Beef cattle production is suffering numerous difficulties in productive and economical terms in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Expanding new markets, competition with other meats, external competition through imported Mercosul beef, new growth and slaughter processes bring new challenges to the Brazilian livestock production. In the case of Rio Grande do Sul, another factor to be considered is the competition with Central States in the internal market. Meat prices received by farmers in the last years stayed constant, but prices of the main production inputs are still rising. This scenery brought continuous income decrease to the beef cattle farmers. As a result, many farmers are selling part of their lands or leaving beef cattle production. This paper... |