How did you end up in Brazil?

I grew up on a farm in the North Island of New Zealand but I ended up working for the New Zealand dairy board which brought me to Brazil in the early 2000s. I decided Brazil was a great place to build an agricultural business so I’ve gone full circle to running a dairy farm. From the start we also decided to vertically integrate so we built our own dairy factory to go with the production system.

Where is the Leitíssimo farm in Brazil?

Our farm is about 350km north of the city of Brasilia and just 14km short of the equator in a region called the Cerrados. The Cerrados is the new frontier for cropping in Brazil but we discovered that it’s actually a very good region for growing grass. Last year, the farm grew 45t of grass DM/ha. It’s also a region where dairy cows don’t get too stressed from the summer heat.

Listen to an interview with Craig Bell in our podcast below:

What products does Leitíssimo produce?

Leitíssimo produces bottled UHT milk for the market in Brazil. We’re currently processing 20m litres sourced from the farm and we will grow this to 40m litres in the coming years.

How much has Brazil developed agriculturally in your time?

It has developed hugely. When I first went to Brazil there was a year-long wait to get a cell phone. Agriculture used to be 80m tonnes of crops per year in Brazil in the early 2000s. Now we’re talking 240m tonnes of crops per year. It’s a phenomenal story really although not so much in milk. The dairy industry still has a long way to go as it’s very fragmented.

What’s the dairy situation in South America?

We’ve got a bit of a mixed bag in South America. We’ve had a very big increase in the amount of milk produced in Brazil in the last six months. That’s due a lot to the cheap feed that’s floating around in the market (maize corn is $100/t). Brazilian milk production is up 10% compared to last year which has created issues. Uruguay and Argentina are still struggling a bit.

In your view, where is the opportunity for Ireland’s dairy industry?

Ireland needs to continue to increase its milk solids output and focus on core markets like the EU instead of emerging markets. The more you can stay focused on your developed markets the better. Ireland needs to ask how it can supply consumers with a more functional protein source.