By team of correspondents
This Tuesday, August 25, the National Government begins the national plan for characterizing Venezuelan livestock, towards the certification of Venezuela as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease.
The official announcement was made by the Minister of Productive Agriculture and Lands, Vladimir Padrino López, who asserted that in The process is estimated to take 120 days to complete, which will allow to know in detail the location and figures of the Venezuelan herd.
From each of the regions prioritized for the development of the plan, the deployment to census the livestock begins with the support of the governors and the MAT team.
In the state of Portuguesa, 314 census takers have been deployed, who will inspect rural areas and production units with the immediate task of compiling a detailed and updated record of cattle in the 14 municipalities of the state.
According to Governor Primitivo Cedeño, "this battalion will be touring the geography of Portuguesa and will visit all the production units of the most productive state in the country," to determine the real census of cattle and the productive capacity of the territory in the meat sector.
Mayors, livestock associations, military authorities, and the godmother of Portuguesa and president of the Venezuelan Coffee Corporation, Carolina Ortega, accompanied the regional leader at the event, where it was specified that the priority is to advance in the certification of Venezuela as a territory free of foot-and-mouth disease in order to open international markets to the national livestock industry.
The National Plan for the Characterization of the Bovine Herd takes on special relevance in Portuguesa, given the genetic quality of the regional herd, so certification is vital to boost the marketing abroad of the meat and milk produced in the state.
In Trujillo, they estimate that they will register more than 3.600 livestock producers.
Through the Bovine and Buffalo Herd Characterization Plan, it is estimated that more than 3.600 livestock producers will be registered in the state of Trujillo; this was reported by the general director of Agroecological Development of the Government, Carlos Gil, who highlighted that the campaign also seeks to identify the exact number and geographical location of the herds in the entity.
Gil noted that the deployment prioritizes the municipalities of Andrés Bello, Candelaria, Carache, La Ceiba and Pampán in its first stage, with the goal of progressively covering all 20 jurisdictions of the Trujillo territory.
“A joint effort is underway to correctly identify the number and location of all herds so that Venezuela can complete this plan this year and proceed with all necessary vaccinations, in order for global animal health organizations to approve Venezuela as free of foot-and-mouth disease and allow us to market our cattle to other parts of the world,” he explained.
The commander of the Comprehensive Defense Operational Zone (ZODI) No. 23 Trujillo, G/D Lumar Hernández, confirmed that the Territorial Defense System guarantees the protection of food security and logistical support during field deployment.
More than 250 technicians are traveling through the 7 plains municipalities by land and water
Some 250 census technicians accompanied by 100 vehicles, more than 400 motorcycles and 50 boats will travel through the state of Apure by land, water and horse under the guidelines of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.
Governor Wilmer Rodríguez reported that this day is fundamental to moving towards certification as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease.
For his part, Ronald Dobles, president of the Apure State Buffalo Breeders Association (Probufalos), urged all producers to join with complete confidence and contribute accurate data about their animals to this collaborative effort. The association's spokesperson emphasized that knowing the true size of the herd is the key tool for the association and the government to develop effective policies that will boost livestock growth, the main economic engine of the plains region.
Yaracuy will address 1.800 properties with livestock registration
The agricultural sector and the authorities of the state of Yaracuy began this Monday the Livestock Characterization Plan (cattle and buffalo) in some 1.800 properties and production units of the 14 municipalities.
This was reported by the regional director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Productive Land, Juan Torrelaba, who indicated that the initiative goes beyond a simple census. It is a comprehensive registry of essential technical information for addressing critical priorities such as fuel supply, bank financing, and the implementation of a state and national genetic plan.
“Having an accurate record is vital for animal health certification within the framework of the foot-and-mouth disease-free plan, a decisive step that will allow us to boost exports and supply the local market more efficiently,” he stressed.
He commented that the field deployment is conducted by enumerators belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, the National Institute of Comprehensive Agricultural Health (Insai) and affiliated entities, supported by an official georeferenced mobile application operated by trained personnel.
The plan will run until December 18, by which time more than 170.000 cattle are expected to be registered across the state, based on data obtained from the first phase of vaccination coverage carried out in the first half of the year.
Falcón characterizes cattle in more than 7.500 production units
The National Plan for Characterizing Bovine Livestock has the task of visiting more than 7.500 registered livestock production units in the entity among the 25 municipalities and 83 parishes.
The governor of Falcón state, Víctor Clark Boscán, highlighted that the data collection will allow for the articulation of public policies aimed at the growth of the regional herd and compliance with international standards in livestock matters in order to meet the sanitary requirements to ratify the entity as free of foot-and-mouth disease and to access export markets.
