SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil's JBS, the world's largest meat company, has delivered 123,765 ear tags to individually track cattle in Para state, according to a statement on Monday, marking a possible turning point in efforts to halt deforestation in the Amazon. 

Para passed a law in late 2023 requiring that ranchers in the state identify their cattle by the end of 2026.

Under the initiative, JBS said it aims to deliver 2 million tags in partnership with the Nature Conservancy, a non-governmental organization, to small ranchers in the state.

Of the total tags so far delivered to farmers, 65,902 are already attached to animals' ears on 89 farms in the state, JBS said. The move enabled JBS' Maraba beef plant to process individually tracked cattle in Para for the first time.

Individually tracking each animal in Para represents a daunting task, as the state boasts a cattle herd of 26 million, about the size of the one in Australia. 

But the move could be a turning point in the struggle to halt the destruction of the world's largest rainforest, as cattle and soybean cultivation have been a key driver of deforestation in the region.