Brazil’s satellites did not detect anything alarming. Yet down on the ground, the trees were dying. Slowly but surely, a stretch of protected forest the size of New York City was drying out… When Brazilian authorities responded to anonymous complaints about the destruction last year, they found troves of empty herbicide containers… The land was owned by Claudecy Oliveira Lemes, a rancher who has supplied some of the world’s biggest meatpackers… What separates Mr. Lemes from the thousands of other loggers and ranchers who have razed stretches of the Amazon and other forests across Brazil is that he employed what the authorities say is a dangerous new technique: chemical deforestation. In other words, he used chemicals, instead of chain saws, to clear the forest.