Degraded pastures: technical efficiency, stocking rates, pasture allocation and rural credit data

Degraded pasture is a major liability in Brazilian agriculture, but
restoration and recovery efforts could turn this area into a new frontier
to both agricultural yield expansion and forest restoration. Currently,
rural properties with larger degraded pasture areas are associated with
higher levels of technical inefficiency in Brazil. The recovery of 12
million ha of degraded pastures could generate an additional production of
17.7 million bovines while reducing the need for new agricultural land.
Regional identification of degraded pastures would facilitate the
targeting of agricultural extension and advisory services and rural credit
efforts aimed at fostering pasture recovery. Since only 1% of Brazilian
municipalities contain 25% of degraded pastures, focusing pasture recovery
efforts on this small group of municipalities could generate considerable
benefits. More efficient allocation of degraded and native pastures for
meat production and forest restoration could provide land enough to fully
comply with its Forest Code requirements, while adding 9 million heads to
the cattle inventory. Degraded pasture recovery and restoration is a
win–win strategy that could boost livestock husbandry and avoid
deforestation in Brazil and have to be the priority strategy of
agribusiness sector.