Brazil cattle herd reaches highest level since 2016 – IBGE

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The high price of fat cattle and growth in meat exports helped to increase livestock in Brazil, which traditionally has the largest commercial cattle herd in the world.

“We had experienced a period of slaughter of females which led to a reduction in the number of animals and calves, and this pushed up the price of live cattle,” said the supervisor of IBGE’s Municipal Livestock Survey (PPM) Mariana Oliveira.

The price of the standard arroba (equivalent to 15 kg) in Brazil reached record highs above R$320 (US$60) this year, and are currently traded at around R$295 in the main markets.

HERD LEADERS

The Midwest accounted for 34.6% of the total (75.4 million), according to IBGE. The biggest annual increase was seen in the North, 5.5%, or 2.7 million head more, totaling 52.4 million head, according to the data.

Mato Grosso maintained the largest cattle herd in Brazil, with 32.7 million head and a 2.3% increase over 2019. Goiás had a 3.5% increase and closed 2020 with 23.6 million head of cattle. In third place is Pará, with 22.3 million head, up 6.3%. In 4th place, losing the 3rd position to Pará, came Minas Gerais, with an annual increase of 6.6% in its herd, totaling 22.2 million head.

In municipal terms, the largest herd is still in São Félix do Xingú (PA): 2.4 million head and an increase of 5.4% in the year. Corumbá (MS) came next, with 1.8 million head. With an 11.8% increase in its herd, Marabá (PA) climbed from 5th to 3rd place, with 1.3 million head.

The IBGE also stated that national milk production in 2020 reached 35.4 billion liters, a record for the survey, up 1.5% compared to 2019. Minas Gerais remained in the lead, with 9.7 billion liters of milk, (or 27.3% of the national total) and up 2.6% compared to 2019, the IBGE added.