Sheep in Brazil are mainly bred in the colder southern regions, while goats and hair sheep are bred in hotter areas including regions in the northeast. Breeding these animals is one of the main sources of income for much of the local population, however, the quality of skins is often very poor and in many cases they cannot be used commercially. In response to this, Embrapa is introducing technologies and information that should help to improve the quality of skins and to protect against barbed wire and thorn damage.

The price of these animals is currently based on carcass weight as the pelts are worth almost nothing due to the poor quality; however, the company aims to address this problem so that sheep and goat skins are considered an important part of the price of each animal and not just a useless by-product.

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