The Central Bank has tightened conditions for the purchase of foreign currency, to prevent hoarding, preserve reserves and discourage demand for US dollars.

On Tuesday 15, the president of the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) announced a host of new measures , including a 35% tax on dollar purchases by retail savers, which will apply on top of the previous 30% so-called ‘solidarity tax.’ The extra levy will also affect credit card purchases in dollars. The monthly cap amount of USD 200 per citizen to buy foreign currencies, put in place by Macri’s administration, remains still in place.

As mentioned in the Article from La Nacion dated 15/09/20, if you spend USD 1,000 with your credit card, you will not be able to buy the monthly USD quota during 5 months. Should you have a TV or music subscription, this amount will be decreased from your cap amount (assuming a USD 20/month for a subscription, you will be able to purchase after all taxation USD 130).

This measure seeks to reduce the gap between the official exchange rate and the black market, which has soared to more than 70%. Today, the black market is at ARS 133 per USD and it raises the question of which rate to expect in near future…Argentines have been buying dollars at a record pace as the peso loses value almost every day, pushed by some anti-business government decisions, an economy in free fall due to the pandemic and lack of saving options.

Maintenance work of the river El Dorado has started after having been delayed due to circulation restrictions. Earlier in February, our farm was affected by torrential rains and we notice so as our neighbours that water was unusually slow to evacuate as the problem was emphasised by the illegal internal protection walls build by some farmers upper the river which affected and changed water course.

Therefore, with the support of local autorities, our  objective is to redirect the course of the river and to clean the channel (digging more deeply and making it wider) to allow the river flow and thus avoid water entering in the farm. Once this first stage will be reached, we will have to drain some plots where water is still steady.

In the afternoon of August 25, a fire has again started along the national road N°118 ,which borders Tata Cua forest, in our other neighbour’s farm called Vacca Moretti. Unfortunately, the departure of this fire could not be detected fast enough by our neighbor and the fire quickly spread to our forest, pushed by hot air (34°C registered on this day) and wind.

The fire reached then plots of our forest planted with eucalyptus. The youngest eucalyptus trees have exacerbated the fire. Their sap is flammable, and so is their bark, which flies off when burned, igniting new fires in the pine trees sections of our forest.

Firefighters’ and our farm personal were fighting against the fire during 48 hours, non stop, to contain it. As a result, 630 ha of our tree plantation were affected in various stages. Some equipments have burned like our solar water pump and a lot of fences. Luckily, nobody was injured and thanks to the efforts of the staff, the fire could be contained before reaching silage storage facilities and cattle area.

Preliminary investigations and evidence indicate that the origin of the fires is most likely accidental (discarded cigarette end). We have started to evacuate the spoils and replace destroyed fences.

Pine trees plantations, which account for 77% of the area affected, seem to have been the most resilient to flame as their thick bark does not catch fire or burn easily. It also protects the inside of the trunk, the living tissues that transport water and nutrients, from heat damage. Pine trees also drop lower branches as the trees grow older, which helps prevent fire from climbing up and burning the green needles higher up the tree. Eucalyptus and pine trees utilize also tall crowns in order to keep flammable leaves and dead branches high from the ground and away from fire.

Fire can destroy the cambium (tissue between the wood and the bark that actually grows to form wood in trees) over a part of the tree trunk surface without necessarily killing the tree. The consequences for the tree are then proportional to the height of the charred trunk. Furthermore, both species of our trees affected have a high capacity to regenerate.

We are going to analyse each woodlot with our forest experts to valuate the damage to the trees and actions to be undertaken. We will have to treat the trees against parasites attacks, which rapidly colonize the area covered by the fire, as well as against root pathogens as fire favored them.

source: NASA FIRMS

Wind, drought, high temperatures, an explosive combo: This fire was not an isolate event as 300 others have occurred in our close area (Article from El Litoral dated 11/08/20) and from a national perspective, 11 provinces are currently hit by fires and so far over 120,000 hectares on farmland have burned (Article from Infobae dated 26/08/20).

Situation/weather: As previously indicated, we are concerned about the drought situation we are facing in Corrientes province. We still haven’t recorded any rain and continue to suffer from wide daily fluctuation in temperature with hot extremes (8° C in the morning vs 34°C in the afternoon). According to weather expert, we will face this year “La Niña” climatic phenomenon with its peak in November. This climatic phenomenon is characterized in our region by a heat waves and dry weather. September should be like August and we might only get some rains in October.

Cattle operation and pastures: We have currently above 6,400 heads at the farm. Heat stress can strongly impact the animals at various levels (well-being, production, diet, fertility, etc.). To management this stress, we are adjusting food supply (silage, completed with corn and pellets). Grassing area has reducing given the lack of water and OAT, sowed earlier this year, is also emerging hardly. For Ray-grass, we are in the 1^st grassing stage.

In addition, we are also making sure that the herd has sufficient watering. To regulate its temperature, a cow will increase her breathing rate and sweat a lot. A cow loses 15 to 20 liters of perspiration in winter and above 40 liters by hot temperatures. Cattle daily water needs is equivalent to 8- 10% of their live weight. In average, 50 litres per day but by hot temperatures, they will need above 70 litres per day. Therefore, we should not only take into account availability of pastures but also water.

To address those needs, we have dense infrastructures at the farm: a big natural lagoon, the river Santa Lucia as the riverside is completely clean so that the cattle can go down, drink water, and come back to the plots. We have several drinking troughs all over the farms with pipes connections from main or secondary tanks to those drinking troughs.

