Pasture is a major driver of land-use change throughout Latin America. This is especially true in the Brazilian Amazon, where 70% of deforested land is under pasture. This paper examines the Brazilian Cattle Agreement (BCA), the world’s most ambitious effort to slow tropical deforestation associated with pasture expansion. This case study of the BCA is an important illustration of both the promise and limitations of value chain approaches to curbing tropical deforestation.