How a Brazilian farm operating on land seized by the Movement of Landless Workers in the 1990s is pointing the way to an alternative to modern industrial-scale livestock farming.
When we discuss climate change, we tend to focus on carbon dioxide emissions as the cause, and rising temperatures as the result. In reality, there are a host of related and often mutually reinforcing processes at work in our changing environment, from the loss of biodiversity to the acidification of the oceans. Agriculture, and livestock farming in particular, plays multiple roles in shaping how these interlocking systems are changing, in ways that threaten both planetary health and our own ability to survive as a species.
Agriculture is both the source of 30% of global carbon dioxide emissions and a key driver of topsoil loss and erosion, as well as overall soil fertility – with potentially major impacts on future yields and therefore on food security. (Jason Clay’s Rethink Food cited a recent WSJ article in this regard – well worth a read).
Taking its cue from the example of the Cooperativa de Produção Agropecuária Vitória, a farmers’ cooperative in the Brazilian state of Paraná, built on land seized the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) in the 1990s – accompanied by aerial photographs that testify to the impressive transformation that it wrought on the landscape – an article published in the Brazilian outlet O Joio e O Trigo suggests an alternative form of livestock farming is necessary, and possible.
Pecuária regenerativa, as the approach to livestock farming is known, has the ultimate goal of regenerating the soil and restoring its biodiversity, something particularly hopeful for a country like Brazil, in which illegal land grabs and an export-led economic model dictated by large agribusiness bears a direct responsibility on the destruction of the Amazon and other distinct biomes such as the Cerrado.
In order to tell her story, the author Mariana Costa interviews farmer Daniela Calza, who, after growing up on the estate, specialised in agroecology and livestock management and now provides technical support. By grabbing a piece of earth and showing how it is full to the brim with minhocas and besouros (earthworms and coleoptera), rather than focusing on expensive machineries and productivity charts, Daniela demonstrates how pecuária regenerativa can offer a radical alternative to the intensive model of farming which dominated agriculture since the 1960s.
If the latter relies on chemical inputs (pesticides, insecticides and fertilisers), heavy machinery and monocultures to boost short-term productivity at the cost of longer-term negative externalities in the form of soil degradation and biodiversity loss – pecuária regenerativa, on the other hand, takes a holistic approach. Indeed – as the article goes on to explain by looking at Copavi, where only 40 of 242 total hectares are dedicated to livestock farming – cows are only part of a wider chain, almost an afterthought of a larger system of land management that starts with grasses and microorganisms responsible for restoring soil nutrients, and ends with fairer working conditions for agricultural workers.
A big part of this alternative model of animal husbandry is a system of “rational grazing” inspired by French biochemist and farmer André Voisin (1903-1964), which as Daniela Calza tells the author, was introduced to Copavi by zootechnics professor at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) Pinheiro Machado. Originally devised to prevent overgrazing, this method hinges on subdividing the estate in smaller plots called piquetes and a careful rotation of pastures destined to feeding cattle so as to allow for the grasses to grow back stronger after being eaten. Another is allowing for the spontaneous growth of a wide array of plants – including pulses and bushes – which not only improves cattle diets, but also contributes to restoring soil health and natural fertility.
At the same time, as other interviewees make clear as well, pecuária regenerativa is anything but a rigid formula to apply uncritically. In the case of Copavi, Daniela Calza stresses the importance of the natural shade provided by trees, for instance, which not only helps protect the cattle against heat and parasites (since cows are allowed to rub themselves against trees as they would in nature), but also translates in higher productivity and reproductive fertility. However, it varies depending context, and often relies on the interplay and fine-tuning between ancestral and indigenous knowledge and the guidance from researchers and universities – reason for which perhaps, as the article details toward the end, its approach struggles to be adopted by results-driven government policies.
Be that as it may, in the specific case of Copavi, this regenerative approach proved a success. The article makes the interesting point that focussing on carbon footprint might be too narrow-minded. Still, the biodiverse, lush environment of the farm sequesters way more carbon dioxide than a conventional intensive livestock farm ever would. The fact that the farm forms a closed loop, makes it so that it is not subject to what is usually called “the agricultural treadmill” – less capital invested in inputs and machinery means higher profits margins. The fact that Copavi doesn’t rely on chemical inputs whilst practicing a kind of agriculture that predates the innovations of the Green Revolution also makes it more resilient and better equipped to withstand increasingly frequent weather extremes such as droughts.
However, the article doesn’t address the elephant in the room: to introduce agroecology at scale would require more land, labour and resources than its intensive counterpart, and may lead to a larger net carbon footprint if consumption remains unchanged. It’s for this reason that authors like Michael Grunberg argue the exact opposite – that ever-increasing intensification is needed to resolve climate change.
Still, even by foregoing these relevant “bigger picture”–issues, the article makes a convincing case for regenerative agriculture in general that should be actively encouraged and explored where and when the context allows it.
Original article (“A pecuária pode ser sustentável?”) by Mariana Costa appeared in Brazilian Portuguese in O Joio e O Trigo on 1 January 2025.
It’s available here.
O Joio e O Trigo (The Chaff & The Wheat) is a Brazilian non-profit and platform for investigative journalism with a particular focus on food, health and power.
Summary by BS.
