WEBVTT - The Carbon Gold Rush 0:00:17.242 --> 0:00:31.762 Pushkin. In early September twenty twenty five, a handful of 0:00:31.762 --> 0:00:36.162 Brazilian government officials headed to North Dakota on a mission. 0:00:36.962 --> 0:00:39.522 It was a technical mission. They were there to see 0:00:39.562 --> 0:00:44.642 a shiny new green technology in action. The idea behind 0:00:44.682 --> 0:00:49.082 this new technology was simple. When you turn corn into ethanol, 0:00:49.322 --> 0:00:53.162 it generates carbon dioxide, and that's the problem if you're 0:00:53.202 --> 0:00:56.842 trying to be a green fuel. But now people from 0:00:56.882 --> 0:01:01.522 Iowa to North Dakota were capturing that carbon dioxide, storing 0:01:01.562 --> 0:01:05.441 it and selling it. Never mind that they were selling 0:01:05.482 --> 0:01:08.521 it to people who would inject it underground to get 0:01:08.682 --> 0:01:12.442 oil out, some of it would surely still stay underground. 0:01:12.602 --> 0:01:15.562 And if you tilted your head and squinted a bit, 0:01:15.922 --> 0:01:21.321 that made it a climate solution. The American company selling 0:01:21.321 --> 0:01:24.762 the Brazilians on this idea had a lot writing on 0:01:24.881 --> 0:01:29.402 these officials, believing that carbon capture connected to ethanol was 0:01:29.441 --> 0:01:33.241 a great green success story, win win for industry in 0:01:33.282 --> 0:01:36.722 the environment, an American dream they could take home to Brazil. 0:01:37.762 --> 0:01:41.322 But had the visiting bureaucrats scanned the local newspapers, they 0:01:41.402 --> 0:01:43.521 might have found a different story. 0:01:44.081 --> 0:01:46.922 If you live in Iowa, your land, your water, and 0:01:47.002 --> 0:01:49.362 your voice could all be at risk thanks to a 0:01:49.402 --> 0:01:51.482 man named Bruce Rastetter. 0:01:52.042 --> 0:01:57.562 You know, essentially paying him to capture CO two at 0:01:57.602 --> 0:02:02.162 ethanol plants and then shipping it across private land and 0:02:02.322 --> 0:02:07.242 public land and then disposing of it somewhere many states away. 0:02:08.242 --> 0:02:11.642 On September second, the Brazilian contingent met with an Iowa 0:02:11.722 --> 0:02:16.162 company called Summit Carbon Solutions. Summit has been trying for 0:02:16.282 --> 0:02:19.562 years to build a carbon capture pipeline to connect dozens 0:02:19.602 --> 0:02:23.802 of ethanol plants from Iowa to North Dakota. It's called 0:02:24.082 --> 0:02:33.002 the Midwest Carbon Express Project. Harold Ham, who controls many 0:02:33.082 --> 0:02:36.562 of North Dakota's oil fields and is an energy advisor 0:02:36.602 --> 0:02:40.402 to President Trump, is a major investor in the company. 0:02:40.642 --> 0:02:44.242 Bruce Rastetter is the company's co founder. He's also a 0:02:44.242 --> 0:02:49.242 founder and executive chairman of its parent company, Summit Agricultural Group. 0:02:49.962 --> 0:02:53.242 For other cheerleading of the project to visitors, the Summit 0:02:53.322 --> 0:02:57.682 pipeline is years behind schedule and facing multiple political and 0:02:57.802 --> 0:03:02.202 legal roadblocks. In fact, it's managed to do almost no 0:03:02.442 --> 0:03:05.362 politician issue or campaign has been able to do in 0:03:05.362 --> 0:03:09.121 the US for years. United far left and far right 0:03:09.242 --> 0:03:16.722 populous from both sides hate this pipeline. For rest Utter. 0:03:16.842 --> 0:03:20.362 It's not the first time he's faced opposition, especially in 0:03:20.442 --> 0:03:21.962 his home state of Iowa. 0:03:22.922 --> 0:03:27.802 Anyone who remotely follows politics or agriculture, you say raft Stetter, 0:03:27.882 --> 0:03:29.002 you're going to get a response. 