Transformation of Brazil’s countryside: the story of soy towns

39 years ago, Sadi José Beledelli, a farmer from Rio Grande do Sul, made a pivotal move to Sorriso, a small town in Mato Grosso.

Back then, the municipality had merely 2,000 inhabitants, unpaved roads, a handful of grocery stores, and scarce workshops.

Public health services were a dream three years in the future. Today, Sorriso is a hub of soy production in Brazil.

Beledelli’s journey began when his uncle informed his father about the promising lands of Mato Grosso.

This hint led Beledelli, along with his brother, uncle, and cousin, to claim 2,400 hectares of these fertile lands.

Today, their holdings have swelled to 9,000 hectares, with 6,500 hectares devoted to soy cultivation and the remaining utilized for corn production in the second harvest.

Fast-forward to present times, Sorriso, along with its farming community, has transformed into the largest soybean production region in Brazil.

The town has consistently crossed the 2 million tons mark of soybean yield since 2017, with the 2022/2023 forecast estimating a yield of 2.2 million tons, according to the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea).

The cultivated area in Sorriso has surged from 140,000 hectares in 1990 to a staggering 587,283 hectares today.

However, this impressive transformation wasn’t limited to Sorriso alone. Numerous small towns across Brazil witnessed similar transformations with the rise of modern agriculture.

Starting from the 1980s, these agricultural developments catapulted Brazil from a food importer to one of the leading producers and exporters.

The soy industry played a significant role in this shift. Brazil became the world’s largest soy producer three harvests ago, overtaking the USA, and has remained the top producer since.

The most recent estimate for 2023 puts the Gross Value of Production (VBP) at R$ 1.249 trillion, with soy contributing to nearly 31% of this figure.

Sorriso, benefiting from the circulating wealth generated by agriculture, has become a regional hub offering good services and quality of life.

According to Beledelli, “When the farmer sells a bag of soybeans, the money is distributed to buy fertilizer, chemicals, the workshop, the supermarket, restaurant, doctor… Money changes hands, but it only exists after the harvest of soybeans and corn.”

Mato Grosso is expected to yield 44.3 million tons of soybean this harvest season, outperforming Argentina’s entire production.

The state accounts for 29% of Brazil’s total soybean yield. Its top 10 municipalities, including Sorriso, contribute nearly 34% to Mato Grosso’s total yield and about 10% to the national harvest.

Soybean production in these municipalities underpins a great technological and socioeconomic advancement phenomenon known as “the new rural”.

This phenomenon hinges on specialized commodity farming and strong ties to agribusinesses. Beledelli points out that growth in Sorriso’s production has been possible through increased productivity since all cultivatable areas have already been opened.

He asserts that the farmers also take considerable care to preserve the water springs as they are crucial for farming.

Finally, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cattle Raising (Mapa) projects the Brazilian harvest for the 2031/2032 season at 179.3 million tons, marking a 42.8% increase.

However, some experts believe the potential is even higher – possibly reaching 207 million tons of grain.

News Brazil, English news Brazil, agriculture Brazil, soy towns Brazil, Brazilian countryside, agribusiness news, agribusiness news Brazil

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