The Brazilian Supreme Court Makes Way for the ‘Grain Train’
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- The project is supported in large part by major soy traders, including the American grain giant Cargill.
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May 22, 2026 Share This Article Republish Trucks drive along the BR-163 highway through the Amazon rainforest in Pará, Brazil. Credit: Nelson Almeida/AFP via Getty Images Related Grasslands and Wetlands Are Being Gobbled Up By Agriculture, Mostly Livestock Protesters Target Cargill at One of the Company’s Major Amazonian Ports A Massive, Chinese-Backed Port in Peru Could Push the Amazon Rainforest Over the Edge Share This Article Republish Most Popular Wildfire Crews Race to Keep Fierce California Blaze From Former Nuclear Reactor Site What to Expect as El Niño Approaches EPA Claims ‘Overwhelming Rejection’ of EVs as It Moves to Loosen Air Pollution Rules A nearly 600-mile railway that would cut through the heart of the Amazon rainforest got one step closer to reality Thursday when the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that a national park could be resized to accommodate its passage.
If approved, the Ferrogrão, or “grain train,” would run alongside a notoriously clogged and troubled road known as the “soy highway” that carries soybeans and corn from massive plantations to riverways in the Amazon basin—and from there to livestock feedlots across the world.
The project is supported in large part by major soy traders, including the American grain giant Cargill. Cargill and the Brazilian developers argue the railway is essential for economic growth in the region and is part of a broader effort in the northern Amazon to improve infrastructure and facilitate grain exports.