23-May-2003 -- During a field mission on the expansion of soy bean in northern Mato Grosso I took the opportunity to visit a confluence relatively close to the main road. Together with Harri Muller, environment specialist at the Lucas do Rio Verde municipality, I went to the confluence spot using my GPS and his detailed map of the region. The confluence is not, surprizingly, in a soy bean field, the dominant feature of the region (huge flat fields belonging to properties averaging 1.000 ha), but in a pasture, as it is situated in one of the few "small" properties (200 ha) in the region. Photographs # 1 to #4 show the confluence, #5 and #6 Harri Muller. My collegue François Michel Le Tourneau visited another confluence furtehr north.