The Voice

Beyond the Beef: How Brazil and Ireland Can Turn Trade Tension into Teamwork

By Kieran Gartlan, Managing Partner, The Yield Lab LATAM

From trade rivals to tech partners, Brazil and Ireland have a rare opportunity to shape the next chapter of sustainable, high-value agriculture—together.

Beyond the Beef

For years, Brazil and Ireland stood on opposite sides of the trade table. Competing on beef exports. Sparring over market access. Arguing over who produced it better, cleaner, cheaper. The dynamic was zero-sum: two export-driven nations, one global market, and not enough room in Brussels for both.

But agriculture is changing, and fast. Ag 1.0, the era of raw commodity production, is giving way to Ag 2.0: a new wave of climate-aware, tech-enabled, value-added food systems. In this next phase, Brazil and Ireland don’t need to compete. They can collaborate.

Brazil brings scale, biodiversity, and a dynamic domestic market hungry for better food. Ireland brings systems thinking, capital, and a reputation for quality and safety. Together, they can create not just more food, but better food—cleaner, smarter, traceable, and more sustainable.

We’ve seen this play out before. In the 1990s and 2000s, Ireland became the launchpad for U.S. tech and pharma into Europe, not by trying to outbuild Silicon Valley, but by becoming the best partner to it. The result was jobs, investment, and global relevance. There’s no reason agrifood tech can’t follow a similar path—this time from Ireland to Brazil.

From the Ground Up

I grew up on a small dairy farm in County Monaghan, part of a family of six. As the second eldest, I had to make my own way—and that journey has given me a front-row seat to the evolution of Brazil as a super ag power.

As a journalist for the Irish Farmers Journal and others in the early 1990s, I covered Brazil’s agribusiness boom and its global implications. At CME Group, I helped develop risk tools to stabilize farm incomes. Today, I invest in agrifood tech startups that aim to transform Brazil’s food systems through productivity, transparency, and sustainability.

In many ways, this personal journey mirrors the broader shift unfolding across the sector—from yield to value, from commodities to climate, from rivalry to collaboration. And it has shown me how two very different countries like Brazil and Ireland are, in fact, asking many of the same questions—and may benefit from answering them together.

The Realignment

In the commodity era, Brazil and Ireland were rivals. But in the next era of agriculture—one shaped by climate, data, and trust—they are increasingly aligned.

Brazil, by contrast, remains a production powerhouse. Its numbers are unmatched, but its future depends on differentiation—moving from quantity to quality, from commodity to climate-smart.

With year-round production, multiple harvests, and a diverse agricultural base, Brazil is a natural testing ground for agrifood technologies. It offers the scale and urgency needed to validate innovations in biologicals, animal health, digital traceability, and regenerative systems.

Irish startups and research institutions bring science, protocols, and compliance experience—elements Brazil increasingly needs to meet export requirements and sustainability targets. Meanwhile, Brazil provides the proving ground that Irish innovations often lack at home. It’s a partnership with built-in product–market fit.

Talent and Trade

The people connection is already strong. Ireland is home to the second-largest Brazilian diaspora in Europe, behind only Portugal—nearly 90,000 Brazilians, many of whom work in the agri-food sector.

These workers have quietly supported the smooth running of Ireland’s meat and food supply chain. But the potential extends beyond labor. It’s a foundation for knowledge transfer.

Imagine a new generation of Brazilian agronomists and engineers training at Irish universities like UCD, Teagasc, and MTU, then returning to Brazil not only with technical skills, but with exposure to high-value food systems. Or Irish researchers collaborating with Brazilian institutions like EMBRAPA and USP-Esalq to co-develop next-generation tools for soil health, livestock efficiency, or carbon measurement.

Programs like Ciência sem Fronteiras—Science Without Borders—have already proven the potential for international exchange. Now it’s time to build an Agrifood Without Borders. What’s missing is coordination—with a shared goal of developing a talent pipeline that spans both hemispheres.

At the same time, Irish agrifood startups face well-known constraints: small local markets, short growing seasons, and slow technology adoption. Brazil offers a powerful counterbalance—scale, urgency, and a real appetite for innovation that works in the field, not just in theory.

Old Rivals, New Allies

The future of Brazil–Ireland agrifood collaboration may not be built in boardrooms or policy halls, but in classrooms, factories, labs, and on farms.

Just as the Irish–American connection was forged by generations of migration, trust, and shared opportunity, we’re now seeing the early signs of a Brazil–Ireland bridge being built—in reverse. Tens of thousands of Brazilians who have lived and worked in Ireland over the past two decades are gaining more than wages. They’re gaining knowledge, networks, and new ways of thinking.

As the next generation begins to move more freely between both countries—through study, work, and entrepreneurship—those human connections will unlock something far more valuable than just trade: a flow of ideas, capital, and collaboration.

Brazil has the scale and natural resources. Ireland has systems, investment, and global connectivity. But it’s the people moving between the two—engineers, founders, agronomists, and future leaders—who will turn that potential into progress.

This isn’t just about reshaping agriculture. It’s about rewiring a relationship—one that can grow deeper, smarter, and more impactful with every generation.

About the Author

Kieran Gartlan, Managing Partner, The Yield Lab LATAM

Kieran Finbar Gartlan is an Irish-born investor with over 30 years of experience in Brazil’s agriculture and commodities sectors. He is Managing Partner at The Yield Lab Latam, a leading venture capital firm backing AgriFood and Climate Tech startups across Latin America. The fund is part of The Yield Lab global network, which includes The Yield Lab Europe, based in Ireland, and focused on early-stage AgTech innovation.