Brazil unveils $4 million supercow, twice as meaty as others of her breed

Brazil has hundreds of millions of cows, but one in particular is extraordinary.

Worth US$4 million, Viatina-19 FIV Mara Móveis is the most expensive cow ever sold at auction, according to Guinness World Records. This is three times more than the price of the last record holder. And – weighing in at 1,100 kg (over 2,400 pounds) – she is twice as heavy as the average adult of her breed.

Along a highway that runs through the heart of Brazil, the owners of Viatina-19 have placed two billboards praising its grandeur and inviting people to make pilgrimages to see the super cow.

Climate scientists agree that people need to consume less meat, the largest agricultural source of greenhouse gases and a driver of Amazon deforestation. But the livestock industry is an important source of Brazilian economic development and the government is striving to conquer new export markets. The world’s largest beef exporter wants everyone, everywhere to eat its meat.

The embodiment of Brazil’s livestock ambitions is Viatina-19, the product of years of efforts to breed meatier cows. The prize winners are sold at high-stakes auctions – so high that wealthy farmers share the property. They extract the eggs and semen from champion animals, create embryos, and implant them into surrogate cows that they hope will produce the next magnificent specimens.

“We are not slaughtering elite cattle. We are raising them. And at the end of the line, we will feed the whole world,” said one of its owners, Ney Pereira, upon arriving by helicopter at his farm in Minas Gerais. state. “I think Viatina will provide that.”

The snow-white cow’s impressive price stems from how quickly she gained large amounts of muscle, her fertility and – crucially – how often she passed these traits on to her calves, said Lorrany Martins, a veterinarian who She is Pereira’s daughter and right hand. Breeders also value posture, solid hooves, docility, maternal ability and beauty. Those wishing to improve the genetics of their herds pay around US$250,000 for the opportunity to collect Viatina-19 eggs.

“It is the closest thing to perfection achieved so far,” said Martins. “She is a complete cow, she has all the characteristics that all owners look for.”

In Brazil, 80% of cows are Zebus, a subspecies originating in India with a distinct hump and dewlap, or folds of skin on the neck. Viatina-19 belongs to the Nelore breed, created for the production of meat and not milk, and which makes up the majority of the Brazilian herd.

The city of Uberaba, where Viatina-19 lives, annually holds a meeting called ExpoZebu, which calls itself the largest zebu fair in the world. Held a few weeks ago, it was very different from the Brazil one imagines abroad. The dress code was boots, baseball caps and jeans. The evening concerts drew 10,000 spectators singing their favorite country songs. But the main attraction was the daily cattle fairs, where cows compete for prizes that increase the price of the animal at auction.

The most prestigious auction is called Elo de Raça, held on April 28th. When the first cow entered the paddock, the speakers played Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” But that cow was a mere appetizer for this year’s star, Donna, and three of her clones; the final sale price estimated its total value at 15.5 million reais (US$3 million).

The commodities boom in the 2000s boosted Brazilian agriculture, especially with a rising China buying soybeans and beef. Today, the influence of agriculture extends to the Brazilian Congress and national consciousness. And Brazil, along with the USA, is at the forefront of bovine genetics.

Obstacles like Donna and Viatina-19 are rare in Brazil, which has more than 230 million cows, according to the USDA. It’s the largest beef cattle population in the world, and that’s problematic; Huge areas of the Amazon rainforest have been cut down to create pasture, releasing carbon stored in the trees. And cows expel methane, which is much worse for the climate.

Genetic improvements that reduce the slaughter age of cows are useful but limited ways to reduce warming. Simpler and more effective measures include planting better pasture for grazing and regularly moving cattle from pasture to pasture, said Beto Veríssimo, an agronomist and co-founder of an environmental nonprofit called Imazon.

Meanwhile, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been working to open new markets. Last month, he met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, home of premium marbled Wagyu beef; he urged his counterpart to try Brazilian meat and become a believer.

“Please,” he said, addressing his vice-president at the event, “take Prime Minister Fumio to eat steak at the best restaurant in São Paulo so that, the following week, he can start importing our beef.” .

Clones coming soon

Close to the Elo de Raça auction is the laboratory of the company Geneal Genética e Biotecnologia Animal. In a small pen behind him, a recently cloned calf lay in the sun, still too unsteady on its newborn legs to stand. Another born by caesarean section 20 minutes earlier leaned against the back wall of a stall, disturbed by this strange new world. The Viatina-19 clones should be launched in a few months, said Geneal’s commercial director, Paulo Cerantola.

Some farmers would not want a large herd of their clones. High-maintenance cows like Viatina-19 are not profitable on a large commercial scale because they cannot meet their energy needs on pasture alone, said PJ Budler, international business manager for Trans Ova Genetics, an Iowa-based company focused on in improving the bovine gene pool.

“For the environment and resources needed to manage a cow like (Viatina-19), it fits the mold perfectly, but it is not the answer for all cattle everywhere,” Budler said.

Viatina-19’s owner, Pereira, said she receives special treatment to increase egg production, but would thrive if placed on pasture – where almost all of his elite cattle feed.

Meanwhile, Viatina-19 is pregnant for the first time, and Pereira is eyeing expansion; His eggs were sold to Bolivian buyers and he wants to export them to the United Arab Emirates, India and the USA

His veterinarian daughter, Martins, looks even further ahead.

“I hope it will be the basis for an even better animal in the future, decades from now,” she said.