Cattle Breeders and Breed Pioneers
Paulo Lutterbach Lemgruber and the Closed Nelore Herd of Carmo
The Rio de Janeiro rancher who carried a Nelore line begun in 1878 into the era of registries and genetic evaluation.
Who was Paulo Lutterbach Lemgruber?
Paulo Lutterbach Lemgruber was a cattle rancher from the Serra Fluminense, the mountain region of Rio de Janeiro state near Petropolis. He died on 6 September 2022 at the age of 89, and Forbes Agro published its obituary of the rancher the next day. The paper headlined him as the cattleman who changed the history of the ox in Brazil.
He owned two farms, Sao Jose in Carmo, Rio de Janeiro, and Santa Clara in Mucuri, Bahia. The Carmo property, where the family herd lives, covers about 1,000 hectares.
What is the Lemgruber Nelore herd?
The herd goes back to 1878, when his cousin Manoel Ubelhart Lemgruber brought a Nelore-type bull and a calf from India by way of Germany. Forbes Agro's account of the herd describes about 144 years of genetic improvement in the family and says the animals were never crossbred with stock from outside the herd.
From Rio de Janeiro the herd's animals spread to Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais and then across Brazil. The herd is known for large carcasses, with more cuts of meat, and for strong maternal ability. Its docility, long overlooked, is now valued by breeders who focus on animal welfare.
How did Paulo Lemgruber modernize the herd?
Under Paulo the herd moved from a family tradition to an institutional selection program, in which the best animals were chosen deliberately. For about the last four decades of his life the herd was registered with the ABCZ, the Brazilian Association of Zebu Breeders, which Forbes Agro calls the largest zebu association in the world.
Since 2014 the herd has been monitored by Geneplus, the Embrapa beef cattle breeding program based in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. That link ties a private closed herd into national genetic evaluation, as the Embrapa document on Nelore history suggests when it traces the breed from Lemgruber's 1878 import to the present.
The Key to Lemgruber's Success
Lemgruber's contribution was durability. He did not found the line, but he kept it intact and put it into a modern system.
The record points to a few concrete practices.
- He kept the herd closed, with no crossing to outside animals, so the line stayed distinct across generations.
- He moved the herd into formal registration with the ABCZ, giving the animals recognized pedigrees.
- He shifted breeding to an institutional selection program that chose the best animals deliberately.
- He joined Embrapa's Geneplus monitoring in 2014, adding independent genetic evaluation.
- He kept two farms, one in Rio de Janeiro and one in Bahia, so the family business was not tied to a single location.
- He passed the work on, with his daughter Claudia Lemgruber continuing with a team of skilled cowhands.
Nelore in context
Nelore, the Brazilian name for Ongole cattle, is the backbone of the national beef herd. An Embrapa count cited in the document on Nelore history says it makes up nearly 80 percent of Brazil's zebu herd, and that about 7,000 Indian animals entered the country in all. Lemgruber's closed herd is one of the oldest lines from the first generation of imports.
Because the breed was imported in waves, including the 1962 shipment that brought Karvadi, a herd that traces to 1878 and stayed closed is unusual.
Legacy and further reading
The Lemgruber herd survives as a working herd and as a living record of Nelore history. More on Brazilian zebu cattle appears in the ranching section of farm.FM, and a farm.FM story about Nelore cattle follows the breed today. The profile above is limited to what the Forbes Agro obituary and Embrapa's history report.
Timeline
- 1878Manoel Lemgruber brings the first Nelore-type cattle to Brazil
- 1921Manoel Lemgruber dies
- 1933Paulo Lutterbach Lemgruber born
- About 1980sHerd registered with the ABCZ, per the obituary's four decades
- 2014Herd monitored by Embrapa Geneplus
- 2022Paulo Lemgruber dies on 6 September, aged 89
Frequently asked questions
Who was Paulo Lemgruber?
Paulo Lutterbach Lemgruber was a Rio de Janeiro cattleman who died in 2022 at age 89 and kept the family Nelore herd at Fazenda Sao Jose in Carmo.
What is special about the Lemgruber herd?
It descends from Nelore cattle brought to Brazil in 1878 and, according to Forbes Agro, was never crossbred with outside animals.
What is ABCZ?
ABCZ is the Brazilian Association of Zebu Breeders. Forbes Agro calls it the largest zebu breed association in the world, and the Lemgruber herd was registered with it for about four decades.
What is Geneplus?
Geneplus is the Embrapa beef cattle breeding program based in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. It has monitored the Lemgruber herd since 2014.
Sources and further reading
Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.
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