0:03:29.522 --> 0:03:33.962 Jess Mazur is the conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club Iowa. 0:03:34.042 --> 0:03:36.522 For Jess, the carbon pipeline was not the first time 0:03:36.642 --> 0:03:39.762 she'd dealt with Bruce Rastutter. They know who it is, 0:03:39.802 --> 0:03:41.922 and they go, oh, you know that guy did this. 0:03:42.042 --> 0:03:44.162 So that guy put a factory farm near my house, 0:03:44.282 --> 0:03:47.242 or he's the one that you know, got Iowa state 0:03:47.282 --> 0:03:50.602 in trouble. So I think everyone's got an opinion of him, 0:03:50.962 --> 0:03:54.162 and he's really really good at being able to avoid 0:03:54.602 --> 0:03:58.762 ever having to be in the public. He doesn't get interviewed, 0:03:58.762 --> 0:04:02.642 he doesn't take media requests. Kind of secret if he 0:04:02.682 --> 0:04:06.122 lives out in the middle of nowhere in Hardin County, Iowa. 0:04:06.602 --> 0:04:09.882 Rastutter got his start as a big hog farmer. From there. 0:04:10.002 --> 0:04:12.442 It wasn't a big leap to growing corn, and then, 0:04:12.682 --> 0:04:14.962 like a lot of corn growers, that led quickly to 0:04:15.282 --> 0:04:23.402 getting into the corn ethanol business. As a longtime climate reporter, 0:04:23.762 --> 0:04:28.002 I keep waiting for people to stop calling corn ethanol Green. 0:04:28.802 --> 0:04:32.362 Its carbon footprint is similar to regular gas. It requires 0:04:32.402 --> 0:04:37.162 around thirty times as much land as solar, plus lots 0:04:37.162 --> 0:04:42.481 of water and chemical pesticides and fertilizers. But industrial agriculture 0:04:42.602 --> 0:04:45.882 gets loads of substitutes from it, so they're always finding 0:04:45.882 --> 0:04:48.562 a way to keep it alive, and in twenty twenty two, 0:04:48.882 --> 0:04:52.242 Congress handed it its latest lifeline. 0:04:52.722 --> 0:04:57.202 The Inflation Reduction Act contains some really incredible things for 0:04:57.282 --> 0:05:01.322 our shareholders. It contains sustainable aviation fuel. We think that's 0:05:01.362 --> 0:05:04.282 an incredible part of decarbonizing the planet. 0:05:04.842 --> 0:05:08.962 The Infletion Reduction Act, Biden's big climate policy, created a 0:05:09.002 --> 0:05:13.322 whole new revenue stream for corn ethanol guys. Now they 0:05:13.322 --> 0:05:17.122 could sell to airlines, but only if they embraced carbon capture. 0:05:17.762 --> 0:05:20.962 Bruce Rastetter to the rescue. 0:05:21.322 --> 0:05:25.122 So I think without continuing to attain new markets, the 0:05:25.202 --> 0:05:30.962 ethanol industries in jeopardy. So that's what lowering carbon scores. 0:05:31.202 --> 0:05:35.082 This project on the pipeline is about, with thirty four 0:05:35.162 --> 0:05:38.602 ethanol plants across the Upper Midwest, but in particular. 0:05:38.162 --> 0:05:42.482 Iowa Summit Carbon Solutions still talks about the project today 0:05:42.522 --> 0:05:44.882 as a way to open up new markets for Iowa 0:05:45.002 --> 0:05:48.642 corn farmers. So the company was caught off guard when 0:05:48.642 --> 0:05:54.282 people across multiple states began organizing against the Midwest Carbon Express, 0:05:54.802 --> 0:05:58.442 and it quickly became a big problem because Rastetter was 0:05:58.522 --> 0:06:02.762 not just the ethanol kingpin of Iowa. His company was 0:06:02.802 --> 0:06:06.842 also the majority owner of a Brazilian ag company, FS 0:06:06.882 --> 0:06:11.122 Fueling Sustainability, and he'd helped to make corn ethanol a 0:06:11.242 --> 0:06:14.482 thing in Brazil too. Now some it is trying to 0:06:14.522 --> 0:06:21.722 make carbon capture happen there too. Welcome to Drilled Season fifteen, 0:06:22.162 --> 0:06:26.122 Carbon Cowboys. I'm Amy Westervelt and this season we've partnered 0:06:26.122 --> 0:06:29.681 with the amazing reporters at the Intercept Brazil to learn 0:06:29.722 --> 0:06:32.921 more about what Rasstutter is doing down there. 