Dairy farm founded by Argentine in Rio stands out in the production of goat cheese

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The team at the farm in Serra Fluminense ranges from producing food for the goats to manufacturing dairy products for sale. Dairy farm founded by Argentinean in Rio stands out in the production of goat cheese Argentinean Javier Maciel left his career in logistics and transport technology to invest more than R$20 million in a goat dairy farm. It is the Capriana Farm, with an area of ​​89 hectares in Sapucaia (RJ), in the Serra Fluminense. “I didn’t have any knowledge, so I sought knowledge from people, veterinarians, businesspeople in the sector, producers. I had the opportunity to visit properties here in Brazil, take courses”, says the breeder. “For me, this was never a hobby. I never saw it as a few goats that can give milk, it always had a concept of a business plan, an investment plan, a return.” Making plans has always been an Argentine trait. When he moved to Brazil with his family 15 years ago, he already had one thing in mind: expanding the activities of the company he founded in Argentina. Over time and already familiar with the country, Javier decided to go further and diversify his business: he invested in goats 🐐. “A part of the people thought I was joking because it was very different from everything I did, and the rest I think called me crazy and started laughing,” he recalls. Javier started putting his project into practice in 2015, with 50 goats. Almost nine years later, the herd now has more than 1,000 animals of the Saanen breed, of Swiss origin, the most used in the world for milk production. Javier’s farm received the classification of goat dairy farm from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa). In practice, this means that the only milk that can be processed on the farm is that produced from the farm inwards. Sustainable operation 🍃 On the property, all processes are integrated. The energy that supplies the site comes from solar panels. And, water arrives from the springs on the farm, which keeps more than half of its Atlantic Forest area preserved. “We have everything from farming to producing food for animals, raising animals, obtaining milk and transforming this milk into products”, details Javier. And everything is used (or reused). The 30 tons of manure produced per month by goats, for example, are transformed by earthworms into humus, an organic fertilizer. “It is from the manure, which goes to the fields, that nourishes our forage crops that will be used to feed our goats and, once they are fed, the residue from this goes back through the composting and vermicomposting process, and this cycle does not end”, explains agronomist Kevin Tanure. “If we didn’t use our waste annually, we would spend around R$100,000 to fertilize our forage production areas”, he continues. From nursery to milk production 🥛 Kevin and fellow agronomist Camila Arita arrived at the property in 2016 and, since then, have been in charge of the site’s technical staff. Kevin’s day to day life almost always begins in the farm’s busy maternity ward. “We receive here both goats that have already given birth and those that have never given birth,” he says. “Those that have never given birth spend a longer period of time in the maternity ward, 45 days, so that the animal continues to grow and, at the same time, it can nourish its offspring. Goats that have given birth have already reached their age weight. adult and only 30 days pass”, explains the agronomist. The babies are taken to the nursery, where they stay for 120 days until they reach 22 kilos. They are then transferred to pens, where they spend their adolescence period, until they reach the ideal weight and age for reproduction. At this stage, the goats reach 35 kilos in 210 days. After that, they undergo an artificial heat induction procedure, done with a sponge soaked in hormone. “When we reach this weight, this age, we use reproduction strategies. As we are in counter-season, they need to be hormonally induced so that they can enter the mating. After this synchronization, we will place goats covering these animals”, details Camila. “The objective is for us to have these animals give birth in times of less milk production, and then we can have a more homogeneous milk production throughout the year”, she explains. But not all goats are covered by breeding goats. Some, selected for the purpose of genetic improvement of the herd, are artificially inseminated, with a method applied by students from the Fluminense Federal University. After five months of gestation, the goats effectively start producing, on average, 800 liters of milk per day on the farm. It is removed in the same milking machine where artificial insemination is carried out, with 30 females at a time. The person responsible for the operation is José Sandro Severino da Silva, known as “Dé”. Milk, cheese and sweets 🧀 The star of the company is cheese with blueberry jam, also known as blueberry. The product is in the final testing phase, about to be launched on the market. Globo Rural Milk comes out of the goats’ teats at a temperature of 36ºC and, in the refrigeration tank, it drops to 15ºC. There are five days of storage. Then, the milk is pasteurized at a temperature above 70ºC and goes to another tank, already inside the cheese factory. With a combination of yeast, calcium chloride, coagulant and, of course, the skill of the employees, over time, gems begin to emerge, such as boursin-type cheese. It is a fresh mass cheese, the most produced on the farm. Of all the cheeses made on the property, boursin is the one that needs the longest “resting” in the tank: 18 hours. Until it is ready for consumption, the cheese still goes through several processes in the hands of cheesemaker Carlos Alves Quintino, known as “Carlão”. The farm already has seven licensed products: six cheeses and one dulce de leche. Currently, they supply a supermarket chain in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The star of the company is the cheese with blueberry jam, also known as blueberry. The product is in the final testing phase, about to be launched on the market. And this gastronomic experience in the world of cheese is part of the farm’s itinerary. Plus, visitors can even have a little fun in the company of the goats. According to Javier’s planning, there are still six years left for the farm to start making a profit. Meanwhile, he continues to work hard, while still enjoying the path he has chosen. “The only formula is to commit, dedicate yourself, research, learn, listen to people who know more than us and try to connect these things. What I did was connect people. Capriana connected people.” See Globo Rural’s most watched videos

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