Brazilian beef produced on pastures: Sustainable and healthy

- Brazilian grass-fed beef may have higher productivity, quality and mitigate GHGs.
- Brazil beef may attend consumer's sensorial expectations.
- Brazilian beef constitution does not affect lipid profile of the consumers.
- New researchers are able to generate know-how to improve livestock sustainability.
- Brazil's next challenge is to transfer more technologies to be used by farmers.

With a herd of 209 million cattle, Brazilian beef production estimate for 2023 is 10,935 million tons, representing an increase of 28.9% and accounting for 20% of the world trade. Beef cattle production is constantly evolving; however, there are extremes, ranging from simple existing farm ranges to intensive forage systems, strategic supplementation, updated health and genetic improvement programs for the production of quality beef. This modern production is based on scientific research carried out at universities and other research institutions. A new generation of professionals with multidisciplinary knowledge and a holistic vision of the productive chainproposed management practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the production of grass-fed beef cattle, whose meat has high omega-3 and CLA contents. Age at slaughter of steers and of heifers at first mating, significant increases in the ratio calves/100 cows, adequate traceability for pastoral systems with hundreds or thousands of animals per farm and a more intense transference of technology are required.