A FARMERindicted by the Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) for clearing 1,800 hectares of Cerrado — an area equivalent to almost 2,000 football fields — in Piauí, the farmer negotiated his soybean production with multinational agribusiness companies Bunge, Cofco, ADM do Brasil, and CHS, according to documents analyzed byRepórter Brasil.
The indictment against the soybean farmer Luciano Márcio Curioni was issued in October 2024. At that time, the environmental agency also ordered the embargo (interdiction) of the affected area, located within the Fazenda Três Santos, in Uruçuí (PI). Brazilian law prohibits the purchase of products originating from areas that are subject to environmental embargo.
In November 2024, however, after an action filed by Curioni, the court suspended the embargo. A new judicial decision determined that the embargo would be reinstated in December 2025, but, in the following month, after an appeal by the producer, its effects were again suspended.
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In September and October of this year, two court rulings again lifted the suspension. However, the embargo had not yet reappeared in the agency's system by the time this report was published. The process is still ongoing in federal court.
ToReporter BrasilBunge, Cofco, ADM do Brasil and CHS Agronegócio stated that they had not negotiated with Curioni during the periods when the embargo on Fazenda Três Santos was in effect, or that they had not purchased grain produced on the property.
The farmer, meanwhile, claims that Ibama has incorrectly classified a conversion of land into a pasture as deforestation on his farm (see more details below).
The responses from Curioni and the companies can be read in full here..
Soybean sales
In July 2025, soybean farmer Luciano Márcio Curioni signed two supply contracts with Bunge, the world's leading oleaginous processing company, which stipulated the delivery of 4,200 tons of soybeans to the company's warehouse in Uruçuí (PI) in the following year, the same municipality where Ibama identified the unauthorized deforestation.
The report also had access to 12 invoices from 2026 that indicate that the producer sold at least 214 tons of the grain, totaling R$ 432,600, to Cofco, ADM do Brasil and CHS Agronegócios, other major players in the sector.
Following the initial seizure and embargo, soybean cultivation took place in the area, according to the Dutch organization AidEnvironment, which conducted a satellite analysis of the embargued site at the request ofRepórter Brasil.
Questioned, Bunge stated that during the period in which the area was embargued before the first judicial suspension, "the producer was blocked in the Bunge systems." It also stated that Curioni "presented the necessary documentation authorizing the vegetation removal activities." "After verifying this documentation and the lifting of the embargo, the client was approved to resume business with Bunge," it explained.
Also contacted, CHS Agronegócios responded that "it has no records indicating the purchase, for the 2025/26 crop, of grains from Fazenda Três Santos" and that it cannot comment on specific commercial relationships. ADM stated that it did not acquire products linked to the embargued area. Cofco stated that "during the period of the embargo, it did not carry out commercial activities with the aforementioned producer."
The company responses can be read in full here.
Deforestation may block sales to the European Union
João Gonçalves, director of the organization Mighty Earth in Brazil, warns that from December 30, 2026, products associated with deforestation may be blocked from entering the European Union due to a new legislation approved by the economic bloc.
The EUDR (European Union Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products), which will begin to apply from this date, prohibits the entry into the countries of the European Union of soybeans produced in deforested areas, legally or illegally, after December 31, 2020. The law also prohibits imports if such products have been cultivated in violation of the legislation of the country of origin.
Only some regions of the Brazilian Cerrado would be included in the definition of the EUDR regarding what are considered forest areas. According toThe European Union's reference mapprepared to support legislation, the location of the Curioni farm overlaps with one of these regions, according to an analysis byRepórter Brasil.
When questioned about the destination of raw materials purchased from Curioni, Bunge responded that it does not publicly comment on transactions related to individual suppliers. It also stated that it has "monitoring, traceability and risk assessment systems that support its due diligence and regulatory compliance processes" and that "a central component of our EUDR compliance efforts is to ensure that no soybeans harvested from deforested areas after 2020 enter the Bunge supply chain destined for the European Union".
Cofco, meanwhile, stated that "it conducts continuous socio-environmental monitoring of its suppliers, as well as strictly complies with legal requirements with verification from competent regulatory bodies, such as Ibama."
ADM do Brasil and CHS Agronegócios, for their part, did not provide comments regarding a possible compliance with the EUDR.
The companies' responses can be read in full here..
Zero deforestation policy
The four multinational companies identified byReporter Brasilas Curioni as partners comerciais após the Ibama fine, they promote combating deforestation as one of their socio-environmental policies.
On its website, Bunge states thatit has achieved the zero deforestation target in its supply chains by 2025with "100% monitoring and traceability to the farm for direct and indirect soybean supply in priority regions". The company says that it is "strategically positioned to be the preferred partner in reducing carbon in fuel supply chains" due to its "actions and access to raw materials".
In February 2024, CHS presented its Annual Progress Report to the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS), an international association that promotes responsible soy trade. The company stated in the document that one of the applied principles is the prohibition of acquiring grains produced in illegal and embargoed areas.
ADM, for its part, stipulates that its suppliers should not produce in embargued lands or in other irregular situations. Cofco, on the other hand, states that in 2024, 99% of the soy purchased directly and indirectly in Brazil was verified as deforestation-free.
In addition to exporting the grain, Bunge, Cofco, and ADM also own biodiesel production plants from soy. The fuel is mixed with diesel sold at gas stations throughout the country.
"It's not just about the supply chain, but about humanity on Earth. It's about facing climate change, ensuring that biodiversity survives, and ensuring the rights of indigenous peoples," argues João Gonçalves of Mighty Earth.
Producer claims to have authorization to clear land.
In the legal action contesting the embargo by Ibama, producer Luciano Márcio Curioni argues that the penalty was applied without prior notification and without ensuring his right to a defense.
The soybean farmer also states that Fazenda Três Santos possessed a valid environmental license and authorization for vegetation removal granted by the Secretariat of Environment and Water Resources of the State of Piauí.
Curioni also questions the fact that the inspection was carried out exclusively through satellite images, without a physical inspection. "Due to an error in the interpretation of remote sensing data, Ibama's inspection incorrectly classified the conversion of existing pasture into a field as unauthorized removal of native vegetation," he said toRepórter BrasilCurioni's lawyer (read the full response here).
In the December 2025 ruling, which ordered the reinstatement of the embargo, Federal Judge Brunno Christiano Carvalho Cardoso stated that the measure "has technical, legal, and factual support, fitting within the regular exercise of environmental police power."
According to Cardoso, satellite images "constitute a legitimate means of proof" to justify administrative measures by environmental authorities, and although Curioni had a valid environmental license for operating Fazenda Três Santos, the authorization to clear land attached to the process had expired in February 2020.
The ruling also states that, after the measure, the producer was notified by the environmental agency to present his defense, and that higher courts recognize "the possibility of exercising the right to a defense at a later stage" in cases that require "immediate response from the State," such as environmental damage.
In January 2026, after Curioni appealed, the court again suspended the embargo, but did not address the merits of the request. The producer claimed that the previous decision contained "contradictions, omissions, and obscurity regarding various points."
In September, the suspension of the penalty was again revoked by the court, which responded to an appeal from Ibama. On October 7, the court rejected Curioni's appeal and reinstated the December 2025 sentence, which had recognized the legality of the environmental embargo imposed by the environmental agency.
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