Articles by Hugh Bronstein | Manitoba Co-operator

Argentine grains port workers request exports be suspended due to pandemic

COVID-19: The country has 502 confirmed cases and eight deaths

By Hugh Bronstein, Maximilian Heath April 6, 2020

A labour union representing Argentine grains port workers has asked the government to suspend exports, a move that would put upward pressure on world soy prices and hobble the country’s main source of revenue as it seeks to avoid default. The URGARA union, which represents inspectors who check the quality of grains before they are

Markets, News

Argentina’s main corn, soy areas getting adequate rains

By Hugh Bronstein February 13, 2020

Reuters – Rains have been ample in key parts of Argentina’s breadbasket province of Buenos Aires, but they have been uneven and raised concern about crop yields in some isolated areas, a grower and climatologist said Feb. 3. The South American grains powerhouse is a major source of corn and soybean exports and Argentina’s top

Markets, Oilseeds

Argentine farmers plant more soybeans

By Hugh Bronstein, Maximilian Heath December 4, 2019

Argentina’s government and the country’s main grains exchange increased their soy-planting estimates Nov. 21, as growers hedge against political uncertainty by shifting toward oilseeds, which are cheaper to grow, and away from more expensive corn. Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernandez, set to take office on Dec. 10, has said little about his farm policy plans. But

Social life revolves around weekend barbecues for Argentines, wealthy or poor.

Markets

Steak-crazy Argentines keep buying beef

A recession and run on their peso is  making the staple protein much more expensive

By Hugh Bronstein, Marina Lammertyn September 10, 2019

Times are hard in recession-hit Argentina and the peso currency’s latest crash has jolted food prices higher. But in a country where eating beef is considered more a right than a luxury, people are stretching their budgets to keep buying steak while butcher shops see profit margins shrink. Social life revolves around weekend barbecues for

Argentina's grain harvest is sure to boost the South American country's position in global markets.

Grain Markets, International news

Argentina set for bumper wheat crop

Other wheat-growing regions are facing weather woes

By Hugh Bronstein, Karl Plume August 15, 2019

Reuters – Argentine wheat farmers are preparing for a record harvest, even as global rivals see crop yield prospects cut amid floods in the United States, searing heat in Europe and drought in Australia and parts of Canada. The grain bounty in the world’s No. 6 wheat exporter will boost the South American country in

Argentina plans to export major amounts of soymeal to China in 2019

By GFM Network News, Hugh Bronstein August 3, 2018

Beunos Aires | Reuters – Argentina expects to export significant amounts of soymeal to China starting after the next harvest in May, a top agriculture ministry official said on Friday, as the South American grains powerhouse moves to take advantage of U.S.-China trade strife. Argentine officials were in Beijing on Friday finalizing the paperwork needed to ship

U.S. says farmers could get cash aid by Oct. but will not be made whole

By GFM Network News, Hugh Bronstein July 30, 2018

Buenos Aires | Reuters – U.S. farmers could receive cash payments from a planned $12 billion aid package as soon as late September, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told Reuters on July 28, warning that the program will not make tariff-hit farmers whole. Perdue said in an interview on the sidelines of the G20 meeting

Crops, Weather

Argentina’s soybean season ‘dead’

By GFM Network News, Hugh Bronstein March 12, 2018

Buenos Aires | Reuters — Hope has withered for any recovery in Argentine soy yields hit by a four-month drought that shows no signs of abating, farmers and analysts said Monday, prompting China to step in to fill the gap in soymeal exports from the world’s No. 1 supplier. The dryness that has blighted the

Argentina begins phasing in cuts to soybean export tax

By GFM Network News, Hugh Bronstein, Maximilian Heath January 2, 2018

Buenos Aires | Reuters – Argentina has cut its soybean export tax to 29.5 percent from a previous 30 percent, the first step in a plan to gradually reduce the levy to 18 percent over two years, the agriculture ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The plan will see the tax cut by one

Crops, Weather

Argentina declares flood emergency in six key farm provinces

By GFM Network News, Hugh Bronstein February 19, 2016

Buenos Aires | Reuters — Six of Argentina’s main farm provinces were declared flood emergency areas by the government on Friday, making special credit lines and tax breaks available to affected growers in the soy- and corn-exporting powerhouse. The resolution, announced in the government’s morning gazette, covers the provinces of Cordoba, Santa Fe, Entre Rios,

COVID concerns weigh on chicken farmers, processors

U.S. livestock: Live cattle down as slaughter recovers, beef prices sag

U.S. grains: Wheat falls as dollar bounces

GFM Network News