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Cattle For reasons similar to agriculture, ranching is not very adaptable to the land of the Amazon Rainforest. The grasses required to feed cattle, like the crops maintained in agriculture, are not resistant to the natural forces of the Amazon Basin and quickly deplete the nutrients of the surrounding soil. The nutrients that were once in the soil are removed from the ecosystem, shipped away as ground beef. Studies on land use have also suggested that the continuous movement of cattle on the unprotected land results in soil compacting, which increases the density of the soil material, resulting in decreased root penetration, water infiltration, and gas exchange.3 This means that larger flora, requiring a more extensive root system, are unable to grow under the compacted soil conditions, leaving the land for grass and woody shrub encroachment. The possible solutions to preventing nutrient loss are similar to those suggested for agricultural systems. Cattle ranching remains a very important industry in Brazil and is becoming even more vital to the Brazilian economy. The Brazilian commercial cattle herd is the largest in the world.4 Beef and milk are the two top livestock products in Brazil5 and exports of Brazilian beef grew to $1 billion (USD) in 2001. By 2003, Brazilian beef output is expected to reach 7.4 million tons, with exports of 925,000 tons. One problem in Brazilian beef exporting has been the existence of foot and mouth disease in some Brazilian states. This has caused the United States to be very stringent with Brazilian beef imports. However, the United States and Europe are still major importers of Brazilian beef.6 For every 1/4 lb hamburger consumed in the US from rainforest beef, about 55 square feet of rainforest was cleared. Although many fast food chains claim not to use rainforest beef, this claim is simply not valid. The USDA doesn't have an adequate system of labeling where beef is from. Thus beef grown in the rainforest can pass th

Video of the Brazilian government and deforestation

How Ranching is Causing Deforestion It is the biggest cause of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and 80% of the deforested areas in Brazil are used for pasture (Greenpeace). Ranches also use a large number of slave laborers. As the cattle grazes the area, they eat the grass and plants in the area and the soil becomes compacted and is no longer sustainable. The cattle ranchers then need to move to another area, destroying more of the rainforest and creating more unsustainable land causing a vicous cycle that keeps continuing. Rancher use the rainforest because it's a cheap way to raise cattle and then export it to other countries such as the United States. The demand for Brazilian beef has grown recently in the past few years due to control over diseases in Brazil (ex. foot-and-mouth disease), improvements and development of more roads into the forest, and how easy it is to gain title to land (which is to just clearing a part of the forest and placing some cattle there). There is so much ranching occurring in the rainforest due to how much easier it is to own cattle and acquire the land than it is to own crops.A Company Involved in Deforestation McDonald's is actively using the Brazil rainforest for their ranching purposes. It enables them to acquire wealth by burning down the rainforest and then paying ranchers to come in and raise cattle. The ranchers don't have a set minimum wage, as we do in the states, therefore they can be paid much less to work. It also doesn't cost much for them to acquire land. All they have to do is burn down a part of the rainforest and then place cattle on the land, then later they can export the beef back to the United States Ways to Prevent Ranching From Causing Deforestation Don't eat or support places such as McDonald's, KFC, or Burger King. Before you go out to eat, research the restaurant and see whether they have ranches in the rainforest. Donate to an organization or cause that is actively trying to stop ranching in the rain

Government 

Bruce mucked in at a cattle ranch near Altamira, wrestling cows, inoculating calves, and having a brave (some might say foolish) attempt at rodeo. Cattle farming is big business in the Amazon - there are three times more cattle in the legal Amazon than there are people (64 million in 2003), and ranching is on the increase. It's a profitable enterprise because land prices are so low: pasture in the Amazon was five times lower than land around Sao Paolo in 2000. Most cattle produced are eaten elsewhere in Brazil, not locally in the Amazon, and Brazil is the world's top exporter, shipping over $3 billion worth of beef in 2006 and supplying nearly every country, including the UK. Cattle-ranching is a major factor in the deforestation of the Amazon. Most ranches are highly mechanised, and employ on average one person per 400 acres. Ranching may increase further in the future with the World Bank considering a loan of $90 million to increase beef capacity in Para - the Brazilian state of the eastern Amazon.

This site gives engineers an idea of who to form alliances with in the debate.

The perspective of the presidents

Rates of deforestation vary from one Amazon country to another, mostly because the factors that drive this process also vary across the region. In Brazil for instance, most clearing is carried out in large and middle-sized ranches for cattle pasture, whereas the role of small farmers clearing for agriculture is relatively more prevalent in other countries3.

Clear-cut swaths of the Amazon rain forest in Quiandeua, Brazil, are often planted with manioc, or cassava, a shrub grown for its starchy root. Farmers slash-and-burn large parcels of forest every year to create grazing and crop lands, but the forest's nutrient-poor soil often renders the land ill-suited for agriculture, and within a year or two, the farmers move on.