Friboi, the beef business unit of JBS, has initiated actions within the “REBANHO Araguaia” (Araguaia HERD) program in partnership with the Araguaia League to foster the development of sustainable livestock farming in the Middle Araguaia Valley region located in the state of Mato Grosso.
This semester sees the beginning of the first year of the three-year program, with a total of 16 farms participating in the League’s projects in the region. The producers were selected for their efforts in adopting sustainable intensification practices and in the increase in productivity in beef livestock farming in the region. The expectation is for 10 new ranches to participate in the program next year; and 10 more in 2022.
Focused on supporting the production management and good practices of these farms, the program schedule began in and provides for training and monitoring activities, including the use of production management tools and good practices such as monitoring the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
The REBANHO Araguaia program will support sustainable intensification practices in beef cattle livestock farming in the region, such as the recovery of degraded pasture lands, the adoption of crop-livestock integration (CLI) models, environmental regularization, investment activities to encourage the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and the conservation and restoration of forest areas (PPAs and LRs). In addition, the movement led by the Araguaia League aims to encourage the use of mechanisms that value the region’s environmental assets by supporting the regulation of financial offset instruments for forestry and biodiversity assets (Payment for Environmental Services – PES).
Within the project, the League’s technical team organizes the livestock farmers, while Friboi subsidizes the hiring of consultants specializing in property management so that they can intensify their pastures, ensuring better productivity per area while reducing the need for new grazing areas, which contributes to preserving the vegetation and local biodiversity. This will mean that the livestock farmers will be in a better position to invest, increase their productivity indicators, improve the quality of their animals and, primarily, contribute to the sustainability of production.
The Institute for Forest and Farming Stewardship and Certification (Imaflora), Inttegra – the Farming Metrics Institute and Ímpar – an agribusiness consultancy, are the project’s strategic partners. The consultants will undertake an immersion on the ranches to gather data and indicators of sustainability and managerial metrics that will be used to bring about innovations within the industry, enable improvements in action plans and in the management of these ranches, in addition to creating process synergies among the livestock farmers of the Araguaia League.
The partnership with Friboi boosts the production of sustainable beef in the Cerrado region, addressing the demand from important players who are seeking products with robust socioenvironmental responsibility that combines the attributes of quality and sustainability. The objective is to transform the region, one of the country’s leading cattle producers, into a global parameter of good production practices. Together, these livestock farmers are helping to preserve an area of over fifty thousand hectares of Legal Reserve and areas of permanent preservation.
The actions within the program have a horizon of three years to produce results. Given the work of the Araguaia League in the last five years, the region, today, consists of a group of organized and innovative livestock farmers who are a reference in Brazil for their sustainable production.
For further information about the Araguaia League go to: https://www.ligadoaraguaia.com.br/.
Photo credits: Marcelo Uemura