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JBS will install in Capão Alto, a city of just over 2.6 thousand inhabitants in the Serra de Santa Catarina, a R$ 75 million farm named Granja 7 de Setembro that will produce 48 million fertile eggs per year, equivalent to 91 eggs per minute. According to NSC, the enterprise will have barns of approximately 22 thousand square meters with a capacity for 230 thousand birds and will be built along the SC-390 highway.
The choice of such a small municipality for an investment of this magnitude was not by chance. The negotiations involved the Rossi Agronegócios Group, responsible for the investment, and the strategic location of Capão Alto along the SC-390 ensures the rapid distribution of production to other JBS units and the market. During the construction phase, the farm is expected to generate about 100 direct jobs and at least 150 indirect jobs, and after entering operation, it will maintain 80 permanent jobs and another 130 indirect jobs in sectors such as transportation, maintenance, logistics, and services. For a city where the 2022 IBGE Census recorded 2.6 thousand residents, 80 permanent direct jobs represent a proportion that no Brazilian capital could replicate with a single enterprise.
91 eggs per minute: the scale of production
Granja 7 de Setembro was designed to operate on a scale that impresses when translated into numbers per minute. The estimated annual production of 48 million fertile eggs equates to about 91.3 eggs per minute, a pace that requires automation, strict environmental control in the barns, and precise management of the health and feeding of the 230 thousand birds that will occupy the unit. Fertile eggs are not table eggs for human consumption: they are destined for hatcheries where they will be incubated to produce chicks that will supply JBS’s chicken chain.
The difference between table eggs and fertile eggs is fundamental to understanding the role of the farm within JBS’s production system. Each fertile egg that leaves Capão Alto transforms, weeks later, into a chicken that will be processed in one of the company’s more than 250 production units around the world. The farm is, therefore, the first link in a chain that ends in supermarkets in over 180 countries. Installing this link in the Serra de Santa Catarina, in a city of 2.6 thousand inhabitants, is a logistical decision that prioritizes access to local raw materials, competitive production costs, and the availability of area for future expansion.
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R$ 75 million in a city of 2.6 thousand inhabitants
Image: Capão city hall
The investment of R$ 75 million by JBS in Capão Alto has an unusual proportion when compared to the size of the municipality. For a city with a modest GDP and an economy based on traditional agriculture, receiving an enterprise of this magnitude is equivalent to an economic shock that can reconfigure the local dynamics in a few years. The municipal tax collection on the farm’s operation, the salaries paid to the 80 permanent employees, and the spending of the 130 indirect workers in local commerce and services create an income cycle that small towns rarely experience.
The Association of Municipalities of the Mountain Region (Amures) confirmed the investment value and participated in the negotiations that brought JBS to the municipality. The regional coordination between the city hall, the association of municipalities, and the Rossi Agribusiness Group demonstrates that small towns can compete for large-scale industrial investments when they organize institutionally and offer concrete conditions such as strategic location, land availability, and local labor.
The location on SC-390 and the distribution of production
The JBS farm will be built on the margins of the SC-390 highway, a position that ensures direct road access for the transport of fertile eggs to hatcheries and processing units. For an operation that will produce 48 million eggs per year, the logistics of distribution are as critical as the production itself, since fertile eggs need to reach hatcheries within specific timeframes to maintain embryo viability. Any delay in transportation can compromise entire batches.
The location in the Santa Catarina Mountain Range also offers climatic advantages for poultry farming. Milder temperatures reduce the thermal stress of the birds, a factor that directly affects the laying rate and the quality of the eggs. Sheds in hot regions require more robust climate control systems and consume more energy to maintain the appropriate temperature. In the Santa Catarina Mountain Range, the natural climate already contributes to the well-being of the 230,000 birds, reducing operational costs and improving productivity.
80 permanent jobs where each position changes the city
The impact of 80 permanent direct jobs in a city of 2,600 inhabitants is disproportionate to what the same number would represent in a capital or medium-sized city. If each direct job supports a family of three or four people, the 80 permanent positions at the JBS farm can directly benefit between 240 and 320 residents, which is equivalent to more than 10% of the total population of Capão Alto. Combined with the 130 indirect jobs, the enterprise can indirectly mobilize almost half of the municipality’s inhabitants.
During the construction phase, the impact is even more concentrated: 100 direct jobs and 150 indirect jobs in a period that will transform the small town into a construction site. Workers from outside will come for the project, needing accommodation, food, and services, and the local commerce will feel the boost even before the farm starts production. For Capão Alto, the construction of the farm is an economic event of proportions the town has likely never experienced.
JBS in numbers: the giant behind the farm
JBS S.A. is a Brazilian multinational with over 70 years of operation, recognized as one of the global leaders in the food sector. The company has more than 250 production units around the world, commercial presence in over 180 countries, and a workforce of more than 270,000 employees. The Capão Alto farm, with its 80 permanent jobs, is a microscopic fraction of JBS’s global operation, but for the municipality, it represents the entirety of a new economic chapter.
The Rossi Agribusiness Group, responsible for the investment in partnership with JBS, conducted the negotiations that resulted in the choice of Capão Alto. The dynamics between a multinational with R$ 400 billion in revenue and a town of 2,600 inhabitants illustrate how Brazilian agribusiness connects the world’s largest companies to the smallest towns in the interior, transforming rural villages into links in global production chains.
A farm that can transform the Serra Catarinense
JBS will install in Capão Alto a R$ 75 million farm that will produce 91 eggs per minute, employ 80 people permanently, and boost the economy of a town where each job opening makes a visible difference. The enterprise puts the Serra of Santa Catarina on the map of industrial poultry farming and demonstrates that billion-dollar agribusiness investments are not restricted to large centers. Construction will begin soon, and the SC-390 will have another reason for activity.
Do you think a R$ 75 million farm can transform a town of 2,600 inhabitants? Tell us in the comments what you think about large companies setting up in small municipalities, if 80 permanent jobs make a real difference, and how you evaluate JBS’s choice of Capão Alto. We want to hear your opinion.
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