A bitter postcard brought by the drought: cows weakened by the lack of grass and water/ap
PA
In a field in the province of Santa Fe, a dead calf lies a few meters from a cow that collapsed a few days before from starvation. The silence that surrounds them is broken by the insistent bleating of several helpless youngsters. “It’s because their mother died,” explains farmer Gustavo Giailevra, resignedly pointing out to the animals that in a few days they will also perish due to lack of water and fodder.
Its 1,370-hectare farm and livestock farm, located near the town of Tostado, is suffering the effects of a drought that in recent months has killed more than 300 animals.
Not far away, his son Pablo Giailevra was next to the body of a dead Braford breed insemination specimen next to a water tank that should be much more full at this time of the year. “He died two days ago; (the animals) come to the watering holes; they collide, they run over each other to drink what little water there is, they fall and don’t stop anymore,” lamented the 40-year-old man. Foxes, pumas and wild boars also come to the tank to drink because they can’t find where to hydrate.
Thousands of dead cows, withered soybean and corn crops and fires that threaten the fields of the richest agricultural zone in Argentina are the effects of a drought that has lasted for three years due to the effect of the La Niña weather phenomenon and has caused million-dollar financial losses.
risks
As of January 10, more than 50% of the Argentine territory suffers different degrees of drought and some 26 million head of cattle -of the more than 54 million that make up the national treasury- are at risk due to the lack of grass and water in several regions, indicated a report from the Livestock Market of the Rosario Stock Exchange.
In the Giailevra farm, specialized in raising calves that are sold to the rest of the country, the rains were expected in mid-September and, four months later, they have not arrived. All the water stored in boreholes and dams was running out, and bringing a tanker truck doesn’t seem like the solution, given the cost (about $1,500) and the fact that it runs out in a day.
They tried to take their ranch to graze and drink in other fields, but, they said, around 350 kilometers away “you don’t get a place” because they look just as damaged.
Hundreds of hectares of cotton and pastures are ruined by the drought and, paradoxically, the Paraná, one of the largest rivers in the country, stretches more than 100 kilometers away and could contribute to solving the problem.
In the Santa Fe department of 9 de Julio, of which Tostado is the head, of the 600,000 head of cattle, at least 400,000 suffer from lack of water, according to Jorge Mercau, president of the Rural Society of that town.
In the north of the province of Santa Fe, the lack of rain has so far resulted in the death of at least 3,000 cows, indicated the provincial authorities.
Santa Fe and the bordering provinces of Entre Ríos and Córdoba concentrate some 10 million animals in areas affected by the lack of rain and a similar figure is found in Buenos Aires, said the Livestock Market report.
The productive damage is inevitable, with damages that will be pondered as the cattle ranch reaches the market, the study delimited.
Red numbers
The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange has estimated a reduction in the grain harvest in the country -such as soybeans, sunflowers and wheat-, outlining two possible scenarios depending on the degree of drought, which will cause losses of between 11,000 million and 15,700 million of dollars.
The same entity projected a decrease in the value of exports of between 9,226 million and 14,115 million dollars and, consequently, a drop in State tax collection of up to 4,739 million dollars.
The risk of drought reached 175 million hectares during December, with an increase of 10 million hectares compared to the previous month, according to a report from the National Directorate of Agricultural Risk and Emergency, which indicated that the 2020-2022 triennium is the most dry registered in the country.
Another consequence of the lack of rain, high temperatures and lack of humidity are recurring fires.
