Argentine farmers slammed by worst drought in years
Modal Trigger PERGAMINO, Argentina — Jorge Josifovich is silent and downcast as he walks under the pounding sun in one of Argentina’s most fertile agricultural regions, staring at soy crops parched by the country’s worst drought in years.
The drought, which began in November, has caused big losses, reduced expectations of economic growth and raised concerns among farmers, government officials and experts in the world’s third-largest exporter of soybean and corn.
“It’s dramatic,” said Josifovich, a farmer and agricultural engineer who provides advice to growers.
He picked up soy seeds from a plant that stands at about half its normal height.
While Macri struggles to reduce the country’s high fiscal deficit and tame inflation, Argentines continue to lose purchasing power and many are growing increasingly frustrated with rises in fuel and transportation costs.
The value of grain exports this year could be cut by up to $3.4 billion as a result of the drought, according to recent estimates by the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange.
That translates into an estimated $1.1 billion in losses.
“This is directly hitting our pockets,” Alejandro Calderon, president of the farming group Rural Society of Pergamino, said as he inspected soy plants with Josifovich at a field about 140 miles northwest of Argentina’s capital.
Corn is expected to come in at 32 million metric tons, a 22 percent drop from expectations earlier in the season.
“We have a business that is out in the open air and we depend on weather,” Josifovich said.