Cattle ranchers and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: production, location, and policies
Open accessAbstract
Deforestation for cattle production persists in the Brazilian Amazon despite ongoing efforts by the public and private sectors to combat it. The complexity of the cattle supply chain, which we describe in depth here, creates challenges for the landmark Zero-Deforestation Cattle Agreements in particular and for enforcement of deforestation policies in general. Here, we present a holistic analysis that is increasingly relevant as the number of policies, initiatives, and markets affecting the region increases. We provide the first property-level analysis of which ranchers decided to deforest in the last decade and identify the characteristics that are most related to deforestation. We rely on newly available animal transit and property boundary data to examine 113,000 properties in the three major cattle-producing states in the Brazilian Amazon. We consider characteristics related to a property’s role in the supply chain, location, land characteristics, and the policy environment. We find that deforestation is most likely to occur on properties that sell fewer cattle and earlier in the supply chain, are located in remote locations, and have a high percent of remaining forest. Our results can be used to improve enforcement of existing policies by targeting resources to properties and location where deforestation is more likely.
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Under federal law 12.097 and Decree 7.623, all movements of animals, including those between suppliers, must be registered with a Guia de Transporte Animal (GTA).
“Under federal law 12.097 and Decree 7.623, all movements of animals, including those between suppliers, must be registered with a Guia de Transporte Animal, or GTA (Skidmore et al 2021).”
From Cattle supply chain fidelity in the Brazilian Amazon: key considerations for deforestation monitoring (2024) · cites this paper as Skidmore et al 2021
Section 2.1 says Law 12.097 and Decree 7.623 require GTA paperwork before moving animals between properties or to slaughter, which supports the claim’s central point. But the same section explains that movements between properties treated as a single establishment may not require a GTA, so the claim’s unqualified “all movements” is too broad. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredBrazil's cattle sector is so spread-out and deeply involved in spearheading Amazonian deforestation that sourcing commitments made by meatpacking industries typically leave out indirect suppliers, who can sell locally or dodge traceability systems through counterfeit documentation-what is sometimes referred to as 'cattle laundering'.
“Furthermore, Brazil's cattle sector is so spread-out and deeply involved in spearheading Amazonian deforestation that sourcing commitments made by meatpacking industries typically leave out indirect suppliers, who can sell locally or dodge traceability systems through counterfeit documentationwhat is sometimes referred to as”
From Beyond the “supply chain” framing: Cattle ranching as a vanishing mediator of deforestation and dispossession in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon (2026) · cites this paper as Skidmore et al., 2021
Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA chief reason for the limited effect of the CA is that slaughterhouses monitor only the suppliers they buy from directly.
“Chief among the reasons for their limited effect is that slaughterhouses monitor only the suppliers they buy from directly.”
From Cattle supply chain fidelity in the Brazilian Amazon: key considerations for deforestation monitoring (2024) · cites this paper as Skidmore et al 2021
Relationships between ranches are important because they are a crucial monitoring loophole.
“These relationships between ranches are important because they are a crucial monitoring loophole (Skidmore et al 2021).”
From Cattle supply chain fidelity in the Brazilian Amazon: key considerations for deforestation monitoring (2024) · cites this paper as Skidmore et al 2021
Existing evidence suggests that properties with recent deforestation tend to specialize in indirect supply.
“existing evidence suggests that properties with recent deforestation tend to specialize in indirect supply (Rajão et al 2020, Skidmore et al 2021, Levy et al 2023).”
From Cattle supply chain fidelity in the Brazilian Amazon: key considerations for deforestation monitoring (2024) · cites this paper as Skidmore et al 2021
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Protected areas still used to produce brazil’s cattle
West, T. A. P., Rausch, L., Munger, J., & Gibbs, H. K. (2022) · Conservation Letters · doi:10.1111/conl.12916 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Skidmore, M. E., Moffette, F., Rausch, L., Christie, M., Munger, J., & Gibbs, H. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Corresponding author
- Skidmore, Marin Elisabeth
- Venue
- Global Environmental Change
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-05
- Volume
- 68
- Pages
- 102280
- ISSN
- 0959-3780 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3162659764
- Cited by
- 132
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 6
- FWCI
- 7.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Global Environmental Change (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Oil Palm Production and Sustainability
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development
- Keywords
- cattle ranching, deforestation, Brazilian Amazon, cattle supply chain, policy enforcement
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