Argentina has surplus harvest but farmers want more from President Milei
The Hindu
Argentina's farmers await tax cuts and exchange rate reforms as bumper harvests sit in overflowing silos.
In the pampas, Argentina's vast and fertile grasslands outside Buenos Aires, grain silos overflow with this year's harvest — but nobody is selling just yet.
Though the country's farmers largely gave their votes to President Javier Milei in the November election, they now want him to deliver on promises to slash taxes and ease exchange rate controls.
Until then, their bumper harvest will sit.
"The silos are full. One sells just enough to cover expenses," Ricardo Semino, a farmer from Lobos, 110 kilometres (68 miles) southwest of Buenos Aires, told AFP as he finished harvesting his corn and wheat fields.
"Those who can wait, do so."
After the country's worst drought in a century saw agricultural exports plummet, leading to a shortfall of $20 billion in revenue, the industry is expecting an excellent harvest in 2024.
The latest estimate from the Rosario Board of Trade indicates that the grain harvest could yield 131.1 million tons, a sharp rise from the 82.2 million tons gathered in the previous year.