Learn about the arduous life of gaucho cattle farmers in the Pampas and how they provide beef globally

Learn about the arduous life of gaucho cattle farmers in the Pampas and how they provide beef globally

Argentine gauchos at work.
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Transcript

NARRATOR: Cattle and the gaucho, South America's counterpart to the cowboy, are the real symbols of the Pampas.

Admired for their adventurous spirit, independent nature, and skill as horsemen, the gauchos played an important role in the history of Argentina, fighting to win independence from Spain.

Like the hero of the American West, the gaucho became a popular subject of literature, celebrated in ballads and novels.

But as Señor de Leone points out, contrary to fiction, a gaucho's work is far from glamorous.

His days are long, dusty, and exhausting—far from the picture imagined by the majority of city dwellers.

The gaucho's life involves backbreaking work from sunup to sundown, day in and day out.

Dogs trained to assist the gauchos help round up the herds of cattle for auction. Beef from the Pampas is sold throughout the world.