Deforestation, violence, and land grabbing. Cattle ranching in Para has long been associated with negative headlines due to its links to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
Recently, Para has taken the first steps toward changing this narrative. Located in northern Brazil, the state is leading an unprecedented movement in the country, heading a transformation that could enable sustainable cattle ranching. First results could be visible by the time COP30—the UN climate conference—takes place in Belem, Para’s capital, next November.
The state’s effort began just over a year ago when Governor Helder Barbalho announced during COP27 a plan to individually track all cattle in the state by 2026, tackling one of the biggest challenges in monitoring indirect cattle suppliers, the main hurdle to fight deforestation related to cattle production.
Since 2001, pasture areas in Para have expanded by 76%, reaching 22.5 million hectares, according to MapBiomas data. With 25 million head of cattle, Para holds the second-largest herd in Brazil, trailing only Mato Grosso.
The state’s initiative has influenced federal policies. Last year, Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry launched a national cattle traceability program, with an eight-year implementation timeline.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), one of the leading organizations working on sustainable cattle ranching in the Amazon, said Para’s political decision to implement traceability has shifted the industry’s direction.
“The governor ordered a traceability plan that is individual, mandatory, and fast, and he is sticking to the deadline. If traceability were voluntary, we’d just keep postponing it,” said José Otavio Passos, TNC’s Amazon director.
The challenge
With such a tight deadline, success depends on building a coalition involving the government, private companies, and civil society. Without this, implementing ear tags across all Para’s herd—especially among small-scale farmers, the most vulnerable link in the supply chain—would be nearly impossible.
At least 50% of Para’s cattle herd was raised on properties with deforestation-related issues in 2023, according to a study by consultancy firm Bain & Company in partnership with TNC. The vast majority (88%) are small farms operating under irregular land titles.
“Small ranchers and those on deforested lands face greater barriers to adopting traceability, mainly due to the high cost of environmental regularization and the fear of being shut out of formal markets,” the TNC study noted. Ear tagging is estimated to cost around $4 per animal.
To address this challenge, Para has secured financial support to provide free ear tags for small farmers. TNC and JBS —the world’s largest meat producer, which is also the biggest beef company operating in Para— donated 2 million pairs of ear tags to the state’s agricultural defense agency.
JBS, which operates five slaughterhouses in the state, will also cover the cost of tagging more than 1 million cattle from indirect suppliers this year.
2026 Changes
“If JBS doesn’t have a large number of tagged animals by January, there will be a disruption,” said Fabio Dias, director of cattle operations at JBS’ Brazil beef unit and head of regenerative agriculture.
Starting next year, cattle in Para will only be allowed to move if they have ear tags. Without them, the state’s animal health agency will not issue the GTA (Animal Transit Guide), a document required to transport cattle between farms or to slaughterhouses.
The ear tags alone won’t solve the environmental problem. However, they enable individual tracking of each animal’s movements, revealing the farm from which the cow was sourced.
To complete the trackability process, meatpackers must cross-reference this tracking data with other socio-environmental information, such as deforestation records, forced labor blacklists, and indigenous land boundaries. JBS has also helped farmers to legalize theirs properties within environmental bodies.
Without the tags, it’s impossible to track cattle individually, allowing the practice of “cattle laundering” to persist undetected by slaughterhouses. If only batch-based controls are used, the best anyone can do is estimate the likelihood of cattle laundering.
“We estimate it could be as high as 20%,” said Passos from TNC. “With ear tagging, the risk of contamination will drop drastically.”
In the long run, Para’s cattle industry could benefit financially by positioning itself as a leader in sustainable beef production. Individual tracking could add up to $1 billion to Para’s cattle industry within three to five years, according to Bain and TNC’s estimates.
If everything goes as planned, the industry could prove that it is possible to produce beef while keeping the forest standing.
