The Ox from the Four Corners of the World: The Historic Origins of the Brazilian Beef Industry

Abstract

During the twentieth century, Brazil developed its beef industry, acquiring in the last decade great importance in the international market. This article considers four exotic factors that contributed to its moving from importer of beef to the largest exporter: the raising of cattle of Iberian origin, since the sixteenth century; the Zebu breed brought from India at the end of the nineteenth century; the grass brought from Africa, for the cattle to graze; and barbed wire, invented in the United States, which deepened land concentration in the country. Each factor has distinct geographical origins, but all acted together, like the four ‘legs’ that sustain this immense bovine, to enable its adaptation to Brazilian lands. These four factors, before obtaining success and hegemony, encountered resistance and created controversy, not only for ideological and technical reasons, but also the conflicts of interest that their arrival represented.