Success Stories Magazine interviews Heloise Duarte about decarbonization in dairy farming and the work developed with Educampo Sebrae Minas.

This content reproduces, in its entirety, the interview published in issue #22 (April/May 2026) of the "Histórias de Sucesso" magazine, from Sebrae Minas. See also the original publication: " Histórias de Sucesso" magazine .

Heloise Duarte, co-founder of ESGpec, explains the relevance of measuring carbon footprint through the Educampo program, from Sebrae Minas.

Beyond being an environmental commitment, decarbonization in dairy farming is a strategic pillar of efficiency and competitiveness. This is what a groundbreaking study by Cargill Animal Nutrition and Health, in partnership with the University of São Paulo (USP) and Embrapa Dairy Cattle, released last March, indicates. The study shows that Brazilian dairy production has lower carbon emissions than those recorded internationally and that the adoption of good sustainability practices, such as proper pasture management and specialized animal nutrition, mitigate emissions and make the system more resilient and profitable, allowing for economies of scale in the same area of land.

To contribute to this journey of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) maturity for dairy farms, the measurement of the carbon footprint of the properties monitored by the Educampo program began in 2024, with the first cycle already completed. To understand the relevance of the work and its results, Revista Histórias de Sucesso spoke with Heloise Duarte, co-founder of ESGpec, a partner of Sebrae Minas in the initiative.

What is decarbonization?

Decarbonization refers to any process created and implemented to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, responsible for global warming, associated with an activity, product, or company. In agriculture, specifically in dairy farming, it doesn't mean we have to stop producing gases. It means we have to produce better, with greater efficiency, less waste, better use of natural resources, and lower greenhouse gas emissions per unit produced. So, in dairy farming, we are decarbonizing when we manage to emit fewer greenhouse gases per kilogram of milk corrected for fat and protein. This is the metric used. In other words, it corresponds to the amount of CO₂ equivalent emitted to produce each kilogram of milk.

What is the importance of this process?

Like everything in life, if we don't measure, we can't manage. Therefore, to decarbonize, we need technical strategies and an action plan to make animal-based food production competitive, efficient, and less polluting and impactful on the global greenhouse effect. In other words, we need to produce more efficiently and guarantee quality food with less environmental impact.

The importance of diagnosing greenhouse gas emissions is that it provides reference values and allows identification of the total emissions at each stage of the process for each kilogram of milk produced. It's possible to assess whether the activity is deficient, if it can be improved, or if it's emitting excessively. And it's also possible to verify where the emissions are occurring, which is crucial, and where the largest sources of emissions are located.

In dairy farming, enteric fermentation is a major emitter, that famous cow burp. This occurs because cattle have the ability to transform fibrous foods with little nutritional value for humans into foods with high nutritional value, which are milk and meat. But the price of this is the production of methane, a gas with a warming power greater than that of CO2, 28 times more potent in terms of heating. Then there is the management of manure, the use of fertilizers, the use of energy in production processes and feeding.

Furthermore, the process is aligned with some market demands, although Brazilian agricultural production is not legally required to report emissions. However, there are several financing options that favor producers who undertake this journey of measuring, controlling, and becoming more efficient. The dairy industry, which is often multinational, also requires ESG reports, and the end consumer is increasingly attentive to these aspects when making their choices. It's a trend.

Is there a benchmark decarbonization process in agriculture?

Yes, the decarbonization process in dairy farming has been used in the United States for several decades. Over time, producers there have sought to become increasingly efficient, and currently, they are at a very interesting level. Brazil has enormous potential for decarbonization because there are many opportunities here. If we look at agriculture as a whole, it is responsible for almost 30% of national emissions. With the national greenhouse gas inventory, we have begun to act on this more systematically, measuring and reducing many emissions in general.

What are the challenges and opportunities for small agricultural businesses in decarbonization?

The main challenge for small producers is navigating the complex world of ESG practices and translating that into a language applicable to daily farm routines. Often, producers already implement good practices, but they don't measure, record, or demonstrate what they've been doing. So how do you transform something you do daily into something you can report and benefit from? We face the challenge of ESG maturity, which is to work towards demystifying it, showing that it's not a monster, and that much of the daily routine for small and medium-sized producers is already aligned with the ESG agenda.