0:06:33.242 --> 0:06:36.842 I'm Filippe Sabrina with the Interceptor Brazil. I will be 0:06:36.882 --> 0:06:39.842 hosting the Portuguese version of the season over on the 0:06:39.882 --> 0:06:43.481 Intercept to Brazil Feed. This is a story about how 0:06:43.522 --> 0:06:47.042 the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn 0:06:47.082 --> 0:06:47.962 in Brazil and. 0:06:47.962 --> 0:06:50.322 How a bunch of ideas that are great for the 0:06:50.362 --> 0:06:54.242 oil and ag industries got rebranded as climate solutions and 0:06:54.322 --> 0:07:00.842 created a carbon gold rush. 0:07:01.362 --> 0:07:04.402 Think maganin as Gonchi, Think port Could you consider you? 0:07:05.282 --> 0:07:07.882 A few months ago Philippe started telling me about this 0:07:08.042 --> 0:07:12.842 giant pig statue that greets people Bruce Rastutter's home base 0:07:13.002 --> 0:07:16.842 in Brazil, because yes, his partners in Brazil also started 0:07:16.882 --> 0:07:20.362 out as pig farmers. These guys are all still on 0:07:20.402 --> 0:07:23.402 the pig business, and boy do they love pigs. When 0:07:23.402 --> 0:07:26.602 Philippe sent me a picture of this pig statue, I 0:07:26.682 --> 0:07:29.482 was kind of shook. If you're imagining some sort of 0:07:29.642 --> 0:07:34.962 tasteful bronze statue, think again. This is a massive, orky 0:07:35.042 --> 0:07:38.482 pig looking thing wearing laterhosen and a bright green hat, 0:07:38.882 --> 0:07:40.282 holding a corn cob. 0:07:40.722 --> 0:07:45.082 And it even has a name Lucina or Little Lucas 0:07:45.602 --> 0:07:49.202 because the town is called Lucas do Hill Virji. It 0:07:49.322 --> 0:07:52.122 tells you actually a lot about this place. It was 0:07:52.162 --> 0:07:55.002 proposed by one of the largest landowners in the area, 0:07:55.482 --> 0:07:59.362 big agriculture business guy. He comes from a German family, 0:07:59.442 --> 0:08:01.842 which is why the pig is wearing a German outfit. 0:08:02.882 --> 0:08:06.562 Around fifty years ago, the Brazilian agriculture industry came to 0:08:06.602 --> 0:08:10.042 this place looking for a cheap and easy land grab. Today, 0:08:10.282 --> 0:08:13.202 the American agriculture industry is doing the same thing. 0:08:14.842 --> 0:08:21.682 Vusista in Lucas do Yu virgi asiddajigioportunidjis aki ajira sojin 0:08:21.722 --> 0:08:25.602 pri gualidan Did you read the same kopram. This audio 0:08:25.642 --> 0:08:28.362 you're listening to with the epic background music is from 0:08:28.362 --> 0:08:31.162 a promotional video by the Lucas to Rio Verge city 0:08:31.202 --> 0:08:35.322 government highlighting the wonders of the city. The video mixes 0:08:35.322 --> 0:08:39.641 images of macause forests in the sunset and large cotton, 0:08:39.722 --> 0:08:43.561 soybean and cornfields. The city government wants you to know 0:08:43.641 --> 0:08:47.561 that Lucas is the city of opportunities. It has more 0:08:47.602 --> 0:08:50.922 than ninety five thousand inhabitants and produces more than two 0:08:51.202 --> 0:08:54.801 million tons of grain per year. The narrator of the 0:08:54.881 --> 0:08:57.881 video says, we are one of the fastest growing cities 0:08:57.921 --> 0:09:00.761 in Brazil, and then this screen fills with a mix 0:09:00.801 --> 0:09:06.482 of smiling children, crops and grain pouring out of machines. Lucas, 0:09:06.482 --> 0:09:09.522 the Rio Verge is all money, growth and seas of 0:09:09.681 --> 0:09:12.602 corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see. 0:09:13.082 --> 0:09:15.881 The first time I visited, it shocked me to see 0:09:16.002 --> 0:09:19.801 massive crops right next to people's homes. But the more 0:09:19.921 --> 0:09:23.761 I learned about Lucas, the more it made sense. The 0:09:23.801 --> 0:09:27.642 town is a fiction designed and built by the government 0:09:27.801 --> 0:09:33.242 to impose development on this region. Lucas was entirely created 0:09:33.281 --> 0:09:37.841 to serve agriculture and its owners. The wide avenues are 0:09:37.881 --> 0:09:43.401 lined with silos, agricultural machinery, stores, supply stores, credit banks, 0:09:43.442 --> 0:09:48.561 and real state