The Brazilian National Space and Research Institute(INPE)said this week that the number of fire hotspots in the Amazon - - the most common way of clearing land for pasture - reached their highest level in a dozen years in August, despite a federal ban on burning. While Brazil's cattle herd is 2.4 times the size of the United States', its beef production amounted to just 60% of that in the United States last year, data from the two governments showed.
Among a raft of more conventional presidential campaign promises, Brazil's former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - who aims to unseat President Jair Bolsonaro in October polls - has included an unusual pledge: to give Brazilians back their beef. With inflation soaring and incomes shrinking, beef has become dearer in Brazil and access to food - including the juicy cuts long a