The Agricultural Industry
of Argentina
Tom Loynachan
January 28, 2009
Outline
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Location
Natural resources
Climate
Soils
Crops
Livestock
Summary
Most of South
America lies east of
the USA.
Buenos Aires 2
hours ahead of
Washington, DC
(Standard Time)
Argentina ca. 3/10th
size of US; size of
US east of
Mississippi River
N-S length = 2,270 miles
E-W wide = 890 miles
Latitude
Buenos Aires = 34.2 S
Oklahoma City = 35.5 N
Ames = 42.0 N
Longitude
Buenos Aires = 58.2 W
Ames = 93.6 W
Miami = 80.2 W
Total Land Area
• 274 million ha
– 142 permanent pasture
– 27 under arable crops
– 1 permanent crops (such as critus)
– 1.6 irrigated
2nd largest country in South
America (after Brazil); 8th largest
country in the world.
Natural Resources of Argentina
• Fertile plains of the Pampas, lead, zinc,
tin, copper, iron ore, manganese,
petroleum, uranium.
Three Large Regions
• Humid: 68 million ha (25%)
• Semi-arid: 48 million ha (15%), irrigation is
often necessary
• Arid: 170 million ha (60%), little agricultural
activity
Pampas
• Grass-covered plains (Pampas comes
from an Indian word for level plain)
• Pampas includes the three most important
provinces of the country, Buenos Aires,
Cordoba, and Santa Fe. The annual
rainfall varies from 800 mm in the west to
1000 mm in the east (Ames 815 mm).
Iowa
ave.
rainfall
26-34
Iowa annual mean
temperature 46 N,
52 S
Annual Mean Temp
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
Much of Argentina is
remarkably flat, about
2/3th of the land mass is
less than 500 m
above sea level.
Argentina Soils
• Soil formation is influence by:
– Parent material
– Climate
– Topography
– Biological activity
– Time
8 soil orders: Mollisols,
Entisols, Aridisols, and
Alfisols makes up 80%
Mollisols = 871,569 km2:
(31%)
Agriculture in Argentina
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Soybeans
Wheat
Corn
Sunflower
Oats
Cotton
Sorghum
Rye
Sugar cane
Grapes
Mate
Citrus (esp. lemons)
Tobacco
Peanuts
Rice
Livestock
Overview
• An estimated 27,200,000 hectares
(67,200,000 acres) of arable and
permanent cropland (#12 world-wide)
(10% of country) (Iowa 14.6M ha)
• Agriculture and animal husbandry have
traditionally supplied the nation with 70–
95% of its export earnings
Agriculture in Argentina
• Second largest world exporter of maize
• Third largest world exporter of soybeans
(have increased almost three-fold since
1990)
• Third largest world exporter of beef
• Fourth largest world exporter of wheat
Land Area In (2004):
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Soybean - #3 (14,000,000 ha) (35M acres)
Wheat - #10 (5,700,000 ha)
Corn - #10 (2,300,000 ha)
Sunflower - #4 (1,830,000 ha)
Cotton - #14 (250,000 ha)
Peanut - #16 (170,000 ha)
1 ha = 2.47 acres
Yields (2004)
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Corn 6.52 MT/ha (US 8.93)*
Cotton 449 kg/ha (US 818)
Peanut 2.51 MT/ha (US 3.54)
Soybean 2.36 MT/ha (US 2.28)*
Sunflower 1.77 MT/ha (US 1.36)
Wheat (2.46 MT/ha) (US 2.97)
*1 MT/ha = 15.93 bu/ac corn
= 14.87 bu/ac soybean
Fruit Production
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Apples
Oranges
Lemons and limes
Peaches and nectarines
Grapefruit
Bananas
Grapes (1999 = 4.5% of world’s total wine
production)
Pronounced
‘yerba mahtay’
Yerba Mate
Native to subtropical South America
including northern Argentina
Alkaloids
similar to
caffeine
Steep dry leaves
and stems in hot
water
Yerba Mate Soda
Approx. Livestock Numbers
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Poultry
Beef
Dairy
Sheep
Swine
Goats
900,000,000
50,800,000
13,000,000
12,500,000
6,100,000
4,200,000
Cattle ranching has been a main economic base for the
residents of the Pampas for over 200 years, the main
cattle producing area.
Traditionally raised on grass
but going more to grainfed
during last 2-3 months b/c of
higher value of crops; 2008
(30%).
In 2005 Argentina
was the third
largest exporter of
beef after Brazil
and Australia.
British breeds Hereford
and Angus common; some
Charolais.
Holstein are the common dairy animals.
Asado is a technique for cooking cuts of meat, usually
consisting of beef alongside various other meats, which are
cooked on a grill or open fire.
Cattle Production
Province % of share
Buenos Aires 37
Cordoba
15
Santa Fe
11
Corrientes
8
Entre Rios
7
La Pampa
6
Exports from Argentina should be ca.
500,000 tons for 2009, the volume,
however, will depend on government
policy. A main market is frozen beef to
the Russian Federation.
Sheep Breeds
Corriedale
Merino
Romney
Summary
• Huge diversity in Argentina but our visited
location may seem somewhat similar to
Iowa in landscape, soils, crops, livestock,
and climate
• Major exporter of soybeans, corn, beef,
and wheat
• Be sure to try the Asado
Questions?