TERRITORIAL TRANSITION AND EFFICIENCY: THE SYNERGY BETWEEN GRAIN AND BEEF CATTLE CHAINS FROM AN OPEN DATA PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The advancement of Brazilian agribusiness has consolidated the country as one of the main global food suppliers, driven by significant gains in productivity and technical efficiency in grain production and beef cattle farming. However, the sector's continuous growth faces the challenge of reconciling increased production with growing international demands for sustainability and traceability. In this context, the present study aimed to analyze the global connections and local impacts of agricultural production in key regions, investigating trade flows and deforestation risk indicators associated with the soybean and beef supply chains. Methodologically, the research is characterized as an applied, quantitative and qualitative study, developed in an office setting through the collection and processing of secondary data obtained from the IBGE Automatic Data Retrieval System and the Trase digital initiative. The results show an intense dynamic of territorial transition in the last decade, in which the expansion of grain cultivation occurred concomitantly with the stabilization and increased production density of cattle herds in the same study area. From a socio-environmental governance perspective, the indicators reveal a consistent downward trend in the risk of deforestation associated with the soy supply chain, but conversely, the beef supply chain shows a slower and more fluctuating reduction, pointing to the monitoring of indirect suppliers as the main sectoral bottleneck. It is therefore considered that the future of sustainable agriculture lies in vertical optimization and the utilization of already anthropized territories through the land-saving  effect, mitigating local ecological liabilities and ensuring the competitive insertion of the national market in the face of global ecological demands.