Tauana Santana and Altiere Oliveira are young sheep ranchers from the city of Candeal, in Bahia state, Northeast Brazil. The couple invested in production and, despite the will to grow, they still found it difficult to make the work bring more benefits to their family’s quality of life.
That was when SENAR’s Technical and Managerial Assistance (ATeG) became a reality for them. The project reaches farmers and ranchers all over Brazil, with specialists supporting better production conditions for them in all regions of the country.
In Tauana and Altiere’s case, this included the assistance of technician Romilton Cerqueira to adapt the facilities and improve the handling and genetics to reduce the herd’s mortality.
The results were so positive that the ranchers took a plane for the first time to receive the ATeG SENAR 2022 Award in the “Management and Results” category. The award assessed rural properties according to farming practices, promotion of family succession, productive/managerial performance, and improvement in the quality of life.
“When we work and see our effort recognized, there is no money in the world that can pay for it. With SENAR’s step-by-step, we started to pay attention and take the right notes, and then everything began to work out fine,” says Tauana.
The improved management increased the couple’s earnings, which, in addition to the prize, allowed them to make the necessary investments in the ranch. “We reinvested the increased income in our activities. We built a new sheepfold, installed security cameras, and got running water and electricity,” says Altierre.
Included in the award SENAR granted Tauana and Altiere a solar energy kit and scales to weigh the animals, which helps reduce production costs. In addition, the couple started to use social networks to sell their sheep, which helped in the marketing and encouraged the dream of buying more land.