The strong impact of the drought: they predict that exports will be lost for more than 20,000 million dollars

Due to the effects of drought and early frosts recorded in recent weeks, they estimate the country will lose more than $20 trillion in export revenue. This was reflected in a report by the agriculture field technical team of the Regional Agricultural Experimentation Consortia (CREA).

The report noted, in addition to the problems the estate is having with the lack of rainfall, that the early frosts of February 18 affected 1.90 million hectares, of which 37% were severely affected. In regards to, Gustave Martini, head of CREA’s Agriculture area, said that “an early frost at such an unusual time, in addition to production problems, will in some cases lead to grain quality problems, which will force, in such situations, to seek alternatives for commercialization in the fodder field”.

Due to the unfavorable climatic situation, CREA currently forecasts a total harvest of military 31.2 million tonnes, ie 38% less than during the previous season, and a contribution in foreign currency from exports which will experience a drop of 11,731 million USD. beside but, the harvest projection is 38.6 million tons, 30% less than in the previous cycle, and a currency drop of 5,198 million USD. And in the case of wheatCREA’s harvest was 12.1 million tons, a decrease of 37% and a decrease in foreign currency of 2,693 million dollars.

To all this is added the sunflower, with an expected harvest of 3.1 million tons, a decline of 12% compared to the previous season, and the drop in dollar revenues will reach 253 million USD. Finally, it was determined that the harvest of barley it was 3.1 million tonnes, down 32% year-on-year, and with a contribution from exports of USD 593 million less. With all the aforementioned crops, CREA forecasts a total harvest of 88.1 million tonnes, 34% year-on-year.

But the most impressive figure, because of the negative effect it will have on a local economy that is in dire need of agricultural dollars, is that linked to agro-industrial exports. In this regard, CREA predicts that due to drought and frost, the country will lose $20,468 million, a year-on-year decline of 34%.

Not only are drought and frosts complicating the current agricultural season, but they are also problems that affect all agricultural activities. In the case of cattle breeding, CREA’s work identified 2023 “as the worst year in terms of forage productivity since 2000, indicating that an event of this magnitude has not been recorded for more than two decades”. In this respect, it is planned for 2024 that the number of calves to be born in the country is in the range of 400,000 to 800,000 copies.

“In CREA companies, the impact of the climate catastrophe on pregnancies would not decrease significantly because the businessmen who make up the network have taken many precautions to anticipate the current scenario”, he commented. . Jose Lizzi, Head of the CREA Livestock division.

Finally, from CREA, they pointed out that in the case of the dairy companies work has been carried out with the aim of prioritizing cow comfort through pens and diets with higher components of external inputs and, therefore, also higher costs. “Given the fodder restriction, creativity was used to find viable solutions as far as possible, such as the replacement of inputs from soybeans with sunflower pellets, negotiations with neighboring establishments for the purchase of grain or rolls and a greater proportion of the manufacture of silo bags with respect to filling the silos to reduce losses and have better control over the projection of fodder stocks, “said the specialists of the entity.

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