Worst Drought In Nearly 50 Years Devastating Argentina's Beef, Wheat, Corn Farmers

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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 crisis is compounded by the world economic slowdown, which is cutting demand for farm products and draining state finances just as ranchers look to the government for help.

"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. The drought has renewed tensions between the central government and farmers, who are resentful after a deep conflict last year over export taxes that froze grains trade for weeks and turned into a major political crisis for center-left President Cristina Fernandez. In a sign that frustrations are mounting again, farmers blocked a main highway in southern Santa Fe on Thursday to protest Fernandez's agricultural policies.

EDIT

http://www.france24.com/en/20090116-worst-drought-1961-devastates-agriculture-argentina-cattle-beef