Ray, Daryll E.

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Ray, Daryll

Digital Repository @ Iowa State University (ISU)

5  June 2010Usually, reports from meetings of a group of country leaders don’t attract our attention all that much, but articles written after a recent meeting of leaders from a handful of developing coun-tries made us sit up and take notice. The event was a joint meeting of two overlapping groups of developing countries: BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and IBSA (India, Brazil, and South Africa) or as some have dubbed the combination BRICs.      These nations represent 42 percent of the world’s population, 32 percent of the world’s arable land mass, and 22 percent of the global GDP. They have been important in leading the global recovery following the recent economic crisis. They also see themselves as growing faster in the future than the U.S., the European Union and Japan. And they want to use their new-found economic clout.In fact, they see their group of countries as potentially providing a counter balance to the global power of the U.S. and the West. They are reportedly seeking infl u-ence in world venues on par with the likes of the World Bank, The International Monetary Fund and the United Nations (UN). As a report in The Economic Times (In-dia) said, “[Indian Prime Minister] Manmohan Singh made a vigorous case for a ‘multipolar, equitable, democratic, and just world order.’” Part of the rationale behind the April Brasilia meeting was to give BRICs the opportunity to develop a unifi ed strategy before meetings of the G-8 and G-20 nations. A second set of issues touches closer to home and is of importance to U.S. farmers. As Aleksandras Budrys wrote in a Reuters article, “Agriculture ministers from Brazil, Russia, India and China, which together have a third of the world’s arable land, agreed on Friday [March 25, 2010] to pool resources to combat fam-ine that affects more than 1 billion people globally. The ministers from the countries collectively known as BRIC signed a pact to create a joint agricultural information base that will help each country to calcu-late production and consumption balances and establish national grain reserves.”BRICs: A “game changing” group of developing countries?by Daryll E. Ray, Blasingame Chair, Excellence in Agricultural Policy, Institute of Agriculture, University of Tennessee, and Director, UT Agricultural Policy Analysis Center (APAC); (865) 974-7407; dray@utk.edu; http://www.agpolicy.orgHaving been affected by the 2006-2008 run-up in grain prices, they want to make sure that they are not at the mercy of other nations when it comes to their own food security. They are looking at ways to safeguard food security by coordinating trade within the group. As was noted in a Reuters article, “The emerging BRIC economies produce 40 percent of the world’s wheat, half of its pork and a third of its poultry and beef; [and] Russia…is positioning itself as a major supplier of grains to the world market. It plans to double grain exports within 15 years and to raise its harvests by 50 percent.” Although, up to now, China has been only a sporadic net importer of grain, China’s rapidly expanding live-stock industry could mean it will be a sizable fi ll-in importer of grains in the future. In addition to securing the use of land resources outside of the country to aug-ment domestic grain supplies, China can use the “BRIC arrangement” to help cover future feed grain needs. Brazil is already a dominant-growth source of soybeans for the protein portion of feed rations.With regard to meat, Brazil currently supplies Russia with 65 percent of its meat imports. At present, Russia says it wants to limit its meat imports to 15 percent of its total meat consumption, so if Brazil gets 65 percent of the 15 percent (9.75 percent), there is not a lot of room left for others (5.25 percent). But over time—read three to fi ve years—Russia has a stated goal of joining China as virtually being self-suffi cient in the produc-tion of pork and poultry.The BRICs coalition does not bode well for the portion of the U.S. export-centric farm policy narrative that is premised on ever-expanding growth in grain exports due to accelerating demand for livestock feed in China. It increases the odds that we will fi nd ourselves awash in grains and oilseeds and be subject to drowning in the teacupful of low prices.The larger question is will BRICs achieve its desired “game changer” role in the areas of international agri-cultural development and trade.. . . and justice for allThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits dis-crimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Many materials can be made available in alternative formats for ADA clients. To fi le a complaint of discrimination, write Permission to copyPermission is given to reprint ISU Extension materials contained in this publication via copy machine or other copy technology, so long as the source (Ag Decision Maker Iowa State University Extension ) is clearly identifi able and the appropriate author is properly credited.USDA, Offi ce of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Build-ing, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964.Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and July 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture. Gerald A. Miller, interim director, Coop-erative Extension Service, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa. 6  June 2010Updates, continued from page 1Returns for Farrow-to-Finish -- B1-30Returns for Weaned Pigs -- B1-33Returns for Steer Calves -- B1-35Returns for Yearling Steers -- B1-35Internet UpdatesThe following updates have been added on www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm. Understanding Iowa Corn Suitability Ratings (CSR) -- C2-86 (8 pages) Iowa Townships -- C2-88Restaurant and Institutional Sales -- C5-38 (2 pages)How to Approach Potential Buyers -- C5-39 (2 pages)Building Your Brand -- C5-50 (2 pages) Building Your Brand with Flanker Brands -- C5-51 (2 pages)Decision Tools and Current Profi tabilityThe following tools have been added or updated on www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm. Season Average Price Calculator -- A2-15 Corn Profi tability -- A1-85 Soybean Profi tability -- A1-86Ethanol Profi tability -- D1-10Biodiesel Profi tability -- D1-15

BRICs: A “game changing” group of developing countries?

https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/2502

BRICs: A “game changing” group of developing countries?

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