🇧🇷 The cattle breeds of Brazil

Brazil keeps the second largest cattle herd on earth, about 238 million head in 2023, and sells more beef abroad than any other country. Beef ranching shapes the wide inland states, while dairying is strongest in the south and in Minas Gerais. Cattle anchor the national livestock economy.

• Brazil holds 22.2 per cent of the world's cattle, second only to India.
• Mato Grosso has the biggest state herd: 30.3 million cattle, 13.9 per cent of Brazil.
• The South averages 3,284 litres of milk per cow each year, the national high.
• Castro, Paraná, produced 264 million litres of milk in 2017, leading all towns.
• Brazil exported 3.01 million tonnes of beef in 2023, the most of any country.

Cattle in Brazil

Cattle have mattered in Brazil since colonial times, and they still anchor the country's livestock economy. The herd reached roughly 218 million head in 2016 and about 238.62 million in 2023, some 22.2 per cent of the world's cattle, second only to India, a country that does not rear cattle for meat. Brazil is the second largest beef producer, at 15.4 per cent of world output, and together with the United States and the European Union it turns out nearly half the beef produced worldwide. Alongside the cattle sit 1.37 million buffalo, mostly in the north; Minas Gerais has built a niche in mozzarella made from buffalo milk. The character of Brazilian cattle keeping is scale: vast pastures, low stocking densities and long supply chains aimed at export.

Regions and communities

The Centre-West held 34.4 per cent of the national herd in 2016 and the North came next with 47.98 million animals. Mato Grosso alone carried 30.30 million cattle, 13.9 per cent of Brazil's total, while Minas Gerais, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul each held about a tenth. Among municipalities, the biggest herds were counted at São Félix do Xingu and Marabá in Pará, Corumbá and Ribas do Rio Pardo in Mato Grosso do Sul, and Cáceres in Mato Grosso. Dairying draws a different map: the South has led milk output since 2015 with 35.7 per cent, the Southeast keeps the most milked cows, and Minas Gerais is the top milk state.

Milk, butter and beef

Beef is the headline product: Brazil shipped 3.01 million tonnes abroad in 2023, more than any other country, and sent 1.08 million tonnes of fresh beef overseas in 2016. Milk runs close behind in importance. Output reached 35.1 billion litres in 2018, when Brazil was the world's third producer, and by 2023 it ranked fifth. The southern states milk most productively, averaging 3,284 litres per cow in a year, while Minas Gerais produces the largest total. Two towns stand out: Castro in Paraná, the leading milk municipality in 2017 with 264 million litres, and Patos de Minas in Minas Gerais, second with 191.3 million.

Today

Brazil today holds the second largest cattle herd on the planet and sells more beef abroad than anyone else. Numbers have climbed from about 215 million head in 2017 to 238.62 million in 2023. Beef exports reached 3.01 million tonnes that year. In milk, Brazil ranked third in 2018 and fifth by 2023, still a vast producer by any measure. The buffalo herd remains small but is gaining ground in Minas Gerais for meat and mozzarella.