Cattle in the BacklandsBrazil has the second largest cattle herd in the world and is a major exporter of beef. While ranching in the Amazonand its destructive environmental consequencesreceives attention from both the media and scholars, the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul actually host the most cattle. A significant beef producer in Brazil beginning in the late nineteenth century, the region served as a laboratory for raising cattle in the tropics, where