Central-Western Region
 Comprised of the States of Goias, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. The State of Tocantins is also a major cattle raising area. Highly expressive, Goiás' cattle breeding plays a major role in the State's economy and places it among Brazil's largest producers ranking 4th. Goiás has about 20.4 million head, representing approximately 11% of the national total of
210 million head.
Goiás cattle breeding is continuously growing, mainly because of a higher demand on the international market for "green oxen", that is raised on pastureland. The cattle are bred without eating any animal product feed, i.e. they are free from catching the "mad cow" disease. Another relevant event for Goiás agribusiness occurred when the State was declared a Zone Free of Foot-and-Mouth Disease, in consequence of the inoculation campaign. This surely helped to increase the exportation of beef.
Another important fact was the Propasto
introduced in 2000 - Project for the Recovering and Handling of Pastureland. Coordinated by the State Secretary of Agriculture, Cattle Breeding and Supply and supported by some private institutions, the Propasto project achieved extremely good results in the production of meat, milk and leather by recovering worn-out pasturelands and by appropriate handling of the pastures.
Nowadays, Goiás cattle breeding represents about 35% of the Gross Production Value of the farming sector.
(source SEPLAN)
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