Argentina – Update on San Bartolo farm activities (July 2017).
Situation/weather: the farm is in very good condition and we have registered more rain then usually which is very good for the pasture we have replanted to enhance ultimately beef production as the unit is dedicated to fattening. Excluding rainfall distribution, our biggest challenge at the farm is the permanent control of the natural vegetation which is typical for the region of Salta (formerly a forest area with a subtropical highland climate).
You can see below a lot where no chemicals or machinery/manual clearing have been recently applied versus a controlled one.
As previously indicated, we are working in small-sized lots and increase on a ramp up basis the lots replanted with pasture and used for cattle fattening.
Cattle operation: we have currently over 3,500 heads of cattle at the farm, all in very good shape as you can see.
Weaning of baby calves will be done before year end closing, so that the beef production will be enhanced.
Our new farm manger, Juan who joined us after the previous manger of the farm has been promoted to Curupi Pora farm, has a strong experience in managing similar cattle units in Salta region.
Pro-actively, Juan and his team have repainted all outside of the facilities and re-commissioned old used equipments.
Argentina – Devaluation of peso halted on July 6, 2017 after record highs against the US dollar with an FX of 17,5 (July 2017).
The largest devaluation since President Mauricio Macri‘s administration lifted capital controls in 2015 came to a halt on July 6, 2017 after the intervention of state-supported and major private banks. For nine consecutive days the peso had climbed against the dollar, starting with an exchange rate of 16.11 pesos to the US dollar on June 26 to a pick of 17.50 pesos, until finally falling back to 17, 27 before the close of markets.
Argentina – Update on Curupi Pora farm activities (July 2017).
Situation/weather: as previously indicated, the farm has been affected by the recent heavy rains which caused flooding situation and damages in the province of Corrientes. Local authorities are putting in place a plan to help farmers affected by the floods and storms.
Cattle operation: the farm is now recovering and pretty well for our cattle herd (4,900 heads currently) thanks to the emergency measures taken by the COO of Campos, Mr Gustavo Listello and implemented very efficiently at the farm level by the entire team (management of pastures, land drainage, transfer of the baby calves to Salta in San Bartolo farm which limited the increase in death of this more sensitive category, etc).
Silage & pasture-fed cattle: Grass-fed beef not only is lower in overall fat and in saturated fat, but it has the added advantage of providing more omega-3 fats (about twice as many omega-3s as a grain-fed one). In addition, meat from pastured cattle is also up to four times higher in vitamin E than meat from pure feedlot cattle. The meat is also more mature and has a more pronounced taste than the one coming from intensive feedlots you can find for example in the US and only grain-fed. A combination of both may be optimal to produce beef.
Here also the ray grass sowed in March has been delayed in development due to the excess rain and floods registered earlier this year.
Corn silage : 229 ha have been sowed and harvest hasn’t start yet due the heavy rainfalls registered. Yield are also expected to be lower then forecasted (4,75 tons/ha planned). Rain by penetrating in the corn cobs while the plant was developing, damaged the grain as you can see on the pictures.
Water tank: the construction of the Australian water tank (400,000 liters of capacity) was delayed due to the climate vagaries registered. We will continue construction once the soil will be completely drained. Given all accumulated water and the season, the termination of this new water facility is not currently a priority.
Uruguay – Floods of the Uruguay River displace thousands and affects farming (June 2017).
Climate vagaries are now affecting Uruguay. Increasing levels of the Uruguay River and its tributaries due to heavy rains have forced around thousands to evacuate their homes in Argentina, in Brazil and now in Uruguay. Here, the north-west of the country has been badly affected.
For your reference, the river flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.
La Esperanza, our nearest farm which is located in Cerro largo department and bordering with the Rio Negro (a tributary of the Uruguay River), is currently affected by floods in the extensive cattle area where we intend to build a protection wall to prevent those events and release additional surface for crops and intensive cattle activities.
Excessive rain and the accompanying flooding are causing a variety of problems for crops activities (negative impact on yields, soil saturation, leach of nutrients, delays in harvesting and delivery, etc) as well as for cattle operation (animal stress, pasture contraction, increase in loss or death for the youngest categories mainly).
ARGENTINA – Climate vagaries have extended with heavy rains and storms in Corrientes region (May 2017)
From 05 to 25 April (20 days), Corrientes region was facing big storms and rains as you can see on the pictures. 570 mm of rainfall were registered for this month (200 mm for the single day of 25 April) versus an historical monthly average of 189 mm (315 mm were registered in April 2016 which was already a wet month).
Several roads were affected – here you can see impacts on road n°12 from Corrientes to Possadas. Electricity cuts occurred several times during the month.
No serious damages were reported so far for Curupi Pora farm and Tata Cue forest (access to the forest is complicated currently). However, we anticipate a contraction in the forecasted beef production of Curupi Pora farm due to animal stress and pasture contraction related to this weather event.
Weather forecasts for end of May so as for June are not encouraging – heavy rainfalls are, again, forecasted. This situation could create delays in silage harvesting (corn) use to supplement the herd in Curupi Pora farm .
Baby calves are the more sensitive category and need food supplementations given their morphology while awaiting to be to transferred to Salta in San Bartolo farm for fathering process (they need to be in good shape to withstand transport). If weather conditions do not permit silage harvest, we will be forced to purchase food supplementations which has a cost and we might register an increase in death of baby calves.