Press Releases

About Los Murmullos

Media: Clarín Newspaper
Date: 03/11/07

CATTLE GENETIC: THE POTENTIAL OF A REGION
When it comes to stockbreeding, the south exists as well.

Los Murmullos, a leader cattle breeding ranch opened its doors and showed all the stockbreeding potential of the Patagonia.

Below parallel 42 and at the east of route 40, the stockbreeding found another space to show its strength. To many people, the Argentine south is one of the livestock areas of the country, with the greatest future. Of course, that to produce cows between snowed mountains and valleys that only offer three months of grass is not an easy task to do. Here, the business depends mostly of a genetic that can be adapted to the area and of the application of technologies for the production of food.

The people of the cattle breeding ranch Los Murmullos got involved in this challenge (www.losmurmullos.com.ar); an establishment that belongs to Silvia and Hugo Sigman, located in Cholila, 150 kilometers away from Esquel, province of Chubut. In this region free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination, the production supplies barely 20% of the local demand and a kilo of roast is valued more than 20 pesos. Almost the entire patagonic rodeo, of almost 200 thousand head of cattle, is Hereford breed. In the fields, on the mountain range, a cow needs about 8 hectares to live but in the plateau needs 30.

"In this place is really hard to produce". The comment is made by Hernán Harispe, manager of Los Murmullos. "This time of the year, in any place of Wet Pampa, the grass already has 30 centimeters height. Here, it is starting to grow. Until the end of November we won’t have quality grass, and the production sale is extended to January. During these three months we will have to produce food for the rest of the year", he argued.

To achieve this, they tried to carry out practices that in other areas are already common but here are barely known. "We talk about rotational grazing, of taking care of the resources, make direct sow or artificial irrigation", detailed Harispe. The activity of Los Murmullos is developed with about 500 cows, 1.200 young bulls that, until this year, some were fattening on a feedlot and the annual sale of 50 bulls, everything on a productive valley of almost 500 hectares covered with natural pastures and pastures in direct sow, crossing river Carrileufú.

In this establishment, Fixed Time Insemination and rotational management of every grazing are carried out. While fodder reserves are produced in the valley, the cows graze at 2.500 meters height. Precocious weaning is carried out in December-January, the animals are taken to the mountains in March and when it starts to snow the descent begins. The food.

"Until agriculture is developed, stockbreeding won’t grow in the region", mentions Paula Gonzalo, President of the Rural Society of Esquel and producer of the area of Gobernador Costas, also in Chubut. They all agree: the challenge is the food. In Los Murmullos "we try to produce the greatest amount of fiber possible to have the greatest amount of cows as it may be possible. To achieve this, we are looking for a large species, which is not wheat or sorghum, because of the frosts. This is how we’ve come to experiment with sunflower obtaining acceptable results: nutritional values similar to corn and a higher production than triticale. But once we found the crop, the experience was frustrated due to the problematic that was to bring from Buenos Aires the agricultural machinery needed to sow it", tells Harispe.

The Auction

http://www.clarin.com/suplementos/rural/2007/11/03/r-01532334.htm