A prize herd of Nelore cattle flourish on the plains of Fazenda Carpa Serrana, a 66,700-acre breeding farm in Mato Grosso that has helped make the Indian breed the dominant beef cattle in Brazil, and Brazil the largest exporter of beef in the world, with about half of the trade bound for China. The hardy Nelore are ideally suited to the tropics, with loose skin; dense, reflective white hair that shuns sun and insects; and 30 percent more sweat glands than European breeds. Carpa Serrana grazes around twenty thousand cows and rotates its pastures with soybean production. Most Brazilian cattle are grass fed, and the expansion of pastures and soybean fields has been a primary driver of deforestation in regions like Mato Grosso. In 2023, there were more cattle in Brazil (242 million) than Brazilians (218 million).
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