agencies. Trucks over twenty meters long, loaded 0:09:48.602 --> 0:09:52.442 with soybeans or corn have plenty of space to drive 0:09:52.482 --> 0:09:56.362 around or park on the curb. Walking in Lucas, on 0:09:56.401 --> 0:09:59.562 the other hand, is a challenge because of the distances 0:09:59.602 --> 0:10:03.002 between the long avenues, the heat, and the lack of 0:10:03.082 --> 0:10:08.201 trees to provide shade. The city is obsessed with imperial 0:10:08.242 --> 0:10:12.362 palm trees. There are hundreds of them in the town 0:10:12.442 --> 0:10:16.642 center and on the sides of the roads. With nothing 0:10:16.881 --> 0:10:21.122 but monoculture crops and important palm trees, there is no 0:10:21.242 --> 0:10:26.041 vegetation in the area to insulate it from extreme temperature changes. 0:10:26.641 --> 0:10:31.681 Lucas can go from freezing cold to unbelievably hot from 0:10:32.082 --> 0:10:34.721 one moment to the next. It was weird for me, 0:10:35.122 --> 0:10:38.202 but the people I spoke with here didn't seem to mind. 0:10:38.881 --> 0:10:42.961 The image of abundant harvests has drawn people from all 0:10:43.002 --> 0:10:46.602 over the country to Lucas all right. 0:10:46.962 --> 0:10:49.282 Going from yeah, yeah, think. 0:10:49.242 --> 0:10:52.242 My husband was un employed for two years. Then we 0:10:52.322 --> 0:10:54.802 saw reports about the city, which is a very good 0:10:54.842 --> 0:10:58.401 place to live to raise children, even in terms of violence, 0:10:58.842 --> 0:11:00.881 so we packed all backs. 0:11:01.761 --> 0:11:06.641 Isabella is from Ministerized, a Brazilian state southeast of Lucas, 0:11:06.921 --> 0:11:09.522 but since twenty twenty one she's been living here with 0:11:09.602 --> 0:11:13.081 her husband and children. She sells asa e bowls in 0:11:13.161 --> 0:11:16.082 front of the parking lot of a multi national grain company. 0:11:16.602 --> 0:11:20.202 Assai is a fruit typical of the Amazon. Isabella buys 0:11:20.202 --> 0:11:23.082 it from suppliers and sells it to truck drivers who 0:11:23.161 --> 0:11:24.962 load and unload grain. 0:11:25.082 --> 0:11:25.322 Here. 0:11:26.082 --> 0:11:29.682 She passes small bowls of asai cream through the fence 0:11:29.801 --> 0:11:34.442 and the truckers passed back cash. Isabelle said Lucas is great, 0:11:34.801 --> 0:11:36.761 not least because when she needs to take her kids 0:11:36.761 --> 0:11:39.242 to a public hospital, she never waits more than an 0:11:39.281 --> 0:11:40.362 hour to be seen. 0:11:43.122 --> 0:11:46.842 In the city. I don't think anyone can complain about healthcare. 0:11:47.362 --> 0:11:50.362 She says that Lucas, the Rio Verge Hospital SEW Lucas 0:11:50.521 --> 0:11:54.761 in particular, is especially nice. It's run today by a 0:11:54.761 --> 0:12:03.081 partnership between the city and agribusiness entrepreneurs. 0:12:04.242 --> 0:12:07.322 Now they've opened a really nice word to the own 0:12:07.401 --> 0:12:09.761 hospital has been renovated. 0:12:12.482 --> 0:12:18.802 Apart I supposals Lucas ponta rakum nova ala atu CenTra 0:12:18.921 --> 0:12:22.922 matarney for you who's passed by properson Resistencia. 0:12:24.401 --> 0:12:24.801 Judus. 0:12:25.482 --> 0:12:28.321 In fact, the new maternity ward at the saw Lucas 0:12:28.362 --> 0:12:31.682 Hospital has a promotional video too, and a few seconds 0:12:31.722 --> 0:12:36.122 into it, listeners might recognize a not so Brazilian sounding. 0:12:36.002 --> 0:12:40.162 Name in North American Bruce Hasted. 0:12:41.921 --> 0:12:47.362 Bruce Restedter, the ethanol kingpin of Iowa. He wields a 0:12:47.482 --> 0:12:50.922 lot of power there, but outside the state he's not 0:12:51.041 --> 0:12:55.042 exactly a household name. Now suddenly a new wing in 0:12:55.082 --> 0:12:58.761 the hospital in this Brazilian farm town was being named 0:12:58.801 --> 0:13:01.162 after this guy. How did that happen? 