For decades, agricultural expansion in Southern Amazonia has relied on deforestation to increase the national and global supplies of cattle and soybean products. Research on the use of land and water for increasing the region’s pasture and cropland outputs has provided important insight into the role of producers in managing these resources. However, the roles of other actors on cattle and soybean production systems (e.g. traders) have been less apparent. For instance, some private initiatives, such as the Cattle Agreement or the Soybean Moratorium, have been proposed to curb deforestation through the cattle and soybean supply chains as a means to influence the production process. Here, we highlight the role of producers and consumers in the use of land and water resources for agricultural production in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, by combining field measurements and modelling with trade mapping. We use the Transparency for sustainable economies platform (Trase, https://trase.earth) to highlight the role of trade actors by combining high resolution trade information (e.g. custom declarations) with up-to-date deforestation and water scarcity maps. In 2015, up to five traders with zero deforestation commitments exported over 40% of soybean produced in the state of Mato Grosso. Within this context, producers can increase agricultural output by irrigating cropland, and/or concentrating cattle production on current pastureland, but this combined system has the potential to increase water scarcity in the dry season. Our analysis provides additional information on the drivers shaping the Brazilian agricultural frontier and attempts to bring producers and consumers closer together in agricultural supply chains.