Jul 14, 2010
Soybeans Account for Only 0.25% of Recent Amazon Deforestation
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Due to efforts of environmentalists, multinational grain companies, soybean processors, soybean exporters, the federal government, and various farm organizations, soybean cultivation in Brazil was responsible for 0.25% of the Amazon Rainforest that has been cleared over the last three years. Data released by participants of the Soybean Moratorium Program indicate that 2,480,000 hectares of Amazon Rainforest were cleared since 2006, but soybeans were planted on only 6,295 of those hectares. This calculation was based on satellite data provided by the Brazilian Space Institute.
Starting in 2006, these various organizations worked together to develop a program where the various participants agreed not to purchase any soybeans from any area of the Amazon Region that was illegally deforested after 2006. Companies such as Cargill, ADM, Bunge, Louis Dreyfus, and Amaggi along with Brazilian soybean processors and exports just recently renewed the agreement for another year. Part of the thrust behind this program came from European buyers of Brazilian soybean meal that demanded more sustainable soybean production in Brazil.
Approximately 7% of the soybeans grown in Brazil are produced in the Amazon Region, but almost all of these soybeans are grown on areas that were deforested prior to 2006. The Amazon Region encompasses approximately 50% of Brazil's total land area.
The real culprit behind deforestation in the Amazon Region is the ever expanding cattle ranches. In that light, the federal government has recently initiated a program that will eventually monitor all the cattle ranchers in the Amazon Region. Each ranch will be monitored by satellites and if any rancher is found to have illegally deforested any of his property, he will be fined and prohibited from selling any of his cattle. Various meat packers in the region and nationwide supermarket chains have also joined in the effort by banning any beef that may have been produced on illegally deforested land.