December 2003

Social Responsability and Safety Work, Workshop at Fazenda Tamandua, Happy Ending, The Drought

Workshop for students of UFCG at Fazenda Tamanduá

Dr.Alan Glayboon de Freitas Oliveira.

Always seeking the dissemination of its organic techniques, Fazenda Tamanduá held a workshop for students of the Rural Health and Technology Center of Campina Grande Federal University, Patos (PB) Campus, who are currently doing the subject Animal Production. The class, composed of 19 undergraduates of the Veterinary Medicine course, under the orientation of Dr. José Morais Pereira Filho, was conducted by Fazenda Tamanduá’s veterinarian, Alan Glayboon de Freitas Oliveira. The visit began with a talk focusing on the organic management system for dairy cattle and the traceability of the herd, and showing the planimetric and topographic map, with the location of the batches of animals in the pasture fields, the type of pasture, areas of the pasture fields, and legal and private nature reserves.Next, the class was taken to the fields so as to visit the installations. They were shown the different formulations of concentrate mixes made to meet the nutrition requirements of the various categories and batches of animals, within the IBD Rules, in the process of conversion to the Demeter seal.

They were also shown the sources of voluminous fodder, silage and hay, which are given to the cattle and are produced on the farm. The silage is made from forage-type sorghum produced during the short rainy season, and the hay, during the dry season, using the local technique of vazante plantation (cultivation of river and reservoir banks after the floods recede).

During the visit, the students showed great interest and knowledge all the time, asking questions and making comments. They were shown the compost made from cattle manure, which is considered the largest source of organic material used in the plantation part of the farm.

The students also saw the mechanical milking process and the hygiene program adopted in the dairy industry in obtaining and processing milk, as well as the stages involved in the company’s cheese production. They also observed 3 artificial inseminations and listened to an explanation on reproduction management.

UFCG Students at Fazenda Tamanduá

Finally, they thanked us and cordially said goodbye – or rather, "see you soon", since Fazenda Tamanduá will always have its doors open for future visits.

Safety at Work

Concerned with the safety and well-being of our workers, Fazenda Tamanduá, represented by Marcelo Ferreira dos Santos (Agricultural Technician) and Paula Leite Silveira (Food Technician), took part in another training event on the PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS AT WORK FOR CIPA MEMBERS. The aim of the Internal Accident Prevention Commission (CIPA) is the prevention of accidents and illnesses related to work, with a view to making labor permanently compatible with the preservation of life and the promotion of workers’ health. Because it is a very diversified company, by law Mocó Agropecuária Ltda. does not have to set up a CIPA, only two trained representatives, chosen by the company itself, being required.

In the period from October 13 to 17, 2003 a training session for CIPA members was held at the Patos office of SESI (the Industry Social Service), conducted by the Safety at Work Specialist, Waldisa Fontes Veras, a teacher for SESI and SENAI (the National Industrial Apprenticeship Service). The participants were given notions of regulatory norms NR-5 and NR-6, individual protection equipment, collective protection equipment, safety inspection, the drawing up of risk charts, labor accident investigation, accident analysis, safety campaigns, etc.

Paula Leite Silveira e Marcelo Ferreira dos Santos

The objective of the training was, in fact, to make CIPA members sensitive to the causes and consequences of accidents; to develop a sense of observation so that they perceive risk situations in their work environment; and finally, to enable them to lead their fellow workers in fulfilling and enforcing the safety norms required by the legislation in force.

The course was a success! But we are not yet satisfied, because we are aware of our commitment not only to our workers’ safety but also to their well-being. We already have Safety and Medical Assistance, but how is our employees’ personal fulfillment faring? It is necessary to know our workers’ relationship with their work. Those who are happy in themselves will surely transmit this atmosphere at work.

For that reason, in December of the current year, the Fazenda will possibly organize a workshop involving topics such as SELF-ESTEEM, RESPONSIBILITY and COMMITMENT, with a view to giving workers the skills necessary to focus on ways in which to increase self-esteem and their own fulfillment.

