Our Farm
Our Farm in the Vastness of the Gran Chaco
Agroganadera La Huella consists of its own farm and several rented farms. The administrative headquarters are located in Asunción.
Around 90 employees, led by resident agronomists, veterinarians and specialised technicians, are responsible for the production processes.
Each team faces new challenges on a daily basis: on horseback, working with the cattle, maintaining the pastures, fences and gates, paddocks and houses, supervising the water supply for the animals and coordinating the logistics. The nearest town is 140 km from the ranch.
The administration in Asunción is made up of a team of ten administrative staff.
Paraguay – in the Heart of South America
| Land area | 40,675 ha |
| Population | 7 million inhabitants |
| Official languages | Spanish and Guarani |
| Government form | Presidential Republic |
Pastures – the Basis of our Livestock Farming
Our cattle feed on subtropical pasture grasses which originate in Africa.
The pastures on La Huella are divided into 496 plots – with an average area of 50 hectares. The cattle selectively eat only the tips of the grass blades, because that is where most of the proteins are located. In order to ensure the recovery of the grasses, only about 12% of the plots are occupied by animals. The pastures in the remaining plots have sufficient time to regenerate. Through our rotation system, the animals change the field every three to four days – under the watchful eye of our staff.
Intact pastures are the basis of our cattle husbandry. The recovery and growth of the grass is precisely planned and monitored. With coordinated pasture care, we ensure many years of forage production. As of 2020, the restructuring and reduction of plots was started in order to intensify production (Voisin System).
A Wilderness of Savannah and Bushland
The Gran Chaco is a region of dry forests and thorny savannahs in the heart of South America. It covers northern Argentina, western Paraguay, south-eastern Bolivia and western Brazil. Approximately one-sixth of the Chaco runs through Paraguay, where it occupies more than half of the country's land area.
The Chaco is very sparsely populated, especially in the north and west. Livestock and agriculture have been successfully developed in this area: cotton, cereals and peanuts are important sources of income. Dairy and livestock farming have a long tradition in the Chaco.
| Vegetation type | Thornbush Savannah |
| Climate zone | Tropical to subtropical (summer hot and humid, winter moderately warm and dry) |
| Rainfall | approx. 500-1,200 mm per year |
| Dry season | from May to October |
| Rainfall period | from November to April |
Fresh Rainwater – Our Water Supply
Eighty percent of the required water comes from rainfall collected in the summer rainy season from November to April. The rainfall is collected in specially created areas and stored in large reservoirs to ensure year-round supply. The 250 water troughs are supplied by an extensive distribution system that supplies the 50 litres of water that each of our animals consumes per day. In case of emergency we use salty ground water, which is not drinkable for humans, diluted with stored rainwater.
Our Infrastructure
The infrastructure of La Huella was designed and built by us. A team of 15 operators is exclusively and continuously in charge of the maintenance of:
- 78 km of roads
- 1,300 km of wire fences
- 11 cattle chutes
- 30 staff houses
- 10 sheds
- 26 water tanks
- 20 water wells
- 265 drinking troughs
- 216 km of pipelines
We produce 30,000 bales of hay per year in order to ensure feed in the dry months and mitigate possible drought periods.