View source for SLC Agrícola

{{More citations needed|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox company
|name             = SLC Agrícola
|logo             = Temp113542782132467613213AAA.jpg
|logo_size        = 200px
|type             =  [[S.A. (corporation)|Sociedade Anônima]]
|traded_as        = {{B3 (stock exchange)|Cvm=20745|SLCE3}}
|industry         = [[Agribusiness]]
|location_city    = [[Porto Alegre]]
|location_country = [[Brasil]]
|foundation       = {{Start date|1977}}
|key_people       = Eduardo Logemann, <small>([[Chairman]])</small><br />Aurélio Pavinato, <small>([[CEO]])</small>
|products         = [[Soybeans]], [[Cotton]], [[Corn]], [[Coffee]], [[Sugarcane]], [[Wheat]]
|revenue          = [[US$]]663.8 million  <small>(2017)</small>
|operating_income =
|net_income       = [[US$]]111.4 million  <small>(2017)</small>  
|num_employees    = 2,252
|parent           = Grupo SLC (SLC Group)
|subsid           = LandCo
|homepage         = [http://www.slcagricola.com.br/ www.slcagricola.com.br]
}}
'''SLC Agrícola''' (Schneider Logemann & Cia, {{B3 (stock exchange)|Cvm=20745|SLCE3}}) is one of the largest [[Brazil]]ian agricultural producers, founded in 1977 by the [[SLC Group]]. It focuses on [[cotton]], [[soybean]], and [[corn]]. The business is controlled by the [[Logemann family]]. It was the first company of its sector (grains and cotton) whose shares were traded in a Stock Exchange.{{Which|date=March 2023}} The company operates 16 [[farms]] in six Brazilian states, totaling {{convert|460,600|ha}} in the 2014–15, marketing year – {{convert|260,900|ha}} of which were [[plant]]ed with soybean, 98,500 with cotton, 43,400 with corn, and 18,100 with other [[crops]], including coffee, [[wheat]], corn seed, and [[sugarcane]]. Its biggest competitor is [[Vanguarda Agro]].

The company headquarters is Santana, Porto Alegre, [[Rio Grande do Sul]], Brazil.

The firm has attracted international attention for its part in the [[deforestation]] of the [[Cerrado]] region of Brazil.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-09-18|title=SLC Agrícola changes tune on deforestation – will actions match words?|url=https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/slc-agr%C3%ADcola-changes-tune-on-deforestation-will-actions-match-words/|access-date=2021-12-20|website=[[Global Witness]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Spring|first=Jake|date=2021-03-30|title=Bunge bought soy from biggest destroyers of Brazilian savanna in 2020|language=en|work=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-environment-agriculture-idUSKBN2BM203|access-date=2021-12-20}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Harvey |first=Fiona |author-link=Fiona Harvey |date=2020-03-03 |title=Tory donor invested in firm linked to Amazon deforestation |url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/03/tory-donor-crispin-odey-invested-in-firm-linked-to-amazon-deforestation |access-date=2021-12-20 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Hq335132068.jpg|thumb|237px|SLC Agricola headquarters in Porto Alegre, Brazil]]

==History==
[[Image:Slc18746871.jpg|200px|thumb|left|SLC logo]]
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]], southern Brazil, producing tractors and combines, and 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 the families of Balduino Schneider and Frederico Jorge Logemann.

The SLC Group founded the first Brazilian harvester manufacturing industry. It has an over-28-year relationship with [[John Deere]], including a joint venture for manufacturing harvesters and [[tractors]] from 1979 to 1999.

In 2007, SLC Agrícola goes public, starting to trade its shares on the [[B3 (stock exchange)|Bovespa]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abertura de capital de empresas agrícolas brasileiras: um estudo de caso da empresa SLC Agrícola |year=2009 |url=https://repositorio.ufsc.br/handle/123456789/123650 |last1=Schaffer |first1=Vargas }}</ref>

In 2013, it concludes another joint venture with the companies Dois Vales and Mitsui from [[Japan]].