0:13:02.401 --> 0:13:06.042 The hospital canceled my tour just before I arrived, so 0:13:06.242 --> 0:13:09.561 our producer Marsa ever does and I just showed up 0:13:09.681 --> 0:13:12.162 to see what we could see. We talk it to 0:13:12.281 --> 0:13:25.602 a hospital worker in the hallway. 0:13:25.641 --> 0:13:28.002 It's a little hard to hear there because Philippe and 0:13:28.082 --> 0:13:30.641 Marcia were trying to tape with their phone, and of 0:13:30.641 --> 0:13:33.521 course she's speaking in Portuguese too, But when they asked 0:13:33.561 --> 0:13:35.921 her about the name of the ward, the Bruce rast 0:13:35.962 --> 0:13:38.442 at her wing, she said it was named after Bruce, 0:13:38.561 --> 0:13:41.922 a doctor from Ohio. We're still not sure where she 0:13:42.002 --> 0:13:47.201 got that idea, but funding big public projects, especially around 0:13:47.281 --> 0:13:51.681 hospitals and healthcare, is really common in Brazil. You just 0:13:51.761 --> 0:13:55.242 heard how when telling Philippe about what she likes about Lucas, 0:13:55.401 --> 0:14:00.082 Isabella mentioned healthcare. People think of hospitals as an example 0:14:00.161 --> 0:14:03.242 of how nice a city is or how well it's working. 0:14:03.561 --> 0:14:06.362 So if Lucas has a good hospital, no one can 0:14:06.401 --> 0:14:09.442 say that the politicians or the businessmen running things here 0:14:09.561 --> 0:14:13.521 are bad. That goes double for anything that's focused on 0:14:13.602 --> 0:14:17.122 women and children. So a maternity ward checks a lot 0:14:17.161 --> 0:14:22.162 of boxes. And then we found out that the hospital 0:14:22.282 --> 0:14:25.242 is run by a foundation led by one of Rasstutter's 0:14:25.242 --> 0:14:29.882 Brazilian business partners, Marino Franz. Marino's brother Paulo was the 0:14:29.882 --> 0:14:32.802 one that proposed that giant pig statue that looks out 0:14:32.842 --> 0:14:36.482 over Lucas. And to understand how Rastutter, the American farmer, 0:14:36.802 --> 0:14:40.602 ended up with a Brazilian rural maternity ward named after him, 0:14:40.802 --> 0:14:43.282 we had to figure out how the Franz brothers fit 0:14:43.322 --> 0:14:46.122 into it, and what brought Bruce to Brazil in the 0:14:46.162 --> 0:14:46.802 first place. 0:14:47.282 --> 0:15:02.722 That's gonna ye after the break Lucas. 0:15:02.722 --> 0:15:05.561 The Rio Verde is in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, 0:15:05.802 --> 0:15:09.602 a state that is almost exactly half agriculture and half 0:15:09.722 --> 0:15:15.362 Amazon rainforest. It used to be even more Amazon. For decades, 0:15:15.402 --> 0:15:18.482 the state was considered the frontier in Brazil. The forests 0:15:18.482 --> 0:15:21.162 were preserved, and it was home to even more indigenous 0:15:21.162 --> 0:15:24.162 people than it is today. But in the nineteen sixties 0:15:24.202 --> 0:15:28.082 and nineteen seventies, Brazil's military government deployed a new strategy 0:15:28.522 --> 0:15:32.322 was called the National Integration Plan. The idea was to 0:15:32.442 --> 0:15:36.282 eliminate indigenous communities that were seen as anti development and 0:15:36.522 --> 0:15:40.602 integrate the north and midwest of Brazil into the national economy. 0:15:42.762 --> 0:15:45.922 Seldom Sada Arrititomba is grabbed. 0:15:45.922 --> 0:15:48.402 You might study of twenty s Anti Task. 0:15:49.802 --> 0:15:50.481 Community. 