🐂 Integrated livestock

FROM SINOP, MATO GROSSO

Forging a path to recuperate Brazil’s degraded pastures

Brazil is home to more cattle than people — and as the world’s top beef exporter and second-largest producer, its livestock sector is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, driven by methane from animals and relentless deforestation.

But scientists at Embrapa, the country’s state-run agricultural research agency, believe they’ve found a way to make raising cattle far less damaging to the environment.

For over a decade, researchers at Embrapa’s unit in Sinop, in the agricultural heartland of Mato Grosso state, have been testing what they call the world’s largest experiment in regenerative livestock farming. By integrating cattle grazing with crop production and forestry — a method known as integrated crop-livestock-forestry (ICLF) — they aim to restore degraded pastures, increase yields, and offset the sector’s carbon footprint.

First launched in 2011, the project has just concluded its initial research cycle. Experiments were carried out on Embrapa’s farms and in partnership with local producers to simulate real-world conditions. The approach involves rotating crops and livestock on the same land, while adding carefully selected tree species to absorb carbon, provide shade and produce timber.

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