Worst drought in 50 years devastates Argentine agriculture
Argentina’s beef industry and wheat and corn production have been devastated by the country’s most severe drought since 1961- a drought which has also affected agriculture in neighbouring Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil. REUTERS – Argentine rancher Gustavo Giailevra has seen 425 of his cattle, a quarter of his herd, die of thirst in the last year and now he watches helplessly as the survivors bellow for water at dry wells. Argentina’s beef industry and wheat and corn production have been devastated by the country’s most severe drought since 1961, which has also affected agriculture in neighboring Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil. … "The situation is terminal," Giailevra said, surveying the stinking cow carcasses on his ranch near the town of Tostado in Santa Fe province in northern Argentina. "We are in God’s hands. Our water reserves are gone." The drought has killed 300,000 head of cattle and caused at least $600 million in farm losses in Santa Fe. Authorities are trucking in water but it is not enough and producers are demanding longer-term solutions. … Cows can only live seven or eight days without water before their legs give out and they can no longer get up, said Lazaro Monges, the manager of another ranch in Tostado, which translates to "Toasted" in English. He has lost 350 head of cattle in eight months, leaving about 2,500, and says water supplies will only last a few more days. "More death is sure to come," said the mustachioed Monges, wearing a round, gaucho-style hat and multicolored waistband.
Argentina Corn Planting to Drop 26% to 2.38 Million Hectares
By Carlos Caminada
Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — Argentine corn planting will drop 26 percent for the coming harvest as a drought discourages growers from sowing the grain, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said.
Planting will drop to 2.38 million hectares (5.88 million acres), from 3.2 million hectares in the past season, the exchange said today in a statement. The exchange cut its outlook by 60,000 hectares from the previous week.
To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos Caminada in Sao Paulo at at ccaminada1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 16, 2009 13:36 EST
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