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Property acquired in 1993, from Pedro Henrique Junqueira, cousin
of José Wagner Ribeiro Junqueira, father of the owner. Despite
being an acquisition, this piece of land has been in the Junqueira
family for seven generations. It was part of the Sesmaria
das Três Barras [Três Barras Land Grant], granted by the Portuguese
Crown to Manoel Ramos da Silva at the end of the 18th Century,
later acquired by a forefather of the family, Custódio Ribeiro
Pereira Guimarães, in 1811.
Through the years the land suffered natural subdivisions and,
in 1993, the property was transferred to the successors of Mr.
Custódio Sr.
José Wagner Ribeiro Junqueira, owner of the plot of land known
as Serra das Três Barras, which was also part of the above-mentioned
Sesmaria, has been investing in coffee production quality,
activity that was incorporated by the family in the mid-19th Century.
Coffee processing system
Coffee is picked manually, because of the topography of the land,
and the derriça [enfolding a coffee tree branch with
the hands and sliding them where the beans are, letting the beans
fall on a piece of cloth] uses appropriate cloth materials. The
pulped natural cherry coffee is obtained by the "wet method",
in which the dry and green beans of coffee are separated from
the cherry beans using a mechanical washer. An appropriate pulper
removes the green coffee and leaves only the ripe (cherry) beans.
The pulped beans are immediately taken to the concrete terrace,
where the drying phase begins and subsequently is completed in
suspended terraces. After the beans are dried, the coffee is kept
in bins with wooden floors and walls, to rest for approximately
30 days. The coffee is then processed and transferred to the warehouses
of Cooperativa Regional dos Cafeicultores do Vale do Rio Verde
- COCARIVE - in the City of Carmo de Minas.
The whole process is performed jointly with Fazenda Serra das
Três Barras. Fazenda Serra das Três Barras and Sítio Araucária
are neighbors and the cost of implementing and maintaining a sophisticated
coffee processing structure is expensive, reason why the owners
decided to make a joint investment.
Concern with quality
Choosing varieties and land to plant coffee was made with the
technical assistance of EMATER and technicians of COCARIVE. The
planting system, all on the same level, and taking into consideration
soil preservation, varies between 3,000 to 5,000 plants per hectare.
Soil analyses demonstrate that fertility is very good, with high
grade of potassium, good base saturation and adequate capacity
of cation exchange. Coffee plantations are at an altitude between
1,100 and 1,350 meters, with mild climate and good annual rainfalls.
The property has 6 hectares of forest reserves with native trees,
typical of the Atlantic Rain Forest, and some well preserved springs.
There is awareness that quality does not consist in beans that
are good looking, have flavor and taste, but also of respect to
the environment, for this activity to be developed in a sustainable
way.
Labor and the environment are respected. Currently the property
has six permanent employees, who live in brick-built houses with
piped water and electricity at the farm, or live in the City of
Carmo de Minas. During the harvesting period, temporary labor
is hired, and receives bus transportation to the farm and all
benefits according to Brazilian labor laws.
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