0:15:50.722 --> 0:15:54.482 This propaganda film from the seventies celebrates the quote revolution 0:15:54.762 --> 0:15:59.442 reaching the jungle, toppling trees in favor of roads. The 0:15:59.522 --> 0:16:03.242 goal was to develop the Amazon by building infrastructure in 0:16:03.282 --> 0:16:08.042 the wilderness, displacing indigenous residents, and encouraging people from outside 0:16:08.082 --> 0:16:12.082 the region to move there, to be pioneers and go 0:16:12.122 --> 0:16:16.122 to this frontier and tainment. The main farm towns in 0:16:16.202 --> 0:16:20.802 motto Grosso today were deliberate colonization projects, many of them 0:16:20.802 --> 0:16:24.922 built and funded by the Brazilian government. The government offered 0:16:24.962 --> 0:16:28.762 people plots of land, housing, and sometimes even credit to 0:16:28.882 --> 0:16:32.282 move there. They even funded research to figure out how 0:16:32.322 --> 0:16:35.042 crops like soybeans and cotton could be grown in the 0:16:35.042 --> 0:16:38.642 tropical climate there. That's what brought the Franz brothers there 0:16:38.922 --> 0:16:42.602 decades ago, and according to Paolo, it's the Franz brothers 0:16:42.722 --> 0:16:49.961 who brought Bruce to the area. In follows telling it 0:16:50.042 --> 0:16:53.162 all happened because of an internship he did in Iowa 0:16:53.802 --> 0:16:56.602 and an important contact he made there. Here he is 0:16:56.642 --> 0:16:58.922 talking about it on a Brazilian podcast. 0:17:00.402 --> 0:17:01.561 Borjun tozer. 0:17:02.962 --> 0:17:07.882 Jenci be quas quadan Onmide senor to Terry Branstead. 0:17:08.162 --> 0:17:12.202 Harry Brandstad, the governor of Iowa the time and eventually 0:17:12.402 --> 0:17:17.442 US Ambassador to China during Trump's first presidency. Pallis says 0:17:17.482 --> 0:17:20.921 they all went to soccer games together a lot. Pallis 0:17:20.962 --> 0:17:24.282 it was Brand's dad who introduced him to Bruce Rastetter. 0:17:25.002 --> 0:17:27.881 Bruce Keo CEO the Empires and Fundador. 0:17:29.002 --> 0:17:32.361 Bruce is the CEO of the company the founder. He 0:17:32.482 --> 0:17:35.042 has a huge passion for pigs and has been involved 0:17:35.081 --> 0:17:37.681 with pigs his whole life. He was a pig farmer 0:17:37.922 --> 0:17:40.682 until he started getting into ethanol, which is a very 0:17:40.722 --> 0:17:45.082 recent thing. I don't know whether, just to clarify, Americans 0:17:45.081 --> 0:17:48.482 produce more ethanol from corn than we do from sugarcane. 0:17:49.242 --> 0:17:53.081 There the philosophy, the culture is producing ethanol from corn. 0:17:53.802 --> 0:17:56.682 So as president, I met with this Terry Branstad, who 0:17:56.722 --> 0:17:59.401 was the governor of Iowa. We met and he wanted 0:17:59.402 --> 0:18:00.882 to buy some land here in Brazil. 0:18:01.802 --> 0:18:04.561 Bruce doesn't mention any of this when he's asked about 0:18:04.601 --> 0:18:07.042 how he wound up in Brazil. Here's how he talked 0:18:07.042 --> 0:18:09.841 about it on a farming podcast a couple of years ago. 0:18:10.242 --> 0:18:14.161 So when we sold Hawkeye to Coke Industries. 0:18:13.882 --> 0:18:17.042 That was one of his S and L companies that freed. 0:18:16.802 --> 0:18:18.961 Me up for the first time to do other things 0:18:19.361 --> 0:18:23.641 outside of being responsible for a larger company, and started 0:18:23.682 --> 0:18:24.762 traveling to Brazil. 0:18:25.642 --> 0:18:26.282 This is how. 0:18:26.162 --> 0:18:29.242 Bruce talks about it in other interviews too. He was 0:18:29.282 --> 0:18:32.841 interested in Brazil because it's the main agricultural competitor to 0:18:32.882 --> 0:18:36.321 the US, or because other US companies had done well there, 0:18:36.962 --> 0:18:39.522 et cetera, et cetera. It was when we were trying 0:18:39.642 --> 0:18:44.522 to verify Bruce and Paolo's differing versions of this story 0:18:45.042 --> 0:18:48.282 that our brazil editor Alisi Desusa found a guy with 0:18:48.522 --> 0:18:52.842 yet another version, is. 0:18:52.882 --> 0:18:57.161 This promos and all are you three huggers? Are you 0:18:57.282 --> 0:19:01.042 looking at this from a negative standpoint or are you 0:19:01.121 --> 0:19:01.682 looking at it. 0:19:01.642 --> 0:19:02.962 From a neutral standpoint? 0:19:03.162 --> 0:19:05.841 I don't mind being neutral. I can be critical of 0:19:05.882 --> 0:19:10.641 this too. Yeah, but because clients of mine have invested 0:19:10.642 --> 0:19:13.642 in all words of a billion dollars now in Marpa Grosso, 0:19:13.922 --> 0:19:15.202 I don't want to fuck this up. 0:19:15.841 --> 0:19:19.322 That's Corey Melby, an agriculture consultant in Brazil. 