Plenty of sugar mills, which often grow part of the cane they process, have realized they cannot fight the soy boom and decided to plant their own soybeans as part of a crop rotation strategy.
Cane fields typically need to be replanted after five or six years, and mills are using the renovation window to produce soybeans.
"In the past, those areas subject to renovation would be left fallow until the following year," said Victor Campanelli, who has exploited the niche.
His firm, Agro Pastoril Paschoal Campanelli, manages the planning, inputs and equipment for sugar mills' one-off soy crops, sharing in the profits.
While the grains bonanza has many farmers flush with cash, some are wary about relying so much on one crop and one massive importer.
"This Chinese demand has attracted all the farmers," said Marcos Cesar Brunozzi, who switched part of his land from sugar to grains in the state of Minas Gerais. "I hope the whole situation doesn't change suddenly, because we are betting big."
Lopes has no regrets about tearing up his cane fields.
Last year, his sugarcane yielded a net profit of 480 reais per hectare - compared to 2,600 reais per hectare for his soy fields.
"I know it won't always be that way," he said. "But still, it's a huge difference."
