BOOMING SOYBEANS BOOST BRAZIL'S ECONOMY

December 13, 2001
Reuters [shortened]
Reese Ewing

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Throughout Brazil's history, rubber, sugar and
coffee booms have fueled economic growth, but today, soy is the
commodity shaping Latin America's largest economy.

Soybeans have spurred a virtual gold rush, bringing people and
development to country's the Center-West plains and poorest states,
creating new business for logistic and freight companies and helping
secure the country's first trade surplus in six years.

This year, the 2002 crop promises to live up to its high billing, as
abundant showers on the newly planted crop could foreshadow a new record
harvest between February and May.

The soybean boom in Brazil is good news for the country's economy but
not for U.S. farmers, who could see their crop overtaken by the Latin
American country within a decade if present growth patterns persist.

Government crop researchers have developed strains of soy especially
suited for the diverse soils and microclimates in Brazil -- a country
roughly the size of the continental United States.

But the big selling point is that it's more profitable than other crops.

Brazil's soy products are also winning fans on global markets because it
is the only large agricultural producer in the world that still
officially bans the sale of genetically modified crops, giving it added
appeal among health conscious consumers in big trading blocs like Asia
and Europe.

Cesar Borges de Souza, president of the large Caramuru grains
cooperative, was quoted as saying, "Although Europe and Asia are not yet
paying a premium for Brazil's GM-free grains, they are looking here
first to buy, which gives us a significant advantage."

Analysts also say soy farmers have benefited from concerns over the
recent outbreaks of mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, around the world. The high-protein bean is substituting
in livestock feeds for bone-meal -- believed to spread the disease among herds 
-- and health conscious consumers are simply eating more soy and less beef.