30 April 2021

4 minute read

South America

April saw the start of an essential phase in the implementation of the project that will enable ground-breaking advances in the traceability of the beef cattle production chain in the Amazon Biome. This month, registration began of producers on the Transparent Livestock Farming Platform, a tool which, using blockchain technology, will make it possible to extend, to suppliers of its suppliers of cattle for the industry, socioenvironmental monitoring with security of the data, reliability and producer engagement.

Signing up is voluntary. Beef cattle producers who directly supply JBS, the food company sponsoring the initiative, will list their suppliers of animals on the platform developed by specialized company Ecotrace. As the platform is an open one, other companies within the industry can use the system.

The data will be sent electronically for validation by Agri Trace Rastreabilidade Animal, the system of the CNA (Brazilian Confederation of Agricultura and Livestock Farming). Once authorized by the producer, the CNA checks if the list of suppliers is complete.

Companies accredited on the platform, like Agrotools, will process the socioenvironmental compliance analysis based on the same criteria currently used by JBS, in an agreement with the Federal Prosecution Office (MPF), to check for the existence of:

• deforestation, respecting the Brazilian Forest Code,
• invasion of indigenous lands or environmental conservation units,
• hard labor and
• use of areas embargoed by IBAMA.

The outcome of the analysis will be sent directly to the JBS supplier who, for the first time, will be able to view socioenvironmental compliance throughout his entire supply chain. This means they will be able to develop plans to mitigate risks and engage in actions that help producers to regularize their situations when necessary.

JBS will not have access to sensitive information, only to the consolidated analysis of its suppliers. Thanks to blockchain technology, it will be possible to maintain the commitment to the confidentiality of third-party information.

A fundamental part of the project is a supply chain engagement strategy to accelerate the compliance comply with the socioenvironmental standards. All beef cattle suppliers of JBS will sign up to the program by the end of 2025.

This is also the deadline, according to the Net Zero 2040 commitment announced by JBS, for the Company's beef cattle supply chain, including its suppliers' suppliers, to be free of illegal deforestation in the Amazon Biome and the other biomes in Brazil by 2030. The world's second-largest food company and global leader in protein has made a commitment to zero the balance of its greenhouse gas emissions across its entire, diversified value chain, reducing the intensity of direct and indirect emissions and offsetting all residual emissions.

The Net Zero target of JBS includes the company's global transactions, covering farm farmers and other suppliers, in addition to clients, in its efforts to achieve net zero emissions in 2040. That is why monitoring its entire production chain in the Amazon is a fundamental part of the JBS strategy on the path to Net Zero.

The Company hopes that by the end of the year the Transparent Livestock Farming Platform will have registered producers who have a total turnover of 1 million animals.

Inclusion process with the Green Offices

For Renato Costa, CEO of Friboi, the Transparent Livestock Farming Platform, which is open to any farmer, will contribute to the industry’s visibility regarding preservation of the Amazon Biome and the development of increasingly sustainable livestock farming. “We are very confident. We want this to be an inclusion process that assists all producers”, says the executive.

With this objective, the Company has set up 13 Green Offices at processing units scattered the length and breadth of the country: in Marabá and Redenção (PA), Porto Velho and São Miguel do Guaporé (RO) and another six in Mato Grosso: Alta Floresta, Barra do Garças, Confresa, Diamantino, Juara and Pontes and Lacerda. The initiative has also arrived in Goiânia and Mozarlândia (GO) and Campo Grande (MS). The teams will primarily help the suppliers of the suppliers to regularize their environmental status.

“Monitoring the entire beef cattle supply chain is a complex task and a challenge for the entire sector”, explains Renato Costa. For Márcio Nappo, the company’s Sustainability Director, “JBS is contributing with a robust solution based on a continuous improvement approach”.

Now, JBS is pushing ahead with its objective to take this same control to the farms that provide calves and feeder cattle to its suppliers. This is a huge challenge for the industry. Therefore, this work is a decisive step that will benefit the entire production chain.

Click here to access the Transparent Livestock Farming Platform.