Viatina-19 FIV Mara Movéis broke the Guinness World Records by becoming the most expensive cow sold at an auction, according to a news release.
The cow was sold at over $4 million in Brazil in 2023, the news release reads. This sale broke the previous record, being sold at three times more than the previous cow’s selling price, CBS News reported. (RELATED: Death Toll Hits 149, Over 2 Million Affected Due To Severe Flooding In Brazil)
Viatina-19 reportedly weighs over 2,400 pounds — double the weight of the typical adult of her breed.
David Biller, a journalist for The Associated Press (AP), observed in a video with Viatina-19 that the cow was “prized for strong build, her height, her straight pose … but more than anything, her ability to pass those characteristics on to her offspring.”
This $4 million cow is watched over by security cameras, a veterinarian and an armed guard.
Meet Viatina-19, the most expensive cow ever sold at auction, according to Guinness World Records. pic.twitter.com/aEfbsjDLFL
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 5, 2024
“We’re not slaughtering elite cattle. We’re breeding them. And at the end of the line, going to feed the whole world,” Ney Pereira, one of Viatina-19’s owners, told CBS News. Viatina-19 is a cash cow as breeders have forked over approximately $250,000 for her egg cells, the outlet noted. Pereira intends to market her eggs to buyers in the United Arab Emirates, India and the United States, the outlet reported.
“She is the closest to perfection that has been attained so far,” Lorrany Martin, a veterinarian and daughter to Pereira, told the outlet.
Brazil and the US are on the cutting edge in cattle genetics, the AP reported.
Biller reported in the AP’s video that the agribusiness sector of Brazil’s economy was a growing and important one. “Everyone in the region is looking toward Viatina-19 as the future of the cattle industry here,” the journalist said.
Not all ranchers will be able to benefit as Viatina-19 and her ilk are costly to maintain and it is not possible to profit from a large commercial scale around such cows, P.J. Budler, an international business manager for Trans Ova Genetics, told CBS News.
