Livestock and Animal Production: An Argentine Crisis Characterized by Restructuring and the Displacement of Small Producers

Livestock and Animal Production: An Argentine Crisis Characterized by Restructuring and the Displacement of Small Producers Argentina's livestock sector is experiencing a serious crisis: costs are rising, exports are declining, and thousands of small producers are on the verge of collapse. Trade liberalization, the opening of imports, and government disengagement from the production system have deepened a crisis that has affected all of Argentina's livestock industry over the past two years. A deeper process lies behind the figures indicating year-on-year increases in livestock value and decreases in export volumes: the systematic relocation of thousands of small and medium-sized producers who supply the domestic market. Since 2004, the region, particularly the 9 de Julio department, has alternated between severe droughts and prolonged floods with no possibility of recovery. Water crisis in northern Santa Fe. “There were years when we didn't have water for the animals. Now the springs are so mineralized that the cattle can't drink from them.”