Argentina declares farm emergency amid worst drought since 1930s
By DEBORA REY, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s president declared an agricultural emergency Monday in the nation’s breadbasket provinces, responding to a key demand by powerful farm organizations amid the worst drought in decades. Cristina Fernandez told political and business leaders in a televised press conference that the decree will exempt thousands of farmers from paying various taxes for one year to help them confront what analysts estimate will be $5 billion in losses this year. Argentina’s farming provinces, including Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Entre Rios, Cordoba, La Pampa, Chaco and Santiago del Estero, have been hit by the worst drought since at least 1971, according to the National Weather Service. In some areas, officials say it is the worst drought since the 1930s. Winds across the pampas are whipping up once-fertile soil that has turned to sand, quickly covering hundreds of parched cow carcasses piling up on barren swaths of land.