Cattle farmers carry out blockade threat
17/11/2009
A group of 70 livestock farmers in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso has carried out a threat to blockade an abattoir in the town of Alta Floresta.
The facility, now leased by JBS-Friboi, was run by rival packer firm Quatro Marcos until that company got into financial difficulties at the start of the year. The farmers have said that Quatro Marcos left without paying them all the money it owed for cattle that had passed through the plant. The blockade is an attempt to recoup some of that money.
Quatro Marcos is still going through restructuring and a meeting will take place on December 3 to try to arrange a payment plan with all the company’s creditors. But the Mato Grosso livestock farmers have said they don't want to wait for the meeting and would like to strike their own agreement over payment of the debt.
“Friboi knew all about this situation before it leased the Quatro Marcos abbatoir,” said one of the farmers, Moises Prado dos Santos. He warned that the Alta Floresta facility would not slaughter one head of cattle until he and his companions received “a decent offer”.
Collectively, the farmers say they are owed US$4 million.
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