, while increasing production by 66 percent. According to the report, "Land resources are being reallocated to soybeans from less profitable crops and from pasture, while land clearing in virgin regions has also accelerated." The report estimates it will take Brazil another five years or less to equal U.S. production levels, and that over the next century, Brazil's soybean area could increase by 50 to 100 million hectares. One hectare is 2.47 acres. With that amount of land, Brazil would be able to meet and exceed world demand for soybeans. It will take time, and Brazil would have to ignore some of the environmental alarms being sounded, but it could happen.

What's ironic is that Brazil dares to accuse the United States of driving down farm prices in developing nations when it is the culprit in lowering world soybean prices. As the USDA report concluded, "Brazil (unlike other countries) has the capacity to prosper in an environment of markedly lower international commodity prices." Obviously, American farmers cannot prosper in that same environment.

Brazilian farmers also are pirating biotech soybeans. USDA concluded that 10 to 20 percent of soybeans planted in Brazil are biotech varieties even though they are not legally permitted. When eventually approved by Brazil's congress, the use of herbicide-tolerant soybean varieties will result in higher yields and lower herbicide costs. Of course, Brazilian farmers will have to pay the licensing fees that American farmers pay to use the seeds, something they now avoid.

At the same time it is expressing solidarity with farmers in developing countries, Brazil has a thorny problem with a group at home. Thousands of landless farmers are trying to claim idle land situated on large ranches for themselves. They'd better hurry before it's all planted in soybeans.