Last week I shared a story about Russia's potential to bring huge amount of land back into production. I read <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7567778.stm">an analysis of Brazil's agricultural scene</a> this week done by the BBC that gives another idea of the potential for expansion of agricultural acres. Only 70 or 80 million hectares (172 million to 197 million acres) of land is in cultivation in Brazil out of 350 million hectares (864 million acres) that could be farmed, according to the article. 
 
 In comparison, according to USDA's 2002 Census of Agriculture, the United States has 938 million acres of farmland of which 434 million is cropland. In other words, Brazil could bring an amount of land into agricultural production that is larger in area than the U.S. area devoted to crop production. The article doesn't get into the details of how much of Brazil's potential agricultural expansion would be prime farmland and how much would be best used for perennial biomass crops. It does say a major hurdle for the country to overcome is in developing the necessary infrastructure – roads and grain handling facilities.
 
 Just in two countries, albeit two of the largest countries in the world, there's the potential to vastly increase agricultural production. There's a new era in agriculture unfolding. Some have suggested we are replacing the petroleum economy where global economic growth was largely based upon cheap oil, with a carbohydrate economy. 
 
 Interestingly the BBC article quotes a Greenpeace representative who said "Greenpeace is not against food. We are not against expanding the Brazilian capacity for producing food, and helping Brazil to develop this country." The Greenpeace spokesman talked of improving technology, investing in better crops and occupying degraded areas as the best means to accomplish this. "You can not increase your productivity at the expense of the environment, because the global market doesn't accept this price any more." 
 
 Does this comment from one Greenpeace spokesman indicate the environmental movement has learned something from the current brouhaha about food versus fuel? The environmental movement could experience the same backlash that the ethanol industry has if they are perceived as being anti-food.

Like the story in last week's BioLogue about Russia, Brazil has an enormous capacity to increase its agricultural acres.

Brazil's capacity to expand farm acres huge

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Brazil's capacity to expand farm acres huge.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

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Brazil's capacity to expand farm acres huge