Brazil Fazenda Monte Alto NY2 16up natural anaerobic

1150 meters.
Fazenda Monte Alto has coffee culture in its tradition. The
Ribeiro do Valle family has been dedicated to it for at least
136 years, being nowadays in the ninth generation.
The family’s patriarch, Carlos Henrique’s ancestor, is very
well-known in the region, and he went by the title “Barão de
Guaxupé”. The farm’s house is a place that has been
carefully restored and preserved by its owners – they make
an effort to keep the family’s memories alive through this
unique place. Within the boundaries of the property, besides the coffee
plantation, there is also a large area of protected native
forest, with water springs and lakes.
There are over 30 families living at Monte Alto. In total, the
farm counts on 45 employees all year around. During the
harvesting season, they hire more 30 pickers to form a team
of 75 collaborators. Carlos Henrique Ribeiro do Valle inherited the property from
his parents. His wife, Marina do Valle, is very engaged in the
farm’s affairs, in addition to participating in coffee-related
events and keeping up to date with the latest news in the
market. The couple’s daughter, Julia, also follows the work
on the property and does her best to shape the future of the
farm.
Monte Alto also has two administrators, one of whom is also
the agronomist who follows through the production stages.
The farm also counts on personalized attention from a
second agricultural engineer and, of course, the follow-up of
the SMC team. The farm’s first coffee plantation was planted around 1880, by
the family’s first generation. With a mountainous relief, the
harvest at the farm’s been manually done in around 70% of the
area; the other 30% started to be mechanically cropped.
Lots of improvements were implanted in the farm during these
past few years. The old patio became a beautiful garden in front
of the house and the drying processes started to happen in a
higher spot, built in 2017, with double the size, where the
sunlight reaches during the whole morning and afternoon.
The washer station was updated in the same year in order to be
more sustainable, as they use way less water than the
conventional ones.
Besides the concrete patio, they own a large and complete
structure for the dryers and the woonden boxes so the coffees
can rest separately after the lots go through all the steps. They
also use their suspended beds, more ofter to prepare nano and
micro lots. With basically 50% of the property dedicated to the forest,
keeping the micro climate in perfect harmony, Fazenda
Monte Alto counts on the assistance of a biologist to catalog
the many species of local fauna and flora.
In a greenhouse, the team cultivates seedlings of native
fruitfull and flowering trees found on the area for planting
and for donations. Around the land, there are many
preservation areas for lakes and water sources. The main
water course of Guaxupé city has its spring inside the farm’s
perimeter.
Such abundance of fresh water enables the farm to make
rational use of the resource and also helps in the supply of
the municipality, always paying attention to the health of the
environment and the natural balance. Monte Alto develops social work with the local community,
offering techonology classes for the kids, teenagers and
young adults, providing a library, a playground, cooking
classes, horseback riding and many other activities.
A partnership created with the Federal Institution of
Muzambinho – a city near Guaxupé – was a great step to the
farm. The students learn about the native fauna and flora,
catalogue all the species and also how to take care of the
environment with simple daily basis actions.
In line with its sustainable production, photovoltaic pannels
generate solar energy to supply the whole facility – a clean
resource, an investment totally thought out for a better future
of coffee farming. In 2020, Ribeiro do Valle family received the incredible news
that their special coffee, a Yellow Bourbon, won second
place in the Cup of Excellence contest, scoring 88.94 points
according to the competition’s international jury.
This achievement was a indication to Carlos Henrique,
Marina and the whole family and team, that all the effort has
been worth and the whole team is on the right path.