0:19:19.802 --> 0:19:24.121 I came from Northwest Minnesota, developing land. So of course 0:19:24.361 --> 0:19:27.482 when in the early two thousands, when Marpa Grosso and 0:19:27.561 --> 0:19:31.201 all of this Siebian expansion was taking place, I was 0:19:31.242 --> 0:19:33.482 going to be the land guy for a group from 0:19:33.962 --> 0:19:36.242 some of the first guys I went down with, you're 0:19:36.282 --> 0:19:38.602 going to be here, Corey, pick up the language, bick 0:19:38.682 --> 0:19:39.682 up the contacts. 0:19:39.882 --> 0:19:41.402 You could be the real estate guy. 0:19:41.522 --> 0:19:44.402 So that's where I started was from that. 0:19:44.522 --> 0:19:49.762 Perspective full disclosure. We paid Corey Melby to be a 0:19:49.802 --> 0:19:52.841 fixer for us on the ground in Mato Grosso. The 0:19:52.882 --> 0:19:56.202 idea was that he would take us around and ideally 0:19:56.321 --> 0:20:00.002 arrange a meeting with the brothers Franz at their farm. 0:20:00.442 --> 0:20:03.522 None that ended up panning out, but he did talk 0:20:03.561 --> 0:20:06.522 to Philippi and I and he told us a lot 0:20:06.601 --> 0:20:11.361 about how Bruce started out in Brazil. He also added 0:20:11.361 --> 0:20:13.881 me to his newsletter list, which is a wealth of 0:20:13.962 --> 0:20:15.242 acknowledge about Brazil. 0:20:15.561 --> 0:20:16.642 Although it comes out. 0:20:16.522 --> 0:20:18.402 So many times a week, I still have about five 0:20:18.482 --> 0:20:21.081 hundred unread emails in a folder marked Corey. 0:20:22.202 --> 0:20:24.802 So I've been on every requirement by mon Grosso. I 0:20:25.081 --> 0:20:29.282 wrote the Boom Times and the bus, and the Boom 0:20:29.361 --> 0:20:32.081 Times and the bus again with all my friends. 0:20:32.242 --> 0:20:32.802 So I I. 0:20:34.282 --> 0:20:36.401 You know, I have that twenty five year art of 0:20:36.561 --> 0:20:40.002 experience now of the good, bad and ugly of Macrocrosso. 0:20:40.442 --> 0:20:42.081 And believe me, there's plenty of. 0:20:42.202 --> 0:20:42.601 All of it. 0:20:43.762 --> 0:20:45.841 He knows a lot about Bruce and the Frownz brothers 0:20:45.841 --> 0:20:47.722 because he did for Bruce what he's done for the 0:20:47.762 --> 0:20:50.601 past twenty five years for other Americans looking to get 0:20:50.642 --> 0:20:53.961 into the agg business in monte Grosso. He toured them 0:20:54.002 --> 0:20:55.401 around looking for land. 0:20:56.282 --> 0:21:00.202 Back in twenty eleven, I was visiting Forema and he 0:21:00.361 --> 0:21:03.361 was a young, dynamic guy and he was at Cory. 0:21:03.202 --> 0:21:05.121 We're we're looking to develop a. 0:21:06.962 --> 0:21:13.002 A corn oil mill, processing and investors or a partner 0:21:13.081 --> 0:21:13.321 in that. 0:21:15.242 --> 0:21:15.722 Corn oil. 0:21:16.042 --> 0:21:19.562 So I was writing about this BS and my brewsletters 0:21:19.601 --> 0:21:23.841 at the time, and also visiting him Lucas Deomerday at 0:21:23.882 --> 0:21:29.162 the elevators at the time, doctor to Climber's Oh we've 0:21:29.202 --> 0:21:32.722 got to get corn athene or we're going to bury ourselves. 0:21:35.482 --> 0:21:38.442 Because of his newsletter and his ties to various American 0:21:38.561 --> 0:21:41.321 at folks, Corey has kind of become known as the 0:21:41.522 --> 0:21:44.202 guy to call if you're an American who wants to 0:21:44.282 --> 0:21:47.161 get a sense of Manto grosso. So when people started 0:21:47.202 --> 0:21:50.082 talking about corn ethanol there, it was only a matter 0:21:50.121 --> 0:21:54.522 of time before he got a call from you know who, Summit. 0:21:54.561 --> 0:21:57.361 From Iowa, which I'm sure you are very familiar with, 0:21:57.522 --> 0:22:00.242 Bruce Brest letter and Eric and then the whole club. 0:22:00.482 --> 0:22:04.762 I get it all from Bruce's letter email, Hey, we. 0:22:04.841 --> 0:22:05.361 Would like to. 0:22:08.442 --> 0:22:12.361 Uh, we're going to be down there for another reason. 0:22:12.762 --> 0:22:14.162 Could we do something? 0:22:14.402 --> 0:22:17.802 Call up cart was they didn't want to take one 0:22:17.841 --> 0:22:20.042 of Corey's prepackaged ag tours. 0:22:20.442 --> 0:22:25.482 Okay, so this is twenty eleven. We do a little 0:22:25.522 --> 0:22:27.362 quick power to here they go home. 0:22:27.442 --> 0:22:29.202 I figured out just another tour. 0:22:30.002 --> 0:22:33.081 Uh, we were looking at land. 0:22:33.202 --> 0:22:34.162 We loved to get going. 0:22:35.442 --> 0:22:38.402 Corey carried on, thinking nothing of it. But six months 0:22:38.482 --> 0:22:40.561 or so later he got a call from some friends 0:22:40.642 --> 0:22:41.882 in Manto, Brusso. 0:22:42.162 --> 0:22:46.121 My good friend, the friends is you know, they were Cory. 0:22:46.762 --> 0:22:48.242 We we wanted to get. 0:22:48.121 --> 0:22:50.002 An ethanol now went out here. 0:22:50.242 --> 0:22:53.121 But we needed help. We need American, we need capital. 0:22:54.762 --> 0:22:57.722 So I was telling Bruce and the guys, you know, 0:22:57.802 --> 0:22:59.802 I've got friends. I'm thinking. 0:23:01.081 --> 0:23:01.482 Guys. 0:23:02.121 --> 0:23:05.561 According to Corey, at the time, Bruce and the guys 0:23:05.722 --> 0:23:08.721 weren't quite ready to get into the ethanol business in Brazil. 0:23:08.882 --> 0:23:11.962 They were just looking for some farm land. Then they 0:23:12.042 --> 0:23:15.002 came back for another trip, and as Corey tells it, 0:23:15.321 --> 0:23:18.361 this is when they met the Franzis all. 0:23:18.202 --> 0:23:21.922 All of a sudden, we've got a farm for sale. 0:23:22.762 --> 0:23:25.641 Corey helped broker the deal between Bruce and the Franzas, 0:23:25.722 --> 0:23:27.322 and it kept them all talking. 0:23:27.882 --> 0:23:30.042 Three years to tolls on this down farm. 0:23:30.442 --> 0:23:33.802 But that farm for just then opened the door with 0:23:34.081 --> 0:23:39.201 trussed and capable. Hey, let's let's build an ethanol. 0:23:38.682 --> 0:23:40.161 And lucas together. 0:23:41.042 --> 0:23:43.482 The Franz brothers had hit the big time. They were 0:23:43.522 --> 0:23:47.401 getting into business with the ethanol kingpin of Iowa. It 0:23:47.522 --> 0:23:50.922 was a whole new level. Whereas Corey calls it cycle three. 0:23:51.762 --> 0:23:57.641 Cycle one is deforestation in cattle, Cycle two is song. 0:23:58.561 --> 0:23:59.642 Cycle two point. 0:23:59.561 --> 0:24:01.522 Five is soa a corn. 0:24:01.802 --> 0:24:06.002 Basically, you know, the combination CYCLELE three now gets to 0:24:06.202 --> 0:24:12.641 be what we would say industrial or added Iowa. 0:24:13.962 --> 0:24:17.002 For the Franz brothers, Bruce was a white whale at 0:24:17.042 --> 0:24:21.482 a time of booming Brazilian industrial agriculture. He happened to 0:24:21.522 --> 0:24:24.002 have some free time on his hands, and now this 0:24:24.282 --> 0:24:27.162 international king of corn had picked them. 0:24:27.802 --> 0:24:28.362 What luck. 0:24:29.081 --> 0:24:33.042 But that story misses one important detail. At the time 0:24:33.121 --> 0:24:36.682 he was doing land tours in Brazil, Bruce Rastetter was 0:24:36.762 --> 0:24:39.481 having a really bad time back home in Iowa. 0:24:40.081 --> 0:24:43.722 Since twenty twelve, since that big land grab attempt in Africa, 0:24:44.242 --> 0:24:47.121 he has become a dirty word in Iowa. 0:24:47.522 --> 0:24:49.522 It's just that's what he does. 0:24:49.682 --> 0:24:51.482 It's like his business model, you know. 0:24:51.802 --> 0:24:55.401 And whether it was in Iowa with you know, how 0:24:55.482 --> 0:24:59.322 he was treating Iowa farmers or now it's gloquially Yeah, 0:24:59.402 --> 0:25:00.762 he just keeps pushing his. 0:25:00.922 --> 0:25:02.242