Meet Viatina. Security cameras watch over her massive, snow-white body. So does an armed guard. She is the most expensive cow in the world!

Brazil has hundreds of millions of cows. But it has just one Viatina. (The cow’s full name is Viatina-19 FIV Mara Movéis.) She is worth more than $4 million. No cow has ever sold at auction for more than that. In fact, she sold for three times as much as the last record holder. She cost so much that three buyers share her.

What did her buyers get for the big bucks? More than 2,400 pounds of animal—twice as much as the average adult cow of her breed. Plus, the buyers get to breed the cow. She might bear babies that get as big as herself.

And they get gawkers. Along a highway through Brazil’s heartland, Viatina’s owners put up two billboards praising the burly bovine. Ranchers, curious locals, and busloads of veterinary students come see the supercow in Uberaba.

Brazil exports (ships out) more beef than any other country in the world. Officials want to sell even more. They want everyone, everywhere to eat Brazilian beef. 

Breeders have worked for years to raise meatier cows. “We’re not slaughtering elite cattle,” says one of Viatina’s owners after arriving at his farm by helicopter. “We’re breeding them.” He thinks Viatina will “feed the whole world” through her offspring.

Viatina puts on muscle fast. She has solid hooves. She’s gentle. Plus, she’s beautiful. Ranchers pay around $250,000 just to add her good genes to their herds. 

Why? Farmers use breeding techniques to bring more value to animals used for meat.

For more about humongous cows, see The Tall Tale of Paul Bunyan by Martin Powell in our Recommended Reading.