MS producers invest in technology to keep the state a foot-and-mouth disease-free area | National Newspaper

MS cattle producers bet on technology to guarantee quality seal

In the Center-West of Brazil, producers in Mato Grosso do Sul are investing in technology to keep the state a foot-and-mouth disease-free area without the need for vaccination.

A herd will be monitored by the Animal and Plant Health Defense Agency of Mato Grosso do Sul, IAGRO, from the farm to the slaughterhouse.

“If IAGRO stops us, they will pull up their tablet or computer and it will appear that we did it on the IAGRO app and the cattle are already being monitored”, explains driver Isaías Soares Lima.

Everything is monitored by a central unit to ensure that the cattle are free from any possibility of contamination.

“The animal left, was boarded at such a time, in such a place, and then it went to its destination. There is the entire itinerary where it went. If it goes outside this itinerary, automatically, you have an action that you can take in relation to this”, explains Daniel Ingold, director of IAGRO.

If the driver deviates from the route, a signal is issued at the monitoring center and the IAGRO driving team closest to the location is called to approach the truck driver on the highway.

An average of 300 trucks are inspected per day in the state. Attention is even greater in border regions.

“We have expanded and intensified inspection at the borders with Bolivia and Paraguay, because they are countries that have not yet been declared free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination”, says inspector Fábio Nantes.

It was investing in more rigorous care that Mato Grosso do Sul and 16 other states were recognized as a foot-and-mouth disease-free zone without vaccination by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, a situation very different from that faced in 2005, for example, when an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the state shook the Brazilian economy.

Thousands of animals were sacrificed, several countries banned the import of meat from Brazil. The sector only recovered three years later.

Now, With the foot-and-mouth disease-free zone seal, the sector expects to have direct savings of R$2.2 billion per year.

“We have a cost reduction with the vaccine itself, although it is not the big factor. The big factor is precisely the movement of the herd to apply this vaccine”, highlights Felippe Serigati, researcher at FGV Agro.

“It saves time, it saves work, it saves money. It’s a job that sometimes takes 30 days and the whole team is just doing a vaccine”, celebrates the rural producer Hélio Lima.

Brazil is the main beef exporter in the world. The projection for 2024 is that the country will ship 2.85 million tons of protein. The Ministry of Agriculture’s goal is to make the entire country free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination by 2026 and, in doing so, conquer new markets.

“Increase the showcase, we have our product accredited, properly tracked, properly certified. The markets know this importance, so we will stick with dialogue, with a relationship, with commerce closer to us with the best markets”, says the superintendent of the ministry in Mato Grosso do Sul, José Antônio Roldão.

On Hélio Lima’s farm, in Campo Grande, the last vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease was 10 months ago and should not be repeated.

“This was very important because it saves time, saves work, saves money. It’s a job that takes up to 30 days with the entire team just doing one vaccine,” she says.