AgricultureID

State · BR-RS

Rio Grande do Sul

A humid subtropical climate — hot-summer (Cfa) across most of the state and cooler warm-summer (Cfb) on the higher Serra Gaúcha — with well-distributed rainfall and the coldest, most frost-prone winters in Brazil.

Major crop systems

  • Summer soybean, the leading grain crop on the northern plateau
  • Irrigated (flooded) paddy rice on the coastal and Campanha lowlands — the state is Brazil's dominant rice producer
  • Winter wheat and other cool-season small grains
  • Flue-cured tobacco, concentrated in the Vale do Rio Pardo and family-farm areas

Major livestock systems

  • Beef cattle on the natural grasslands of the Pampa (Campanha)
  • Dairy cattle in the north and northwest
  • Sheep for wool and meat in the Campanha

Agricultural land: Brazil's southernmost state combines mechanised grain farming on the northern plateau with the extensive natural grasslands of the Pampa and the low-lying lagoon plains where flooded rice dominates. Irrigation: Unusually for Brazil, irrigation is essential to the main rice system, which relies on flood irrigation drawn from rivers and coastal lagoons; upland grain crops remain largely rainfed.

Agroecological zones: Cfa (Humid subtropical), Cfb (Oceanic (marine west coast))

Documented crops & livestock

Official institutions

  • Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) — National statistical institute; agricultural census and municipal production surveys.
  • Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (CONAB) — Federal crop-supply agency; official grain and rice production and harvest surveys.
  • Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa) — Federal agricultural research corporation; Embrapa Trigo (Passo Fundo), Embrapa Clima Temperado (Pelotas) and Embrapa Pecuária Sul are located in the state.
  • Instituto Rio Grandense do Arroz (IRGA) — State institute for rice research, extension and irrigated-rice statistics.

Data coverage & limitations

Descriptive profile; subnational statistics for Rio Grande do Sul are published by IBGE, CONAB, Embrapa and IRGA and are not reproduced numerically here.

  • Boundaries and administrative classifications follow the official ISO 3166-2 code BR-RS.
  • Any production statistics are dated, source-specific and periodically revised; read them with their year and dataset version.
  • The state spans very different systems — flooded lowland rice, upland grain plateaus and Pampa grazing — so state totals blend contrasting production models.

Sources

This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.

  1. [1]Embrapa — Brazilian agricultural research corporation (opens in a new tab)

    Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)

    High

    Cited for: Subtropical grain, irrigated-rice and temperate-livestock agronomy

    Type:
    Research institute
    Jurisdiction:
    Brazil
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  2. [2]FAOSTAT — FAO statistical database (opens in a new tab)

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: National production and yield context

    Type:
    Intergovernmental organization
    Jurisdiction:
    Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12