If it were a country, Mato Grosso would be the 3rd largest soybean producer in the world.

If Mato Grosso were a country, it would be the third-largest soybean producer in the world, behind only Brazil and the United States . In the 2024/25 harvest, the state surpassed Argentina , producing 300,000 more tons of the grain, totaling 50.6 million tons. The state also leads the country in corn , cotton , and beef .

Mato Grosso's essence is agricultural: 71% agriculture and 29% livestock, according to the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (IMEA). Production contributes R$230 billion to the state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and represents 56.2% of the national agricultural output. Brazilian agribusiness contributes 23.2% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) , currently close to R$12 trillion.

Brazil's prominent position in global agriculture is partly due to the state. In the 2024/25 harvest, the country produced 169.49 million tons of soybeans; the US, 118 million. Mato Grosso alone achieved almost half of the US harvest, with 50.6 million tons—30.03% of national production and 12.06% of global production. Over 60% is exported, either raw or as oil and meal.

The state also leads corn production, according to Imea, with 55 million tons this harvest, more than double the amount ten years ago and 40% of the national total. Half of this is exported, but domestic consumption already accounts for 31.6%.

"Corn in Mato Grosso was boosted by biorefineries, which absorb regional production. Higher consumption in the state also benefited producers in the South, who no longer face competition from grain from the Center-West," says Alexandre Nepomuceno, general manager of Embrapa Soja.

For researcher Daniela Dalla Costa of the Mato Grosso Foundation, high production favors industrialization. "When you have high grain and input productivity, you also achieve easier logistics, which attracts industry. In the mid-north, the presence of ethanol and corn-based plants is growing."

Investment in infrastructure grows

Producers are investing in infrastructure to process part of the harvest in the region. In just over a decade, the state is expected to reach São Paulo's level of agribusiness. "The corn ethanol industry generates DDG (animal feed residue) , and we've already started confining cattle. Companies are springing up around the confinement to provide inputs and services," says Gilson Antunes de Melo, West Vice President of Aprosoja-MT.

Today, Mato Grosso has 321 agro-industries — 137 cotton mills, 57 dairies, 51 beef and pork slaughterhouses and 24 biodiesel and ethanol plants.

Cotton is a standout, accounting for 72.5% of the country's cotton production and 11% of the world's. In ten years, production has tripled, reaching 2.9 million tons. In addition to soybeans, corn, and cotton, the state has the largest cattle herd in the country: 32.8 million head, 14.3% of the national total. Of this total, 7.4 million are slaughtered annually.

Management techniques such as Crop-Livestock Integration (ILP) allow the use of 5.1 million degraded hectares and allow for up to three harvests, two of grains or fibers and one of meat.