A Brazilian Experience

Independent Contributor
Australia V Brazil Comparison
I’m in Brazil for 2 weeks and have spent a lot of time here since 2008, climatically it has one of the best agriculture growing environments in the world.
Huge variation from the tropics below the amazon in the North to the cooler temperate climate in the south. Infrastructure is an issue with no good rail system to transport produce and poor road maintenance. Some key facts compared to Australia (AU).
- 8.5 million square km (7.7 AU)
- 90% renewable Electricity (34% AU)
- 150 million tonnes of Soyabean annually (50 Wheat & Barley)
- 550 million tonnes of sugar cane (31 AU)
- 234 million Cattle herd (26 AU)
- 35 billion litres of milk (8 AU)
- 21 million Sheep (78 AU)
- $2.50/hour minimum wage ($24 AU)
All quite amazing figures but as a farmer I wanna to see their cashflows and margins, dairy farmers I know here shared these numbers.
- Milk price current $10.50/kgMS ($8.20 AU)
- Farm Working Expenses $8/kgMS ($7 AU)
- Labour costs $1.10/kgMS ($1.40 AU)
- Dairy Business value $20/kgMS ($30 AU/NZ)
- Pasture Growth 30tDM/ha with 1000mm of rainfall/irrigation and 500kg of N, compare to Tasmania/Victoria irrigated at circa 15tM/ha, similar rainfall/irrigation and 200kg of N.
Comments around these numbers are while the minimum wage is low, various other taxes are involved, as well as farms I’ve previously visited having a nightwatchman at the dairy to prevent theft.
Farm Values
Dairy farms have a large variation in management, stocking rates and infrastructure, so its difficult to get data on and average value, but compared to AUS/NZ their capital business values are about a third less as mentioned above.
From 2019 to 2022 cropland value increased 128% from $1875 to $3534/acre (circa 3.5t Soya yield)
Australia 2020 to 2023 median value increase 125% from $1800 to $3600/acre (circa 3t Grain yield)
Interestingly my dairy farm in NZ, valued at $15,000/acre in 2008 is still worth $15,000/acre in 2024 (Circa 14t DM pasture yield) …..the negatives/positives of Overseas Investment an interesting argument……and the 5% CAGR longterm I referred to has a bit of catching up to do.
OK that’s some high-level framing numbers, I’ll now paint a slightly biased picture of life in Brazil….. I’m staying with my ex-wife Juliana and kids for 2 weeks, they shifted here at the start of the year, amazing for teenagers, new language to read and write, poverty, crime……it’s turning them into sustainable humans…..
I love South Americans…..but after diagnosing Brazilians with a corrupt gene last week, I’m going to jokingly suggest the whole continent (having employed Chileans and Argentinians) has mild bi-polar disorder…..Juliana is an emergency doctor and extended family politicians, and because I stay in their environment I see the real Brazil…..it’s like watching a Tarantino movie…..they claim to be passionate…..and are, but it’s at both ends of the emotional scale.
Brazil is really quite isolated, no involvement at all in World War 1 or 2, or now in the circus that is Russia/Ukraine or the Middle East. Colonised by idiots (the Portuguese), they still celebrate their madness today among many other religious festivals that are just amazing …..everyone has heard of carnival in Rio…..there’s literally a carnival in every other city. Incidentally over half the population identify as Roman Catholics.
Being a Gen X borderline alcoholic who thinks rules are guidelines…..I’m constantly warned to be a streetsmart, stay out of favellas (slums), don’t wear jewellery or look rich, cross the street if you see more than 2 guys together, make sure you are in a safe part of town, and if you are out after dark, stay in the touristy areas. A drunk gringo at midnight in Rio is 100% gonna be mugged…..fortunately it appears robbers like to sleep in, so daytime seems ok…..
Crime KPI’s appear to be improving
- Police killed over 6,000 people last year.
- 173 police were killed in 2022, down from 385 in 2017
- 41,000 homicides – down from 60,000 in 2017
There used to be starvation related crime, but in President Lula’s first term (2003-2011), hell of a movie if you have time, he spent 2 years in prison and is the president again now…..he introduced a form of social security where 50 million families actually received $100US equivalent in food vouchers a month, nowadays there’s mainly genuine greed driven crime, easily justified by watching their leaders who are almost openly corrupt.
Lula tries hard, although got caught out in his first term taking a holiday house in a bribe/skimming type situation (jailed for, then acquitted)…..Bolsanaro followed (2019-2023) a gangster with the moral fibre of Putin, was directly responsible for another 4 million plus acres of the Amazon being turned into farms (yes while farmers in Europe are being forced to reduce their environmental footprint in an attempt to fix global warming)…..global greenwashing again…..
Now I’m painting quite a dark picture here…..but the people are amazing, even many of the homeless and poor have an ironic sense of humour evolved from generations of starvation and adversity. Which reminds me of my first trip here in 2008 when Lula was in his first presidency, the extremes are off the scale, going for a run in the morning I literally run around people sleeping on the footpath…..then there are wealthy people using helicopter taxis.
They have a passion for life not as obvious in Western countries now…..their suicide rate is half ours. Life is so hard they don’t complain about all the insignificant crap we do, news is more like news here…..not Albanese having a tiff with the greens or a diverse MP. I asked my kids what the best thing about Brazil is…..no hesitation…..“The people are better”…..
Juliana’s Uncle Paulo, a lawyer for one of the senators (yes the same one who nicked money off her, incidentally after she threatened to kill him…..has forgiven him) is one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met, an alcoholic and a poet, he has serious ‘rich man’s disease’ and will pay for everyone’s drinks on a night out…..then ask for a loan the next day…..
Back to the continental bi-polar diagnosis, Uncle Paulo visited Aussie about 6 years ago, and I queried him on the families bi-polar issues, he said the whole family had it, him and Juliana perhaps a touch more…..literally everyone argues a lot on everything…..cries, laughs, hugs…..but generally forgives and moves on to the next argument…..the link between being a race of passionate people as opposed to bi-polar a bit blurry to someone of stoic Irish descent…..