SDSU Ag Class 482 Students at the United States Embassy based in Argentina.
On the last day in Buenos Aires, (Friday, January 9th) we go the opportunity to visit the United States Embassy in Argentina, which was a privilege because we were the first group from SDSU to get to visit. We got to talk with the Foreign Agricultural Services (FAS), which is the international arm of the USDA. Their office in Argentina also covers Paraguay and Uruguay as well. Our professor Dr. Gordon had a contact at the Embassy and sent a request and fortunately our request was approved. They commented Argentina is one of three countries including USA and Brazil will provide the food to feed the world and the increasing food demands. Argentina alone is expected to be able to feed 400 million people.
With all the different crops Argentina produces, soybeans are king. They are the 3rd largest producer but are the largest exporter of soybean meal and oil. They are the 5th largest producer of corn and the 4th largest exporter. They only make up 2% of the entire world’s wheat production and the 7th largest exporter. Considering they have big export taxes and exports quotas this information was impressive. In the result of the export quotas there is a lack of fighting over the surplus export qualities so it keeps prices much lower for producers. So the quotas are something that could be looked at to eliminate or to soften up the restriction.
Beef is a big revenue producer in Argentina but they are
really limited for exportation. Only 5-10% of production is exported and EU is
the main market. Argentina has been shut off from exporting beef to the U.S. for 10 years due to Foot and Mouth Disease which was found in Argentina in 2003. There are 51.7 million head of beef cattle in Argentina and 80% of them are located in
the La Pampa area, (which is the area we visited), 85% of the beef
production comes from the La Pampa region.
Poultry has
been increasing in popularity, which has raised the demand. They have excellent sanitary conditions and have shown record highs in production, domestic
consumption and exports. Pork production is getting close to being to the level
to provide enough for internal demand which would then decrease their their imports of pork from
Brazil.
Some of their smaller production markets are fruits, citrus products,
and wine. Fruits including apples and pears are mostly located in the west and
mostly all exported. They are the largest producer of lemons in the world, this
production in located in the northern and east regions. Lastly they are known
for their delicious wine. The production happens in the Andes areas and 40% of
the production is exported to the United States.
The
relationship Argentina has with the U.S isn’t the strongest because we
only make up 4% of the exports. We don’t
have any formal trade agreements with them and we continue to have WTO cases
against each other over several products. We are however important partners in the Ag research areas,
including biotech and bio fuels.
There was very extensive security at the Embassy and several screenings and security check points we had to pass through before we even got to the meeting room for our visit and no photos were allowed inside or outside the building. We all had to be pre-screened several weeks ahead as well to be able to visit the Embassy.
This was a good final visit because
throughout the trip we had developed many questions as we gained more awareness of Argentina Agriculture. So it was a great opportunity to visit with the Embassy staff to get the direct facts and statistics of agriculture in Argentina and Uruguay and to help provide us with answers or
at least give us a better understanding on many of the issues impacting agriculture.
One question that had not been clearly answered was about Argentina’s currency situation. The international currency exchange is right around 8.45 pesos to 1 US dollar. On the streets of Buenos Aries there is what is known as a Blue Market and the exchange rate is up to 14 pesos to our 1 US dollar. This has a huge effect on importing and exporting goods and services into the country. This makes it rather difficult for the farmers and ranchers to have much of a secure market place. The current government of Argentina wants to keep the costs of food cheaper by not allowing foreign competition or to at least keep it limited and to generate government revenue. The low prices and high taxes make it very difficult for the farmers to do well. Farmers have had to adapt to different practices in agriculture to make ends meet.
One question that had not been clearly answered was about Argentina’s currency situation. The international currency exchange is right around 8.45 pesos to 1 US dollar. On the streets of Buenos Aries there is what is known as a Blue Market and the exchange rate is up to 14 pesos to our 1 US dollar. This has a huge effect on importing and exporting goods and services into the country. This makes it rather difficult for the farmers and ranchers to have much of a secure market place. The current government of Argentina wants to keep the costs of food cheaper by not allowing foreign competition or to at least keep it limited and to generate government revenue. The low prices and high taxes make it very difficult for the farmers to do well. Farmers have had to adapt to different practices in agriculture to make ends meet.
We had a very warm welcome at the Embassy and it was nice to be able to openly ask questions.
Written by Riley Canham and Josh Terveen
Although we were not allowed take photos during our visit due to security reasons, our hosts at the Embassy were kind enough to allow us to take a group photo and send it to us. We appreciate their cooperation on this so the students have this great memory.
Students and our Embassy hosts.