A story with a happy ending !
In 1997, Mocó Agropecuária obtained the registration of its dairy factory at the Federal Inspection Service (SIF) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Supply (“MAPA”) under no. 1312. This ensured the sale of its cheeses, of the Saint Paulin, and Reblochon types, and later Coalho type and Ricotta,throughout the country. The label designs were submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and approved accordingly. From then on, several alterations were carried out, fulfilling the new wording of the legislation in force.
In 2000, when Fazenda Tamanduá obtained its organic certification for milk, because we were aware of the lack of national regulations for such products, we decided not to risk including the word “organic” on the labels, which was definitely illegal, but to place the seal of our certifier beside the label registered at the SIF. Thus, without going against the law, we gave the consumer a clear sign of the origin of the raw material, organic milk, thusdifferentiating our cheeses from others. That was how our brand-name “Ferme Tamanduá” became recognized nationwide, as that of the only cheese that had both the SIF and an organic seal, a double guarantee of good quality.
However, in the last few days in October, we received written notice from the MAPA obliging us to remove the IBD seal by November 3^rd, because our certifier is not registered at the Ministry. This measure would cause great harm to our product’s image, in addition to causing significant economic loss and confusing the consumers who place their trust in an exclusive product that has both the MAPA guarantee, through the SIF, and the organic certification guaranteed by the IBD. With the rapid increase of certified producers in Brazil, some of them also being registered at the DIPOA or the DDIV (government departments), the lack of national legislation gave rise to this inevitable crisis, which called for a clear solution for the good of both consumers and producers. Putting together the case of Fazenda Tamanduá with other existing ones, this situation was presented by several means to Minister Roberto Rodrigues and his advisers, who wisely decided to find a temporary solution to the present problem until national norms are established, regulating the organic sector and effecting the necessary accreditation of the existing certifiers. Thus, on October 30, SDA Memorandum no. 1818/2003, signed by Dr. Maçao Tadano, the Agricultural Defense Secretary, stated that: “As we are going through a stage of final adjustments for the implementation of the official organic certification system and the issues relating to labeling will be regulated from then on, we understand that we should await such measures. The obligation to remove these identification elements could cause great damage to producers and doubts among consumers, giving rise to all kinds of interpretations regarding product quality in relation to the organic concept.” Thanks to this memo, the obligation to remove our IBD label was waived, until the long-awaited new norms for the organic sector are published. Once again Minister Roberto Rodrigues showed his pragmatic view in relation to the Brazilian agricultural sector, where all types of agriculture and livestock breeding can exist together for the good of the country, which will only profit from the diversity of production systems, leaving the final choice to the well informed consumer.

The Drought

Fazenda Tamanduá and the Brazilian North-Eastern region once again faced a very difficult year: 2003 was a year of drought. In fact, whereas the annual average rainfall in Patos is 700 mm., during the “Winter” (from February to April) we received only 468 mm. The worst thing is that it was a “green drought”: the maximum precipitation did not go above 50 mm at any one time, thus preventing the reservoirs all over the farm from filling. On the other hand, it was enough to complete one cycle of sorghum, which was ensilaged in order to feed the dairy cattle.

In April, the beginning of the natural dry season caught us with a minimum accumulation of water in the reservoirs, jeopardizing not only the irrigation of the mango trees but also the grass planted for the production of hay and drinking water for men and animals – in addition to fishing, which ensures the inhabitants a healthy and varied source of food.

Realizing that climate change is no fiction, we had decided to speed up the construction of earth dams on the streams whose sources are located on the farm, so as to retain as much water as possible. Two further small dams were built, and another one with a volume of 24,000 cu.m. of soil, damming the Conceição Stream, which crosses the whole farm. In its present state, the Mocó Dam can store close to 650,000 cu.m. of water. Having finally obtained all compulsory legal authorizations, we started the work at the beginning of the rainy season, though we were very fearful of the floods and the violence of this river, which could destroy the construction under way at any moment. Well, the waters of the river flowed only one morning, without causing any damage or delay to the construction work; this had never been seen before, as the waters of this river, overflowing its banks, frequently flooded the flat land. The foundation of the dam, dug right down to the rock, was over 6 meters deep. A huge dam was built, over 7 meters above ground level, but it was dry when finished …

Construction steps

At that time, the waters retained by three dams, and which were meant for the irrigation of the mango trees, were equivalent to no more than four months’ consumption.So we were forced to find other means in order to guarantee the harvest. A frantic search for underground water was started, driving tubular wells down to an average depth of 40 meters

Not all had a satisfactory rate of flow – above 3,000 liters per hour – and unfortunately, most of them were located near the corral, 4.5 kilometers away from the mango orchard. We therefore had to gather all this water together in a big, 50 cu.m. pond, and pump the water from there, through an conduit formed by two four-inch tubes, up to the mango trees.

It was a tremendous piece of work, cutting across the whole of our flat land with a ditch with an average depth of 1.20 m, but it allowed us to obtain a reasonably good crop, with a final loss of 24%, due to the lower average fruit weight.

We will start 2004 with all our reservoirs dry, though our water accumulation capacity is close to 5,600,000 cu.m.. The local people’s experience is that good “Winters” are guaranteed every year that ends in 4. If we check the rainfall rates since the beginning of last century, we can see that this belief is not totally wrong: 1924: 2,352mm; 1934: 1,006mm; 1944: 654mm; 1954: 636mm; 1964: 792mm; 1974: 1,477mm; 1984: 813mm.; 1994: 933mm.; 2004: ?

So let us hope and pray that the rainy season will be normalized (after 7 years of irregular rains, during which the reservoirs did not reach the point of overflowing), so as to enable us to continue our adventure in the sertão ...)