JBS Makes Significant Investment in Pará to Enhance Cattle Traceability and Support Small Producers

JBS's Major Initiative in Pará

In a bold move to enhance cattle traceability and support small agricultural producers, JBS has invested more than $7 million in the state of Pará, Brazil. This investment is part of a pioneering state program aimed at tracking the entire cattle and buffalo herd in the region by the end of 2026. The announcement and details of these initiatives were presented during the "Expedition for Sustainable Meat and Leather Market in Pará," an event supported by the Nature Conservancy (TNC) Brazil.

The State Program and Collaboration

The state program is a collaborative effort that brings together the government, producers, civil society, and industry stakeholders. JBS has made a significant financial commitment, including $5 million earmarked for its "Traceability Accelerator Program." This program aims to promote the adoption of traceability labels for animals from the company’s indirect suppliers.

As part of these efforts, JBS has donated 2 million ear tags to producers, along with 175 reading devices to the Agricultural Defense Agency of Pará (Adepará). The main focus of the Traceability Accelerator Program is initially on the southeastern region of Pará, particularly between the municipalities of Marabá and Santana do Araguaia.

Field Visits and Implementation

Teams from JBS, in conjunction with partner organizations, are conducting field visits to identify and engage local farms. They are working directly with personnel who have been trained and accredited by the state of Pará to ensure proper tracking of the cattle.

The donated reading devices function by recording data from the individual animal tags, allowing for effective monitoring of each cow in a state that possesses Brazil's second-largest cattle herd. Fábio Dias, head of Sustainable Livestock at JBS, emphasized the importance of the initiatives, noting that they aim to expand the state program by supporting both direct and indirect suppliers. The initiative aims to effectively implement up to 2 million traceability labels for herds and represents a critical step in addressing bottlenecks and testing traceability tools at scale.

Future Expansion and Innovations

This program is anticipated to grow further, with plans to extend the initiative to other regions within Pará, including the Southwest (Altamira, Anapu, and Pacajá), the lower Amazon (Belterra and Santarém), and the Marajó region. There is also an interest in replicating this successful model in other states across Brazil.

In addition to the investments in traceability, JBS has directed a significant portion of its funding towards the establishment of Green Offices in Pará. Since its inception in 2021, this program has received $2 million to provide free and specialized support for environmental regulations affecting rural properties, particularly focusing on small producers.

The main goal of the JBS Green Offices is to assist producers from registration to validation in the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), promote compliance with the Environmental Regularization Program (PRA), support the lifting of embargoes, and aid non-compliant producers in regaining their commercial qualification. They also connect producers to retraining initiatives such as SIRFLOR and Reconecta in Pará.

JBS operates four offices in the southeastern region (Santana do Araguaia, Redenção, Tucumã, and Marabá), facilitating the regularization process in collaboration with the State Secretariat for Environment and Sustainability (SEMAS) through the Sustainable Territories Platform (PTS). As of 2024, these offices will also provide technical and managerial support to producers (EV 2.0).

National Impact and Achievements

On a national scale, the outcomes have been significant. Since launching the JBS Green Offices program in 2021, a total of 18,042 agricultural operations have been legalized, and 7,005 hectares are undergoing reforestation efforts. This ongoing commitment reflects JBS’s dedication to both sustainable practices and community development.

The JBS initiative not only reinforces the traceability of cattle in Brazil but also actively supports local producers, showing a strong commitment to sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship. As this program continues to grow and evolve, it stands as a model for future agricultural initiatives across the country.