Brazil’s biggest lobby group for soy farmers Aprosoja has broken ties with the Brazil Agribusiness Association (Abag) over its support for an initiative calling on the Brazilian government to rein in soaring deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, reported local news.
Abag was among roughly 230 non-government organizations, companies and associations that called on the government of Jair Bolsonaro earlier this month to take measures to combat rising deforestation.
Aprosoja’s departure from the association shows just how divisive the issue of environmental protection is for Brazil’s farming sector, which overwhelmingly backed Bolsonaro in the 2018 election.