In 2021, the company Terra Santa, located in Mato Grosso, is incorporated for R$753 million. The deal added six farms to SLC Agrícola's units and expanded its production capacity by another 145,000 hectares.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-14 |title=SLC Agrícola compra Terra Santa em negócio avaliado em R$ 753 milhões |url=https://exame.com/agro/slc-agricola-compra-terra-santa-em-negocio-avaliado-r-753-milhoes/ |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=Exame |language=pt-br}}</ref>

==Land distribution==
SLC Agrícola holds {{convert|460,600|ha}} of farmable land worth R$2.376&nbsp;billion. That area is distributed through 16 farms, and each farm name starts with P and has 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:
# Perdizes – {{convert|16,798|ha}} (joint venture with Mitsui Co.)
# Paiaguás – {{convert|54,847|ha}}
# Planorte – {{convert|28,779|ha}}
# Pamplona – {{convert|18,637|ha}}
# Planalto – {{convert|20,195|ha}}
# Pioneira – {{convert|20,088|ha}} (joint venture with Dois Vales Group)
# Planeste – {{convert|41,209|ha}} (LandCo.)
# Parnaíba – {{convert|54,020|ha}}
# Parnaguá – {{convert|8,528|ha}}
# Paineira – {{convert|5,025|ha}}
# Parceiro – {{convert|11,206|ha}}
# Paladino – {{convert|21,906|ha}} (joint venture with Mitsui Co.)
# Palmares – {{convert|33,478|ha}}
# Panorama – {{convert|21,991|ha}} (LandCo.)
# Piratini – {{convert|13,327|ha}} (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 simulate the real land conditions and are conducted scientifically. SLC Agrícola performs 190 yearly land tests, and such tests happen in an area of {{convert|1.3|ha}}.

==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 have better control over infective plants, fewer outbreaks of pests and diseases on the fields, and better usage of the machinery and crew.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

==Soil management==
SLC Agrícola adopted a no-till system with the goal of significantly reducing the levels soil loss, water loss, and nutrients loss. With this system in place, it became possible to reduce the production costs through the reduction of machine operations in the fields and the conservation of soil and nutrients, which consequently reduced the need for heavy and expensive fertilization. The system provides long-term increase in productive potential of the cultivated plantations. The company believes that the sustainability of the productive system mainly depends on the correct management of the soil.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

==Soy==
SLC Agrícola is one of the biggest soy products of Brazil, with plans to plan {{convert|185,300|ha}} 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 vegetable protein used to feed humans and animals, and it is also broadly used as raw material for the production of oil and biofuels.

SLC Agrícola integrates the executive committee of Round Table on Responsible Soy Association, committed to making the value of soy more responsible and also to implementing a global system to promote production, processing, distribution, and consumption of responsible soy.

Productivity:
* 2013–14: {{convert|2.914|kg/ha}}
* 2014–15: {{convert|3.150|kg/ha}}
The area harvested until 30/04/2015 corresponds to 82% of the {{convert|206,900|ha}} of cultivated soy.

== Deforestation ==
[[File:Chapadão do Céu, Goiás.jpg|thumb|Deforestation of the Cerrado near [[Emas National Park]]]]
SLC Agrícola has come under scrutiny from the environmentalist [[Nonprofit organization|non-profit organization]] [[Global Witness]] for its practices of large-scale [[deforestation]], particularly in the [[Cerrado]] [[ecosystem]] of [[Brazil]].<ref name=":0" /> Similarly, [[Chain Reaction Research]] also found that the firm has deforested much of the Cerrado, estimating that the firm has cleared {{Convert|101.5|km2|mi2}} for the production of [[Soybean|soy]].<ref name=":1" /> This figure was corroborated by SLC Agrícola, which admitted that it had cleared {{Convert|110|km2|mi2}} in 2020 alone, although the firm insists that said clearing was done legally.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Spring|first=Jake|date=2021-03-30|title=Bunge bought soy from biggest destroyers of Brazilian savanna in 2020|language=en|work=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-environment-agriculture-idUSKBN2BM203|access-date=2021-12-20}}</ref> Nevertheless, SLC Agrícola denies it is deforesting the Cerrado, instead saying that it is simply removing "vegetation", and that its properties are not located on land with forests.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-09-18|title=SLC Agrícola changes tune on deforestation – will actions match words?|url=https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/slc-agr%C3%ADcola-changes-tune-on-deforestation-will-actions-match-words/|access-date=2021-12-20|website=[[Global Witness]]|language=en}}</ref> Chain Reaction Research also condemned the firm for a "lack of zero-deforestation commitment".<ref name=":2" />

In addition to criticism from non-profits, the [[Government Pension Fund of Norway]] has divested its holdings of SLC Agrícola due to the firm's large-scale deforestation.<ref name=":2" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:SLC Agricola}}
[[Category:Agriculture companies of Brazil]]
[[Category:Companies listed on B3 (stock exchange)]]
[[Category:Companies based in Rio Grande do Sul]]
[[Category:Economy of Porto Alegre]]
[[Category:Brazilian companies established in 1977]]
[[Category:Agriculture companies established in 1977]]