We have also water rain collectors such as little lagoons (tajamares or bañados in low lands) and 2 Australian tanks (each with a 400,000 litres capacity) powered by a solar powered pump delivering 30,000 liters of water in 8 hours. We operate 10 wells and transportable water tanks with a capacity of 30,000 liters. For now, all animals are in good shape and we are applying a close control protocol. Here you can see 2 years old heifers which are going to be in service in October.

We recently faced an attempted cattle rustling. Thanks to the vigilance of the staff, it could be aborted and 2 among the 4 robbers have been arrested. All the Province is facing a boom in cattle rustling as the argentine situation is worsening (Article of La Nacion dated 19/08/20). We have emphases our controls so as mutual assistance between neighbors in this area.

On Monday 10, 2 forest fires were triggered overnight along the road N°118 which borders Tata Cua forest and our neighbours’ forest called Ana Cua. You can see on the picture, the fire affecting Ana Cua forest.

Fortunately, our trees were not affected. Our local manager, Ricardo Borda, with the support of all the team there reacted immediately to control it and save as much as possible of wire fences. Our people also provided assistance to our neighbor to prevent the spread of fire to our forest.

The current period is favorable for forest fires, because the combined effects of drought and low water content of plants are added to the traffic of the national road. The origin of the fires is most likely accidental (discarded cigarette end).

We could avoid the worst as bordering roads have been cleaned to prevent fast-spreading fires and thanks to the quick reaction of all the team. Nobody was injured and our insurance should cover the damage caused.

Situation/weather: While Government extends lockdown in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (AMBA) until August 16 and prohibits all social gatherings in Argentina for the next 15 days, more flexible measures have been applied in most of Argentina’s 23 provinces. The AMBA region is concentrating 90% of all cases of covid-19. However, movement restrictions are still prohibited between provinces for non essential services which are creating troubles for them. For us, advisors or providers like vets cannot visit all our farms as they are located in different provinces.

In addition, weather is not help us and we are concerned about drought situation we are facing at the farm. No rain occurs and wide daily fluctuation in temperature are registered (8° C in the morning vs 29 to 34°C in the afternoon) which affects re-growing of pastures. In some part of Santa Lucia River, we register only 20 cm of water, and its winter/raining period…

Cattle operation and pasture program: We have currently above 6,400 heads at the farm. Given the weather conditions we are facing, the cattle is overall in good shape.Cattle video

We are just starting 1^st grassing on ray-grass sowed in May. The pasture is missing rains.

Here you can see OAT emerging sowed earlier this year (same status as ray-grass) as well as heifers 2 years which will start service in October/November.

We also installed a new solar water pump at one of our water tank.

Argentina’s government announced on Tuesday 4 it had reached an agreement with its principle creditors to restructure more than $65 billion in foreign debt following seven months of negotiations and shifting deadlines.

The deal with key creditors like BlackRock Inc, Ashmore Group Plc, and Fidelity Investments would provide “significant debt relief” by adjusting the dates of payments without raising the total amount of capital and interest to be paid. The government of Mr Fernández didn’t provide a net-present value for the agreement, but sources close to the case are saying the deal is worth about 54.8 cents on the dollar. Argentina’s last offer was worth 53.5 cents per dollar while creditors request 56.5.

President Fernández must now turn his attention toward the I.M.F. as the country looks to resolve issues with its senior creditor and replace the failed financing arrangement signed under Macri’s administration in 2018. He must also focus on reigniting an economy that has been shuttered for months, and sparking growth as the country braces for one of its sharpest economic contractions on record (13.5% decline in gross domestic product according to Bank of America forecast).

We are currently performing some clearing activities of pine trees (culling and thinning).

This work allows, in a very dense stand produced from seedlings, to remove a certain number of “young plants” or wild re-growing plants, to promote the growth of futures crop trees.

In general, the first clearing is done in the third or fourth years after planting and the second clearing is carried out between the fifth and the seventh year. Our 750 ha forest is planted with pine trees, eucalyptus and grevillea trees.

Three groups of creditors have announced on Monday 21 that they have rejected Argentina’s proposal to restructure $65 billion of debt and delivered a counter offer to government – which President Alberto Fernández promptly dismisses out of hand. “We have made a possible offer and it is impossible for us to move from this last effort, which is a very, very big effort,” said President Fermandez in a statement delivered on TV Pública.

Argentina’s last offer was worth 53.5 cents per dollar, a significant improvement on its original starting position of 39 cents. Having originally proposed a 3 year grace period, the offer reduced that to 1 year, with repayments beginning in September 2021.

Creditors’ groups, however, dismissed the idea that there wasn’t more room for negotiation. “Argentina’s offer is short of what the creditor groups can accept,” they said in a statement, adding that they would not meet the government’s August 4 deadline to find an agreement. To be continued …

President Fernandez has announced a further extension of debt negotiations deadline until August 4.  It’s now the fifth extension but Argentina needs to reach an acceptable compromise to restructure more than $65 billion of debt. The country is already in technical default since May 22 after failing to make its $500 million interest payments due. According to local news, it seems that 2 groups of creditors are whiling to accept the latest offer made.

Meanwhile, the country seems to reach the peak of the pandemic: 75 deaths have been registered on the single day of July 6 and 2,632 new cases declared. More than 80,000 people have now been infected with Covid-19 in Argentina. Over 90% of all confirmed cases are in Buenos Aires metropolitan area where around 14 million people live. Restrictions have been enhanced again like access to Buenos Aires city, public transportation, etc.

Latest news: President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been declared positive to covid-19 on July 7. Since the beginning of the pandemic, he minimizes illness and participates in several public events without wearing a mask. He was strongly criticizing isolation measures implemented in several states to reduce the risk of disease spread. He said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus, and that it would be nothing more than a “little flu” were he to contract it. He might change his position now.