The rapid growth of soybean production and exports over the past five decades has transformed vast regions in South America. Five countries in particular - Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay - are amongst the ten largest soy producers in the world. Taken together, they have been called the United Republic of Soy or Soylandia due to similarities in the socio-environmental drivers and consequences of soy production between their territories. This article analyses the nature of soy production and exports in Soylandia as a window into the nature of transnational commodity frontiers. We draw on data from FAOSTAT and the Observatory of Economic Complexity to show how the commodity frontier of soy has expanded over time within and between these five countries, as well as the importance of ecoregions in shaping that expansion. We argue that more attention should be paid to the socio-environmental drivers and consequences of agricultural commodity frontiers that transcend traditional understandings of national borders.

Until the 1970s, the Brazilian Cerrado was considered an unsuitable agricultural territory. Logistic and infrastructural issues, combined with soil acidity, made the Cerrado a marginal biome for crop production. However, since the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) was created in 1973, the Cerrado has become a national and international hotspot for the food industry. Such a transformation turned this savannah biome into a landmark for the tropical expansion of commodity frontiers, especially in soy production. This research seeks to analyze data on the historical development of soy production volumes and productivity in the Cerrado, considering the complex interrelations between commodity frontier dynamics and its interface within different Brazilian biomes. Comparing data from the Cerrado and other biomes, our results indicate a rapid expansion of the soybean frontier in most Brazilian biogeographic regions. Moreover, it demonstrates how the growth of soy farming in the Brazilian Cerrado is also affecting other biomes such as the Amazon, influencing local and national policies of agrarian expansion and environmental conservation.