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Unlike the uniform soy protocol that can be Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation,
used by nearly every U.S. soybean farmer, there or EMBRAPA.
are several sustainable and environmental veri- “Producers of meat and grains from other
fication programs operating in Brazil, covering countries accuse Brazilian cattle ranching and
farmers in different regions. One of the most soybean production of clearing the Amazon
dependable, Döring said is run by COAMO, a and Cerrado. And they compete for the same
cooperative that includes mostly soybean farm- national product markets. To many, both here
ers in the southern states of Paraná and Santa and abroad, Brazil’s farming devours native
Catarina, as well as Mato Grosso do Sul.
vegetation and makes it its main input, with
There are also verification programs run by enormous negative impact on soil, water, biodi-
individual processing and trading companies versity and public health.”
like ADM, but perhaps the most comprehen-
sive effort to date is “Soja Plus,” that has been And last year, as Brazil took criticism from
launched in five states that ARE home to some world leaders as massive fires burned in the
of the most environmentally sensitive and Amazon, President Jair Bolsonaro lashed
protected lands in Brazil: Mato Grosso, Goiás, out on Twitter, saying, “We’re fighting the wild-
Bahia, Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul. fires with great success. Brazil is and will always
be an international reference in sustainable
Sponsors of the effort include Bunge, ADM, development. The fake news campaign built
Cargill, the Bank of Brazil, Amaggi and the against our sovereignty will not work. The US
Nature Conservancy. can always count on Brazil.”

“This is a farmer-owned program and the larg- The last sentence was aimed at President
est of its kind in Brazil,” said Döring, “but it’s Donald Trump, who came to Bolonaro’s
still a work in progress.”
defense, saying he was “working very hard on
Early on, the Brazilian Soy Moratorium was the Amazon fires and in all respects doing a
hailed as wildly successful by the companies great job for the people of Brazil – Not easy.”
that made it possible. Deforestation rates were
dropping sharply - down 80% in the first six The incoming Biden administration might not
years. But that trend has reversed in recent be so understanding.
years and Brazilian government officials have President-elect Joe Biden, during a September
become increasingly defensive. debate with Trump, suggested Brazil be pun-

In his 2018 book, Shades of Green, ished economically if it doesn’t stop deforesta-
Sustainable Agriculture in Brazil – a copy tion. He also suggested he might work with
of which was given to Agri-Pulse by former other countries to provide $20 billion to stop
Brazilian Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi the destruction of the Amazon rain forest.
- Evaristo de Miranda, does not take long to Bolsonaro reacted sharply. “My government
blame foreign countries for maligning Brazil’s is taking unprecedented actions to protect the
farming sector. Amazon,” said in a series of tweets. “What
“Abroad, competitors and even clients have some have not yet understood is that Brazil
been showing and cultivating a false, nega- has changed. Today, its President, unlike
tive image of Brazil’s agriculture for years in the left, no longer accepts bribes, criminal
order to obtain price and market advantages,” demarcations or unfounded threats. OUR
writes de Miranda, a researcher with the SOVEREIGNTY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE.”

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