Fruit farming in Chile is depending too much on cherries
Juan Bahillo, secretary of agriculture of Argentina, denied that the country has suspended beef exports, after a government source informed that shipments would be suspended for 15 days to negotiate prices with slaughterhouses. “We are negotiating meat prices for the domestic market and there are no suspensions on meat exports…”, said Bahillo. Meat prices had a strong increase because of inflation, that reached 116% per year until June of 2023. (Department of Agriculture)
Javier Milei won the primary elections for the presidency, with 30.04% of the votes. Milei proposes to close the Central Bank and adopt the dollar as Argentina’s official currency. “We are promoting a banking system and a monetary reform that will ultimately lead to the demise of the Central Bank, allowing Argentines to choose their own currencies and escape the currency established by politicians,” said the candidate. Regarding agribusiness, Milei says that he wants to “reinstitute Argentina’s role as the world’s breadbasket” and that it is “essential to move forward in exchange rate unification and eliminate retenciones [taxes on exports]”. (Rural Society of Rosario)
National leader of the Landless Workers Movement, João Pedro Stédile, said that the invasion of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation – Embrapa in the State of Pernambuco was a mistake. The occupations took place in April and July at the Embrapa Semiarid unit. “They entered Embrapa to call the attention of public opinion and they succeeded”, said Stédile on August 15th, in his testimony before the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry of the Lower House of the National Congress (Chamber of Deputies). (Agência Câmara de Notícias)
Price of finished cattle continues to fall. The average price ratio of the arroba (Brazilian unit equivalent to 15kg or 33lb) of finished cattle compared to the soybean bag was 1.60 until August 15th, the lowest value of 2023 and the lowest since November 2022. (Cepea)
Foreign Trade Chamber raised from 12% to 18% the import tariff on processed cheeses from countries that are not part of Mercosur. (Camex)
SLC Agrícola recorded a net income of US$ 70.19 million in the 2Q of 2023, a reduction of 28.2% compared to the same period of last year, according to Ivo Brum, director of finance and investor relations. (SLC Agrícola)
Brazilian exports of Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) reached 505,000 bags, an increase of 119% in the monthly comparison and 245% in the annual comparison, according to the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council. (Cecafé)
Mato Grosso State Agricultural Defense Institute seized 1,978 seedlings that were being transported for sale without proper origin certification during the 1H of 2023. There were eight cases recorded in flagrante delicto in the municipalities of the State. The itinerant sale of seeds, seedlings and plants has been prohibited in the State of Mato Grosso since 2010. (Indea)
“Fruit farming in Chile is depending too much on cherries and that is not good,” according to the former minister of agriculture and president of the National Society of Agriculture, Antonio Walker. According to Walker, it is necessary to expand the number of markets to which Chile has access. “The big dream is to do in India what we did in China”, said Walker, who considers that the almost exclusive dependence on Chinese demand must be avoided. (SNA)
President-elect of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, took office on August 15th and confirmed senator Carlos Giménez as the new minister of agriculture and livestock. (Government of Paraguay)
Blueberry production is expected to decrease between 10% and 15% because of climate change, according to Luis Vega, general manager of the Peruvian Association of Blueberry Farmers and Exporters. Vega said high temperatures are delaying flowering, especially in the case of the most climate-sensitive varieties, and that this should speed up the changes in the choice of varieties by Peruvian farmers. (Proarándanos)
Almost 40 million kg of wool not sold are stored in Uruguay, from approximately 12 million shorn sheep, according to the minister of agriculture, Fernando Mattos. The situation stems from the low international demand for medium and thick wool. According to the minister, the government plans to “talk to China, India and Turkey and any country where we can allocate this stock that is excessively burdensome to farmers”. Mattos said that in November the president of Uruguay, Lacalle Pou, should visit China and discuss the matter. (Ministry of Agriculture)
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