*

Study shows almost 98% of blocked farms in Mato Grosso

state

cleared land illegally

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Farmers argue the moratorium blocks those complying with

environmental rules

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In recent months farmers have stepped up attacks against

the

moratorium

By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO, July 30 (Reuters) - Almost 98% of the farms

that are blocked by Brazil's "Soy Moratorium," a corporate

agreement that seeks to protect the Amazon rainforest, cleared

land illegally in Mato Grosso state, according to a study

commissioned by oilseed lobby Abiove, which oversees the pact.

Under the moratorium, a two-decade-old voluntary agreement,

some of the world's top grain traders, such as ADM,

Bunge and Cargill, committed not to buy soy grown on land

deforested after 2008, regardless of whether farmers had cleared

land legally or not.

Brazilian farmers, who in recent months have stepped up

attacks against the moratorium, have long complained that the

agreement blocks farmers who comply with environmental rules,

which bar farmers from clearing more than 20% of properties to

grow commercial crops in the Amazon after 2008.

But the new study, which was obtained by Reuters

exclusively, shows that only 50 of the 2,168 farms that were

blocked by the moratorium in Mato Grosso, Brazil's largest soy

producer, had authorization from the government to clear plots

where they now grow soy. Another 440 farms deforested more land

than they were authorized to clear, moratorium data for Mato

Grosso showed.

Aprosoja-MT, which represents the state's farmers, said it

could not comment on the study because it did not have access to

its findings.

It said the debate over the soybean moratorium is not

environmental, but rather of a competitive nature.

"The moratorium is commercially biased and excludes soybean

producers from exercising their right to sell their product,

imposing a rule that violates our legislation and our national

sovereignty."

The study, which covers the 2022/23 harvest, used

proprietary moratorium data as well as federal and state

databases to show that the agreement currently blocks soy farms

covering 614,495 hectares (1.518 million acres), representing

5.25% of Mato Grosso's soybean area.

Soy now covers 11.7 million hectares (28.9 million acres) in

the state, half of which sit in the sensitive Amazon biome,

which is essential for the global struggle to curb climate

change and biodiversity loss. Scientists say that the moratorium

was successful in stopping much of the soy-driven deforestation

in the Amazon.

Mato Grosso produced 51 million tons of soybeans in 2024/25,

nearly a third of Brazil's output.

Brazilian farmers have launched multiple legal challenges

against the moratorium and also persuaded state legislators in

Mato Grosso to pass new laws to weaken the program.