The Xerente exploited the resources of the brushlands through hunting and gathering, associated with a complementary swidden agriculture. Extensiveness of territory was thus always a basic condition for the constitution and reproduction of the group. It is not by chance that Xerente male identity is directly associated with being considered a "good hunter", a "good walker" and "runner." Hunting, fishing, and gathering activities, as well as agriculture, are intimately associated with the knowledge that the Xerente have of nature, its potentials and limitations.

The cycle of activities dedicated to agriculture is divided between the dry season - which they call "summer" - and the rainy season - called "winter." The first covers the months of May to September, and the second, from October to April. The great majority of the gardens are located in the immediate vicinity of the villages, near rivers and streams close to the galley-forests. Another type of garden which is much used by the Xerente is made near the banks of the Tocantins River, on nearly the whole western frontier of the territory, about 12 kilometers in length. The process of making most gardens (felling, burning, slashing, planting and gathering) relies on the participation of a specific residential segment (parents, unmarried sons, married daughters, and daughters' husbands), although, in several villages, under the leadership of the chief, larger-sized gardens are planted, which involves the participation of various residential segments. In the first case, the produce of the garden is distributed among the menbers of a specific residential segment, and in the second, among the residents of an entire village.

Other important items in the basic diet of the Xerente, such as honey, fruits, and various roots, are obtained through gathering, an activity by which they also obtain medicinal plants. Fishing, which once was an important source of food for the Xerente, has progressively declined in importance over the years, due to the impact of the large-scale development projects (dams, hydroelectrics) undertaken on the Tocantins River. Hunting also has gotten much scarcer due to the pressures on natural resources.

In compensation, the Xerente have sought other sources of income. The making and selling of artwork - basketry, warclubs, bows and arrows, collars, etc. - despite being very depreciated by the regional population, is one of the principal activities developed by the group, since the raw material utilized (buriti-fibres, sawgrass seeds, coco straw, etc) is accessible to the whole population. Part of the Xerente residential segments presently obtains financial resources through jobs they've gotten through FUNAI (drivers, post assistants), the State (indigenous teachers, health agents), or from retirement pensions for the elderly.