Soybean production advances with 90% environmental compliance in key biomes.

New data collected by Serasa Experian shows that 90,7% of monitored soybean areas in the Legal Amazon and Cerrado biomes are in socio-environmental compliance, meaning there is no overlap with recent deforestation. Based on more than 111 records from the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), the study analyzed over 74 million hectares, equivalent to an area larger than the entire territory of Chile. 

According to Marcelo Pimenta, head of agribusiness at Serasa Experian, the data proves that Brazilian soy production has been advancing sustainably. "Most of this production grows within already consolidated areas, without putting pressure on new territories or causing deforestation. This is a picture of how agriculture can combine expansion with productivity, efficiency, and conservation," he says.

The analysis was conducted through daily monitoring of rural properties by cross-referencing public data, property information, and satellite imagery, using Serasa's Smart ESG solution. It also considered data from Prodes, developed by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). 

The regions analyzed were the Legal Amazon and the Cerrado, using a cutoff date of July 31, 2019 to verify the occurrence of new area openings.

State-level analysis shows socio-environmental maturity in the Midwest.

The state-level analysis revealed a positive scenario for the three Federative Units analyzed – the largest grain producers in Brazil. Considering the intersection with the "Legal Amazon" and the "Cerrado" biomes together, the Central-West region demonstrates maturity regarding agricultural expansion, with significant advances in planting carried out without the need for newly deforested areas.

In Mato Grosso, 42 million hectares were mapped, in Mato Grosso do Sul, 19 million, and in Goiás, 13 million hectares — areas that concentrate most of the country's agricultural expansion.

The Legal Amazon has 91% of its areas in environmental compliance.

In the Legal Amazon, which includes the state of Mato Grosso according to the study, 90,84% ​​of soybean areas were in socio-environmental compliance after 2019.

Based on the total monitored area, the areas with evidence of deforestation mapped by Prodes represent only 9,16%. However, some of these areas may have Vegetation Suppression Authorizations (ASV), indicating that the actual compliance rate tends to be even higher. “Therefore, the centralization, control, and verification of ASVs by the environmental agencies that conduct licensing at the federal, state, and municipal levels is extremely important. We can greatly reduce the discussion and uncertainties about deforestation figures if we have accurate environmental information readily available for consultation,” says Pimenta.

According to Jeysa Meneses, agricultural solutions manager at Serasa Experian, “the result reinforces that, today, production in the Legal Amazon is consolidated in already cleared areas. In other words, according to SmartESG data on the mapped states, the advance of soy in the region has not put pressure on new agricultural frontiers.”

In the Cerrado biome, sustainable expansion prevails with 88,6% compliance.

In the Cerrado, a strategic biome that has experienced strong agricultural expansion, 88,6% of the monitored areas are in environmental compliance. In the Mato Grosso region, the rate is 91,9%, in Mato Grosso do Sul it is 90,3%, and in Goiás, 82,9%. The area with records of clear-cutting after 2019 represents 11,4% of the analyzed territory, demonstrating a balance between agricultural growth and environmental conservation. “These results also identify a sustainable intensification of production, taking advantage of the potential for efficient land use,” concludes Jeysa Meneses.