He also highlighted that the initiative will contribute to the planning of state programs in the areas of veterinary advice, genetic improvement, production financing and distribution of inputs, all to contribute to strengthening the meat and milk production chain to supply local and national markets.
For his part, the president of the Socialist Agricultural Development Fund (Fondas), Captain César Luna, in his capacity as institutional sponsor of the entity, called for the active participation of all productive sectors without distinction of scale.
Lara contributes more than 350.000 cattle to the national plan against foot-and-mouth disease
The cattle herd characterization template in the state of Lara (Barquisimeto) reaches 370.227 head of cattle, distributed in 3.802 georeferenced properties in the 2026 national plan against foot-and-mouth disease.
Around 145 animal health specialists will travel 54 routes located in 50 of the 58 parishes that make up the 9 municipalities of the Lara state, with the aim of preventing, vaccinating, monitoring, cooperating and applying biosecurity strategies to the livestock officially registered in the state and belonging to some 3.710 local producers.
Yoel Morales, director in the state of Lara of the portfolio of Productive Agriculture and Lands, with the balance sheet in hand, said that the purpose is to guide the plan towards 2030, the date on which Venezuela must maintain its status of being free of foot-and-mouth disease.
The registration of the aforementioned production units, as well as the supervision and control, is based on the number of livestock per municipality, which reaches the following figures: Pedro León Torres (Carora) 148.808, Urdaneta (Siquisique) 65.429, Crespo (Duaca) 20.278, Morán (El Tocuyo) 22.474, Iribarren (Barquisimeto) 38.458, Andrés Eloy Blanco (Sanare) 4.875, Jiménez (Quibor) 18.762, and in Palavecino (Cabudare) 3.572.
Barinas projects livestock census in 34.851 production units
The Florentino Genetic Center served as the setting for the formal start of the 2026 Bovine Herd Characterization Plan in the state of Barinas, a government initiative deployed jointly with regional livestock associations to diagnose, organize and strengthen the local livestock sector.
The activity was presided over by the Minister of Popular Power for Productive Agriculture and Lands, G/J Vladimir Padrino López, Governor Adán Chávez, accompanied by regional authorities and leaders of the agricultural sector, who finalized the start of a field campaign scheduled to take place over 118 days of continuous deployment, with a planned completion date of December 19, 2026.
The technical survey project has a direct reach target of 34.851 Agricultural Production Units (UPAs) distributed across the 12 municipalities of the Barinas state. To cover this network of farms and livestock properties, 648 field surveyors were deployed, supported by a logistical transportation infrastructure consisting of 27 vehicles, 128 motorcycles, and 29 maritime and river vessels, coordinated through 264 community circuits.
900 Agricultural Production Units will be addressed in Sucre
A total of 900 Agricultural Production Units (UPA) will be addressed in the 15 municipalities of the state of Sucre.
The information was released by Yorman Berbecía, coordinator of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land in the state, who explained that more than 85 trained census takers are deployed in the field through 62 mobility units that have been arranged to travel through the properties in the Sucre territory.
"This is a decentralized effort in conjunction with the Sucre Governorate and regional stakeholders; our trained census takers will travel property by property throughout the territory to gather technical information under strict criteria. It is important to ensure the updating of data for future exporters and for animal health in the country," the official said.
More than 1200 bovine specimens will be characterized in Nueva Esparta
In the state of Nueva Esparta, the Bovine Herd Characterization Plan aims to register and certify more than 1.200 animals by visiting some 190 agricultural producers throughout the 10 municipalities of Margarita Island, with the objective of officially validating the livestock of the island entity.
The characterization began at the La Gomera farm in the Díaz municipality, which has 26 Jersey breed animals, where the effectiveness of livestock management translates into concrete results with a daily production of 186 liters of milk and direct processing for the production of cheese, butter and various dairy products.
The statistical data collected in the island region will strengthen the technical dossier that the Venezuelan State will present to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OMSA) to obtain the official declaration as a country free of this disease, "to open paths towards a highly productive agricultural economy that allows the export of livestock products to different countries," said Governor Marisel Velásquez.
2.085 agricultural production units will be characterized in Bolívar
With the challenge of covering 633 routes within the 11 municipalities of Bolívar state, the national campaign to characterize the bovine herd began with a total of 261 registrars who, from August 24 to December 18, will be able to comprehensively establish the sanitary conditions of each animal.
The Mata Negra farm in the Piar municipality was the starting point of this day which will also directly improve the conditions in each flock.
The first stage of agricultural production assistance resulted in more than 187.000 head of cattle and buffalo being vaccinated against foot-and-mouth disease, so this new characterization phase will be able to increase these numbers considerably.
