Biblioteca

Mato Grosso is the largest soybean producer among Brazilian states, accounting for approximately 28% of total production, with an estimated production of 51 million tons in 2025/2026 crop year. Based on data from the United States Department of Agriculture and Embrapa, it is estimated that Mato Grosso was responsible for approximately 12% of the global soybean supply in the 2025/2026. The state was responsible for 35% of Brazil’s soybean exports between January and May 2026, according to data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat.

According to the MapBiomas Platform, the total soybean cultivated area in Mato Grosso nearly doubled between 2008 and 2024, increasing from 5.8 million to 10.6 million hectares. Based on ICV analyses, rural properties located in the Mato Grosso Amazon with at least 25 hectares of soybean cultivation accounted for approximately 4.6 million hectares of planted soybeans in 2023. Most of this area (97.5%) lies on land deforested before August 2008. In 2023, only 115,625 hectares of soybeans were cultivated in areas that had been cleared after August 2008 in the Amazon biome in the state.

Recognized as one of the main initiatives to combat deforestation in the soybean supply chain, the Soy Moratorium, created in 2006, highly contributed to this outcome. In this voluntary multi-stakeholder agreement, signatory companies committed not to purchase or finance soybeans grown on land in the Amazon that was deforested after July 22, 2008.

Despite its success and international recognition, the Soy Moratorium has recently been the target of criticism and attacks. Different analysis shows that eliminating the Soy Moratorium could lead to increased deforestation in the Amazon biome, whether directly or indirectly. In order to monitor the on-the-ground effects of the Soy Moratorium’s weakening, this bulletin provides a systematization of deforestation events whose characteristics indicate land use for agriculture and/or soybeans, based on the predominant surrounding land use. Deforestation events were qualified by considering overlap with deforestation authorizations, embargoes on rural properties, and the identification of subsequent crop cultivation. The presence of major trader silos near the deforested areas was also analyzed.