RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Milkpoint, one of the leading consulting firms in the dairy sector in Brazil, which has conducted an exclusive survey on Brazilian production since 2001, presented on March 14 the ranking of the Top 100 farms in 2021. The ranking maps the production of the properties by volume of milk produced.
In 2021, the daily average of this group was 25,508 liters, 10.63% higher than in 2020 and 289.8% higher than in the first survey carried out.
Among the curiosities, the municipality of Carambeí, in Paraná State, remains as the largest milk producer in the country, in the ranking, both in the number of producers and in volume produced. With Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states, Brazil’s Southern region stands out in production per animal and property. The average milk production was 9.86 million liters per property/year and 36.68 liters per cow/day.
The Southeast remains the region with the highest volume produced, with 488 million liters, and Minas Gerais remains the state with the highest number of properties in the survey, with 40 properties.
Get to know the Top 10 farms. They produced, on average, 62,350 liters of milk per day, 8.52% more than the previous year. In this group, 77% of the properties keep their animals confined, with almost no access to pasture, which increased by 10% over the previous year. Check it out:
1 – Colorado Farm
Located in Araras (São Paulo State), Colorado farm is the largest milk producer in the ranking for the ninth consecutive year. The average daily production was 85,465 liters of milk. In the year, it produced 31.2 million liters. In the 1960s, it was bought by Lair Antonio de Souza and today is in the third generation of administrators. Owner of the brand Xandô, Colorado, has a herd of about 2,100 Holstein Friesian cows and is one of the most technological farms in the country.
2 – Melkstad Agropecuária
From Carambeí (Paraná State), Melkstad Agropecuária has about 2,000 Holstein Friesian cows. The lactating animals produce an average of 82,026 liters per day, with 29.9 million liters of milk in the year. The Melkstad group was born in 2012. At the time, the property was rented, and in the herd, there were 50 cows. The initial idea was to set up a project for 400 cows. After betting on a management model for productivity, it is in the front group seeking environmental efficiency and animal welfare.
3 – Sekita Agribusiness
The farm’s average daily production was 71,914 liters of milk last year, with a total of 26.2 million liters. Located in São Gotardo (Minas Gerais State), besides milk, Sekita Agropecuária produces horticultural products, such as carrots, garlic, cabbage, among others. The herd has about 1,800 lactating cows, all of the Holstein Friesian breed.
4 – Orostrato Olavo Silva Barbosa
Fazenda Bela Vista is one of the most traditional brands of type A milk in São Paulo, where the company, headquartered in Itirapina, in the state’s interior, produces a daily average of 70,411 liters. Last year, the total was 25.7 million liters of milk. The history with dairy cattle started in the early 1960s, with large investments over the years. In 2005, the dairy plant came, which processes milk, yogurts, cream, butter, and cheeses.
5 – Agrindus – Letti
Santa Rita farm in Descalvado (São Paulo State), is from 1945. It currently produces a daily average of 64,614 liters of milk, with a total, last year, of 23.6 million liters. Owned by the Jank family, Agrindus created the Letti brand in 2007. Because of the refined genetic selection, the cows produce milk called A2 because it contains only A2 beta-casein protein, the same protein found in mother’s milk.
6 – Alberto Frederik Wolters
The breeder Alberto Frederik Wolters, owner of Chácara Tina, is one of the most recognized names in dairy farming in Castro, in the Campos Gerais region of Paraná State. His fame is due to the genetic work searching for long-lived cows with longer reproductive life. Last year, the average daily production was 53,544 liters of milk, with a total for the period of 19.5 million liters.
7 – Marcos Epp
Agropecuária Régia, in Palmeira (Paraná State), was founded in 1968 by the parents of the current rural producer, Marcos Epp. The farm is part of the Witmarsum Colony, of German origin, 60 kilometers from the state capital, Curitiba, a rural tourist route project to bring the countryside closer to the city. With a herd of about 2,400 dairy animals, the production at Régia was 52,681 liters as a daily average. In 2021, the property closed with a total volume of 19.2 million liters of milk.
8 – Antonio Carlos Pereira, Filhos, e Netos (“Antonio Carlos Pereira, Sons, and Grandchildren”)
Fazendas Reunidas ACP (Antonio Carlos Pereira, Filhos, e Netos), is located in Carmo do Rio Claro, southern Minas Gerais. The average daily production was 51,865 liters of milk last year, with 18.9 million liters in the period. The focus is on the sustainability of the production system. The farm also operates in fish farming, coffee, meat, besides owning a brand of cachaça (liquor), Coração de Minas. It also produces its own energy.
9 – José Henrique Pereira
Owners of the Cobiça farm, José Henrique Pereira and Ana Maria Branquinho Pereira have been producing milk since the 1970s, in the municipality of Três Corações (Minas Gerais State). The average daily production was 46,151 liters last year, with a total in the year of 16.8 million liters of milk. The herd is about 2,000 animals of the Holstein Friesian breed.
10 – Maurício Silveira Coelho
The Santa Luzia farm in Passos (Minas Gerais State), owned by the veterinarian Maurício Silveira Coelho, is one of the reference properties in raising grazing dairy cattle with Girolando cows. It is the result of crossing Holstein Friesian with the Gir breeds. On this farm, in 2015, the first rotary milking system for this type of animal was installed in the country. The average daily production last year was 44,824 liters of milk, with a total of 16.4 million liters.
With information from Forbes
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