Yulisbeth García, the state's governor, led the event and pointed out that there is a comprehensive national policy for agricultural production that allows for increasing both the quantity and quality of livestock to meet the various existing demands.
More than 2.000 properties are added to the herd census in Monagas
With the active reintegration of more than 2.000 properties and Agricultural Production Units (UPA), Phase II of the National Plan for Characterizing the Bovine Herd 2026 was formally launched in the state of Monagas. The opening day was coordinated by the Ministry of Popular Power for Agriculture, the Government of the State of Monagas, Insai and the Secretariat of Popular Power for Productive Development (SPPDP), according to the official statement of Governor Ernesto Luna.
During the event at the Santa Rita Farm, Pedro Malaver, president of Agropatria, was formally appointed as the official representative and ministerial sponsor for the entity. This initiative aims to census a herd exceeding 606.147 head of cattle and buffalo, with a baseline institutional target of 1.371 registered production units in the state.
The plan envisions comprehensive coverage across all 13 municipalities of Monagas, addressing every parish, commune, and community council with livestock activity. The fieldwork will be carried out by teams of census takers comprised of students from Veterinary Medicine (Unesr), Animal Production Engineering (UDO), and related fields (Unefa), along with representatives from the Ezequiel Zamora National Peasant Union (Uncez), community leaders, and the technical team from agencies affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land (MAT).
This Phase II of data collection began on August 24 and will extend until December 18, 2026, completing 117 continuous days of on-the-ground work to strengthen food sovereignty and regional animal health control.
Representatives from the agricultural sector and regional authorities define the operational guidelines for Phase II of the livestock census in Monagas Pedro Malaver, president of Agropatria and ministerial godfather, inspects the flock at the Santa Rita Farm together with authorities and inspectors from Insai Insai technicians and university brigade members are carrying out the digital registration of data together with local producers
Táchira will have more than 200 census takers
Táchira will have 205 validators for the livestock characterization census deployed in the 29 municipalities of the Andean state, as reported by Governor Freddy Bernal from the Valle Hermoso production unit, located in the García de Hevia municipality, where the regional launch of the plan took place.
The activity was accompanied by the National Institute of Comprehensive Agricultural Health (Insai), the Northern Livestock Association, peasant spokespeople and military authorities from the Zodi Táchira and the Zone Command No. 21.
The regional leader specified that the region was divided into five axes: High Mountain, Low Mountain, South, Border and Metropolitan, in order to comply with the registration of properties and existing livestock.
He also highlighted that Táchira is among the six states with the highest cattle production in the country, so the challenge is to advance in foot-and-mouth disease vaccination and contribute to Venezuela achieving international certification as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease, which will allow it to open new export markets.
In Cojedes, they will cover more than 600 properties.
The event is being carried out through a strong collaboration between the Ministry of Popular Power for Agriculture and Land, the National Institute of Comprehensive Agricultural Health (Insai), regional authorities and the association of agricultural producers organized through animal health foundations, in which more than 200 specialized technicians and duly identified enumerators were deployed who will directly visit more than 600 farms and ranches in the region.
This important technological and organizational campaign for the characterization of the 2026 cattle and buffalo herd will extend until December 18, serving as an indispensable basis for the second national vaccination cycle scheduled for November and December, which seeks to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease in the region and achieve international certification that will boost agricultural development in the nation.
The regional government and relevant institutions are making a broad appeal to all livestock farmers and producers in Cojedes to actively join this initiative, providing the necessary facilities to the technical teams during field visits to ensure the success and transparency of this strategic health registration.
More than 6.000 cattle-producing units will be surveyed in Zulia.
A total of 527 census takers have been deployed throughout the state of Zulia to carry out the census planned in the National Plan for Characterization of Cattle through the Minister of Popular Power for Agriculture and Lands, Vladimir Padrino López.
This was reported on Wednesday, August 26, by Governor Luis Caldera through a press release in which he indicated that the process, at a national level, foresees a period of four years to reach the goal of comprehensively registering the entire Venezuelan herd and move towards the declaration of the country as a territory free of foot-and-mouth disease.
According to Caldera, the state is estimated to have 2.549.901 head of cattle, making it the federal entity with the largest herd in the country. It comprises 6.301 production units, 73% of which are considered small farms. The census is expected to confirm these figures.
In the case of the Maracaibo municipality, the territorial deployment began on Monday, August 24, and will extend until December 18, according to Lobsang Nafi, president of the Institute for Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture of Maracaibo (Ipaupma), according to a report from the local council.
In San Francisco, 50 census takers were deployed from Tuesday, August 25th in five of the nine parishes of the municipality south of Maracaibo to carry out the census of the National Plan for Characterization of the Bovine Herd, according to a press report from the mayor's office.
