1st Successful Farming Brazil issue in Portuguese

I picked up the new Successful Farming magazine in Brazil this past week. It is in Portuguese.

It has the same layout as to what we are accustomed to in USA.

Articles on who produces the most soy per hectare, who has the best cow, articles on bug control, ethanol, and drones. A heavy focus on technology. An article on Mato Grosso fish farming and another from Minnesota regarding uniform shit spreading as the key to good yields.

Several images of Donald Trump and also an article on chicken farming.

Bigger, better, faster, more efficient are the themes.

These are "Gringo" fabrications. In Brazil, sometimes these business
models do not apply well.

Much of the Brazilian ag sector is very 21st century. However there are areas that lag behind,

and are not into "high productivity."
Many are in survival mode, but do it on a grand scale so they can get by with that model.

One thing the Brazil farmer does well is efficiency. He knows how to get things done with the least amount of investment possible. When interest rates are 10-12-18%/ year or more, one does not add bells and whistles to a combine or tractor just because the neighbor has it on his.
The new add on must pay for itself.

I enjoyed the new corn ethanol article for Mato Grosso. The data in the article is not new news per sey. It has been well known about for one year in Brazil.

I live in electronic/digital world. The only time I even consider picking up a magazine in Brazil is when I pass through the airport. The number of news stands continue to decline in this recession.
A few major park areas in the city have news stands and in shopping malls are about it.

The modern/dynamic Brazilian farmer does not live on his farm in Brazil. He lives in the city.
The manager and workers are at the farm. The modern Brazilian farmer is well connected via several smart phones and in some cases video links to the farm to keep tabs on everyone. Well organized mega farms know what all employees are doing at all times and even have the plan for tommorrow mapped out.

I remember back to the 80´s when I looked forward to walking to the mailbox and getting the newest ag magazine to read through. It was our connection to the world.
By the time the 2000´s came, we wished they would stop sending all this crap. It was 80% advertisements.

Today, why do we even need print media?

A Brazilian farmer does not walk to his mailbox to get the mail like a farmer from the midwest
USA might do each day. It is a different market- a different way of doing things here.

The modern dynamic BR farmer is not easily accessable unless you have his WhatsÁPP number.

Those smaller subsistence family farmers in Brazil are so damn stuck in their ways for the last 60 years, you cannot pay them to change. They take what the land gives them. They refuse to pay for anything. And in some cases, even if you could get them to look at modernizing something, their local church might consider it evil and prohibit the family from doing it !!!!!
I have family members that I have brought Disney clothes and toys from Orlando for the kids.
The church prohibits them from wearing it !!!!

I would imagine driving a new John Deere would be the same !!!???

It is a mindset and a cultural thing that is difficult to explain until you witness and see it first hand.

Brazil is a difficult market for newcomers to the ag market to understand. You don´t just drive into someone´s yard trying to sell something. It is best to make an appointment ahead of time. And even if you did find interest at a given farm site, the person you encountered does not have authority to make a decision.

The dynamic farmer does his own research on technology and efficiency. When he decides to move forward, he jumps on a plane to Germany or USA and buys the technology direct. He does not wait to read about it in a magazine. More often than not, the journalists come to him to learn what he is doing -often 10-20 years ahead of everyone else.

I hope Successful Farming can find their nitch. It might work in RGDS, Parana, and parts of SP.
But out here in Goias,Bahia, Mato Grosso, it will be something found at the dentist office from time to time. The go getters do not have time for it, and those more laid back, will be afraid to touch the magazine and they will never buy it unless it is given to them. The only reason the dentist has it is because he passed through the airport while he flew out to the farm for the weekend and saw the magazine !!!