T
he innovativemovement start-
ed some time earlier, but it is
2013 that will be remem-
bered as the year with the
most highly-heated market
in the history of the machinery and farm
implements sector in Brazil. With interest
rates as low as 2.5% a year, along with in-
centive programs, farmers from all walks
of life began to invest in technology on
their farms. The result surfaced in the fol-
lowing years, in the form of high produc-
tivity rates. However, the euphoria of the
factories was followed by great frustra-
tion, which is now gradually fading away.
All this impact at factory level hadStrong
reflections on the economy in Rio Grande
do Sul. According to the president of the
Farm Implements and Machinery Industry
Union of Rio Grande do Sul (Simers), Clau-
dio Affonso Amoretti Bier, The State is re-
sponsibleforabout64percentofthenation-
al production of the sector, and went from
heaven in 2013 to hell in 2015. “In 2013, it
was a real absurd. There were no products
available. There were waiting rows. Farm-
ers who needed one tractor bought two.
Those who needed two equipment piec-
es, bought extra, unnecessary ones. Then
an anticipation of the market took place. A
stock of agricultural machinery was creat-
ed in the farms”, says the entrepreneur.
The result, of course, was a decline in
sales over the next years, whichwere equal-
ly affected by the political turmoil in the na-
tional scenario. Gradually, the situation is
getting back on track. “The crisis forced the
companies to innovate further. In themean-
time, the farmers, who had never had ac-
cess to machinery, came to grips with the
facilities and importance brought about
by mechanization. They now clearly know
that there is need to change the machines
frequently, so as not to become outdated.
Thanks to the machines, plantings are car-
ried out faster, and the same holds true for
harvest operations, with a decline in loss-
es”, he exemplifies, stressing that “in regions
where one crop a year was harvested, now
two crops are grown. Where there were two
crops, now there are three”.
Thisquestion, according to theentrepre-
neur, should be taken as one of the biggest
benefits for Brazil in terms of agribusiness.
“Now,allfarmershaveaccesstotechnology.
What has happened is a democratization of
the innovation. The same concepts placed
in a huge machine, to meet the needs of a
commercial farmer, are on hand for small-
scale farmers. This creates an atmosphere
of equal conditions”, he comments.
MECHANIZATIONASA
VOCATION INTHE SOUTH
The tradition comes from the first Euro-
pean immigrants, particularly Germans and
Italians, in the 19th century. They needed
to make their tools for commercial farm-
ing and for subsistence farming, as the
lots where they lived were small and fre-
quently unsuitable for agriculture. Geolog-
ical and relief diversity in Rio Grande do Sul
contributed towards specific adjustments
for every region in the South. It was spec-
ificity that qualified the local industries to
manufacture peculiar items, adapted to the
needs of other regions inBrazil, thus consol-
idating them in themarket.
Nearly 200 years after the arrival of the
first European immigrants, according to
Claudio Bier, the trend is for the industri-
al park in Rio Grande do Sul is to speedi-
ly progress forward. “All the industries are
very advanced in terms of technology and
are investing a lot. Brazil is not the only ref-
erence. Now. Our State exports to the five
continents”, he says, stressing that the intro-
duction of the direct planting system in the
South was a good aid in ratifying the image
of the State as an agribusiness innovator.
Still according to the entrepreneur, the
fact that lots of farmers in Rio Grande do
Sul emigrated to Paraná, as well as to the
Center-West, North and Northeast, had a
say in the expansion of the market. These
farmers turned into real ambassadors of
the products made in the South. “They al-
ready knew the quality of the machines
produced here. Then they started to or-
der models adapted to their regions”, he
comments. This is how the market began
to make strides. Now, we have excellent
know-how, so much that giants like John
Deere and AGCO produce world class trac-
tors in their factories in RioGrande do Sul “.
Rio Grande do Sul accounts for about 64 percent
of the entire national production of the sector
According to Simers’ officials, the democratizationof the
access to innovation andmechanization is the biggest feat
of Brazilian agriculture at the dawnof the 21st century
l
PERFIL
Born in 1942 in Santo Antônio da
Patrulha (RS), during his adolescen-
ce, Cláudio Affonso Amoretti Bier mo-
ved to Porto Alegre (RS) to conclude his
studies. Since his first professional acti-
vities he has always nurtured his entre-
preneurial spirit, with interests focused
on commerce and industry. Self-tau-
ght, with competences linked to indus-
try, agribusiness and commerce, he is
director president of Grupo Masal AS,
a division of Fundição Jacuí AS; presi-
dent of the Rio Grande do Sul Agricul-
tural Implements and Machine Indus-
tries Union (Simers) and vice-president
of the Rio Grande do Sul State Federa-
tion of Industries (Fiergs).
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