CEO Note: Breakthrough for Colombia’s forests

Colombia has become the first rainforest nation to mandate nationwide cattle traceability, requiring meat companies to trace cattle to their origin to prevent deforestation. The author argues that cattle ranching is a significantly larger driver of forest loss in Colombia than coca production and calls for other South American governments and global meat companies to adopt similar traceability measures, noting that the technology is affordable and available.

• Colombia is the first rainforest nation to implement a nationwide requirement for cattle traceability, forcing meat companies to determine if cattle are linked to land-grabbing or deforestation.
• Cattle ranching is a far more significant driver of deforestation in Colombia than coca production, with a study in the journal Nature indicating cattle cause 60 times more deforestation.
• The cost of tagging cattle for traceability is negligible, estimated at less than $2 per cow, which represents approximately 1/500th of the animal's sale value.
• While some companies like Minerva Foods and JBS resist traceability, Marfrig Global Foods, the world's second largest cattle company, has already announced a policy requiring it.

APA

Hurowitz, G. (2026). CEO Note: Breakthrough for Colombia’s forests. Mighty Earth. https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-breakthrough-for-colombias-forests/

Chicago

Hurowitz, Glenn. CEO Note: Breakthrough for Colombia’s forests. Mighty Earth, 2026. https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-breakthrough-for-colombias-forests/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Hurowitz |first1=Glenn |title=CEO Note: Breakthrough for Colombia’s forests |publisher=Mighty Earth |date=18 June 2026 |url=https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-breakthrough-for-colombias-forests/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{hurowitz2026ceo, author = {Hurowitz, Glenn}, title = {{CEO Note: Breakthrough for Colombia’s forests}}, publisher = {Mighty Earth}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-breakthrough-for-colombias-forests/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }