Lookingdown
fromabove
Brazilian cattle farming
business ismaking strides
in productivity and
efficiency, which are still far
fromtheir potential limits,
but are anassurance of
scale and income
S
eason after season, Brazilian cat-
tle breeders achieve new and
better productivity indicators,
translatedbyadvancesinslaugh-
ter rate, population, weight per
carcass and young slaughter age of the lots.
These rates stem from better herd manage-
ment practices and pasturelands, invest-
ments in genetics for more efficient food
conversion into weight and carcass confor-
mation, besides the support fromthemarket
and the supply chain, like the industrial lo-
gistic structure, and consumers at home and
abroad. The availability of grains and deriva-
tives fromagricultural crops for food supple-
mentationpurposes is alsoa factor.
Sérgio De Zen, researcher at the Center
for Applied Studies on Advanced Econom-
ics (Cepea), of the Luiz deQueiroz College of
Agriculture (Esalq), a division of the Univer-
sity of São Paulo (USP), highlights in his ar-
ticle “Brazilian Cattle farming: route to over-
come the crisis”, that beef cattle farming has
registered significant steps forward over the
past 30 years. At the beginning, as the coun-
try was going through a period of hyperin-
flation, stemming from fiscal and monetary
decontrol, the economic agents pursuedas-
sets to use as their economy reserves.
In agribusiness, the ox and its categories
(calves, youngbulls, leananimals, etc.)were
the preferred ones, along with coffee. When
the economy was back on track, the farm-
ers climbed to a professional status in their
activity and began to look at cattle breeding
as an investment, which calls for accurate
planning. The industrial segment started a
new phase. In 2003, Cepea research works,
jointly with the Brazilian Confederation of
Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), showed
that 250 hectares were necessary for 100
cows, which generated 45 offspring, each
oneweighing 170 kilograms on the hoof.
“In 2016, 100 cows occupied 140 hect-
ares and produced 65 calves weighing 200
kilograms. Although farm fromachieving its
maximum, productivityper hectarewent up
283%, or 172%per cow, due to hefty invest-
ments by the farmers to achieve this result”,
he emphasizes. And there is still the recre-
ation and fattening stage. In 2010, accord-
ing to data from the Mato Grosso State Cat-
tle Farming Institute (Indea/MT), less than
5% of the slaughtered animals were young-
er than two years, andmore than 55%, over
three years old. Now, around 15%of the an-
imals that are slaughtered are under 3 years
old and 25%more than three years.
In combination with the Cepea weight
and slaughter data, the conclusion is that,
in 2010, these animals weighed 16.5 arro-
bas – now, they weigh 17.4 arrobas. “These
numbers attest that productivity per area
andper animalmade significant strides, but
there is still room for further gains”, defines
De Zen. And he adds: “This combination ex-
plainswhy cattle farming inBrazil attracts so
many investors fromaround theworld”.
Inor Ag. Assmann
16
