SLC Agrícola

Land Distribution

SLC Agrícola currently holds 460.6 thousand hectares of farmable land worth R$2.376 billion. That area is distributed through 16 farms, and each farm name starts with P and has exactly 8 letters. Three of SLC's farms (Planeste, Panorama, and Piratini) are controlled by SLC Agrícola's subsidiary LandCo. Two other farms (Perdizes and Paladino) are farmed by SLC Agricola through a Joint Venture with Mitsui Co., while Pioneira is farmed in collaboration with Dois Vales Group. Farms:

1. Perdizes (16.798 thousand hectares) (Joint Venture with Mitsui Co.)
2. Paiaguás (54.847 thousand hectares)
3. Planorte (28.779 thousand hectares)
4. Pamplona (18.637 thousand hectares)
5. Planalto (20.195 thousand hectares)
6. Pioneira (20.088 thousand hectares) (Joint Venture with Dois Vales Group)
7. Planeste (41.209 thousand hectares) (LandCo.)
8. Parnaíba (54.020 thousand hectares)
9. Parnaguá (8.528 thousand hectares)
10. Paineira (5.025 thousand hectares)
11. Parceiro (11.206 thousand hectares)
12. Paladino (21.906 thousand hectares) (Joint Venture with Mitsui Co.)
13. Palmares (33.478 thousand hectares)
14. Panorama (21.991 thousand hectares) (LandCo.)
15. Piratini (13.327 thousand hectares) (LandCo.)

Research Units

Each SLC farm is equipped with a research unit, where the main research topics are: fertilizing systems; soil handling systems; competition between soy cultivation, cotton cultivation, and corn hybrids; plantation seasons and rehearsals of evaluation of fungicides efficiency, insecticides, and herbicides. There experiments simulates the real land conditions and are conducted according to scientific credits. SLC Agrícola performs 190 yearly land tests, and such tests happen in an area of 1.300 hectares of land.

Cultivation Rotation System

The cultivation rotation systems between soy, cotton, and corn is effectively utilized within all of SLC Agrícola’s farms, and provides several benefits to the productive system, along with spreading the fixed costs.

The use of this technique helps the farms reach the following results: better control over infective plants, less outbreaks of pests and diseases on the fields, and better usage of the machinery and crew.

Soil Management

SLC Agrícola adopted no-till system with the goal of significantly reducing the levels soil loss, water loss, and nutrients loss. With this system in place, it becomes possible to reduce the production costs through the reduction of machine operations in the fields and the conservation of soil and nutrients, which consequently reduces the need for heavy and expensive fertilization. Moreover, the system provides long-term increase in productive potential of the cultivated plantations. The company strongly believes that the sustainability of the productive system mainly depends of the correct management of the soil.

Soy

SLC Agrícola is one of the biggest soy products of Brazil, with intention of planting 185.3 thousand hectares in 2013/14. The company culottes soy in the main agricultural regions of Brazil and its production is commercialized to both national and international markets.

Soy is the main supplier of vegetal protein utilized to feed humans and animals, and it is also broadly utilizes as raw material for the production of oil and biofuels.

SLC Agrícola integrates the Executive Committee of Round Table on Responsible Soy Association, being committed to make the value of soy more responsible and also to implement a global system to promote production, processing, distribution, and consumption of responsible soy.

Productivity:
2013/14: 2.914 kilograms per hectare
2014/15: 3.150 kilograms per hectare
The area harvested until 30/04/2015 corresponds to 82% of the 206.9 thousand hectares of cultivated soy.

History

SLC Agricola was founded in 1977 with the acquisition of two farms in the South Region of Brazil in Rio Grande do Sul, where soybeans, corn and wheat were planted. In the agribusiness for 70 years, SLC Group started as an Industry in 1945, in Horizontina city, southern of Brazil, producing tractors and combines, creating a Joint Venture with John Deere in 1979 which lasted for 20 years. In 1980 SLC Agrícola bought the first farm in the cerrado biome – Pamplona Farm in Goiás State.

SLC Group

SLC Group was founded in 1945 in the city of Horizontina, State of Rio Grande do Sul, by three families of German immigrants, among them Frederico Jorge Logemann's family.

The SLC Group founded the first Brazilian harvester manufacturing industry. It has over 28 year-relationship with John Deere, including a joint-venture for manufacturing harvesters and tractors from 1979 to 1999. This relationship helped the Company to obtain technological skills that distinguish SLC Agricola in the agricultural sector.