With World Facing a Wheat Shortage, Argentina Farmers Struggle

搜索

复制

Dry weather, increasing fertilizer costs, and concerns over export rules are pushing farmers in Argentina to plant less wheat.

They might plant more soybeans instead.

That is causing worries in world markets because the South American nation is the world's number six exporter of wheat.

Argentina's production is even more important because of the worldwide wheat shortage¹. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has greatly increased wheat prices. The two countries are among the world's top wheat producers.

Juan Francisco Arregui is an Argentinian farmer. He told Reuters, "The season for wheat is complicated." His fields have not received rainfall in two months. He said the crop needs rain to arrive soon, but weather predictions are not promising².

While there was enough water to plant the seeds, "there is not much left," he said. He added, "It means that the wheat crop is not sure by any means. We can get it started, but then we are waiting for rain."

Argentina had a record wheat harvest of 22.4 million metric tons in the season that ended. Suppliers were hoping the country could replace the grain lost because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But now, both of Argentina's main grains exchanges, Buenos Aires and Rosario, have cut wheat planting predictions. And they are warning of more cuts if the weather does not improve.

Cristian Russo is the head agronomist³ at the Rosario grains exchange. Its highest estimate of the next harvest is 18.5 million metric tons. Russo said, "Today anything that goes wrong with wheat is more important and means greater losses."

The exchange has warned about the worst wheat planting conditions in 12 years. It says planting of the grain is at 65 percent because of the dry conditions. Many fields could be left unplanted.

Fertilizer and politics

The Russia-Ukraine fighting has also greatly increased fertilizer prices. Russia is a major supplier. The loss of Russian fertilizer has hit farmers from the United States to South America.

Arregui said this season he paid $1,600 per metric ton for phosphate fertilizer. That is more than double the $700 he paid a year ago. Another fertilizer, called urea, doubled to $1,100 per metric ton. That pushed him away from planting wheat to planting soy, which requires a lower investment.

Concerns over government intervention⁴ also weigh on farmers' minds. Officials in Argentina are trying to control national inflation⁵ which is at about 60 percent. The government has kept a lower cap on wheat exports than last year. It has raised export taxes on the products soymeal and oil, and has threatened higher taxes for wheat. But Reuters news service reports that there is not enough support in congress for that step.

Wheat exports for the 2022 to 2023 growing cycle are currently⁶ capped at 10 million metric tons, from 14.5 million metric tons a year earlier. That limit could be raised later however.

Arregui said, "Here you go to bed on a Sunday and on a Monday you don't know what news you're going to find." He was commenting on the changes in government policy.

He added, "Every day they are making decisions that indirectly⁷ affect what you do and it's a terrible uncertainty⁸, you can't plan anything. It really costs you a lot every day."

Words in This Story

complicated – adj. hard to understand, explain, or deal with

agronomy⁹ – n. a science that deals with the methods used by farmers to raise crops and care for the soil

cap – v. to put an upper limit on (something)

cycle – n. a repeating series of events or actions

uncertainty – n. something that is doubtful or unknown

1 shortage   

n.缺少，缺乏，不足

参考例句：

• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。
• The heart of the problem is a shortage of funds.问题的关键是缺乏经费。

2 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

3 agronomist   

n.农学家

参考例句：

• The agronomist suggested growing rice on the dried river bed.那位农学家建议在干涸的河床上种水稻。
• She has elected to become an agronomist.她决心做一个农学家。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

6 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

7 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

8 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

9 agronomy   

n.农业经济学

参考例句：

• The science of agronomy helps farmers obtain larger and better crops.农业经济学帮助农民获得更多更好的农作物。
• Heavy agronomy clique and Si Mi order of believe in nature.重农学派和斯密都信奉自然秩序。