The main agriculture is cattle ranching. Some attempt to keep herds in enclosed areas feeding them spineless cactus grown as fodder, but the periodic severe years drive even those out. Many, often large ranches covering huge areas, attempt to graze cattle in the scrub forest or caatinga. In dry years, as in 1998-1999 pictures show shrunken corpses of these cattle surrounding dried mud holes and the herds were essentially lost. In the caatinga everything has defenses.
Some defenses are huge thorns, large enough to skewer a man.
Some are irritants or poisons. It is used for cattle fences since cattle will not eat the stuff or move through the tangle. The hat is a narrow brimmed helmet of thick hardened leather and all other clothing on the outside is similar in thickness. Still, injuries are frequent and sometimes fatal. The man to the right below is wearing some of the leather, but the one on the left is not.