The second challenge is the producer's lack of digital maturity. To transform a farm activity into a carbon footprint, it's necessary to have data on input acquisition and fertilizer use, livestock, and waste management. Often, the producer doesn't have any of this structured. But it's not impossible, and it's important for the producer to improve the efficiency of the activity so that they can effectively measure and prove practices aligned with ESG.

And I emphasize: when we talk about decarbonizing, we're talking about a journey that impacts the environment and also involves an agenda of increasing management efficiency and productivity, enabling producers to remain competitive in the market for longer. If we have a small or medium-sized producer who manages their operations, keeps track of their controls, and monitors their metrics, they will also be prepared to measure their carbon footprint, animal welfare, and the ESG agenda as a whole.

Talk about the work done with Educampo to measure the carbon footprint of dairy farms monitored by SEBRAE Minas.

The initiative arose from the opportunity to utilize the intelligence generated by the Educampo database. As I mentioned, this is the most critical stage of the work, and in Educampo , everything is accounted for in the ongoing monitoring of farm results. And digital maturity, another bottleneck, is not a problem for the producers served by the program, who are already accustomed to collecting data on consumption, livestock, and production. We thought: if structured data already exists, why not complete the process of measuring the carbon footprint? So we started working with a portion of the farms.

We took the herd, economic, and financial data and performed the mapping, without needing to enter anything new, only supplementing some information. We used the PEC Calc tool, which calculates indicators related to GHG emissions, to calculate the carbon footprint of the milk. And, since the technicians knew the farms very well, we were able to conduct assessments of animal welfare and the ESG agenda as a whole.

We began the work by collecting data for 12 months, from July 2024 to June 2025. Then, we had a period to consolidate the data release on the platform, followed by analysis, diagnostics, and finally, calculations. At the end of last year, the report was released. We finished this phase of the project with a complete analysis of the ESG agenda for the participants; everyone received their measurements. It was an opportunity to understand the scenario of these farms and the opportunities for improvement in each of these sectors. Now, we are already in the second measurement cycle, which ends in July 2026. It will be a continuous process, with each cycle.

Can you tell us about the numbers? Were there robust results?

Yes, the numbers are robust. In a technical study by Embrapa with carbon footprints calculated on Brazilian dairy farms, the results were discussed in light of reference ranges used to guide mitigation strategies. In this context, properties with emissions between 0.7 and 1.5 kg CO₂eq/kg of corrected milk production (FPCM) are associated with a high level of efficiency, with opportunities for further emission reduction. Based on this interpretation, the indicators observed in the project fall within an efficient range. Considering the average of the footprints calculated individually for each farm, the observed result was 1.33 kg of CO₂eq per kg of corrected milk production (FPCM). When weighted by the total volume produced, the indicator is 1.15 kg CO₂eq/kg FPCM.

As an international benchmark, global FAO studies have indicated averages around 2.4 kg CO₂eq/kg FPCM for milk at the farm gate, and more recent scientific publications point to values close to 2.1 kg CO₂eq/kg FPCM. Therefore, the results observed at Educampo Sebrae Minas are below these global averages and indicate favorable environmental performance, especially considering that there is still potential for improvement through productivity, herd structure, and efficiency in the use of inputs.

ABOUT EDUCAMPO SEBRAE MINAS

Created in 1997, Educampo is a program of Sebrae Minas that supports rural producers through continuous technical and managerial monitoring, promoting management based on indicators, planning, and continuous improvement. Currently, it brings together approximately 1,400 producers , 39 partner companies , and about 100 specialized consultants , who monitor more than 200 technical and economic indicators on participating properties.

It was precisely this structured database that enabled the development of the carbon footprint measurement project conducted in partnership with ESGpec. Using the PEC Calc tool, the project calculated the carbon footprint of the participating dairy farms, in addition to conducting animal welfare and ESG maturity assessments, generating diagnoses and opportunities for improvement for each farm.

This initiative demonstrates how the integration of management, technology, and data can strengthen the competitiveness of farms and support the development of increasingly efficient and sustainable livestock farming.

READ ALSO

➡️ A report from Educampo Sebrae Minas shows a low carbon footprint in dairy farms monitored by the program. LINK 

➡️ Efficiency and sustainability go hand in hand: scientific study with PEC Calc shows that more efficient farms emit less carbon per liter of milk LINK