Agricultural sector monitor | December 2020

How the agricultural sector fared in 2020 for grains, dairy, and meat, amidst drought and the suspension of corn exports. January 2021 report.

On Wednesday, December 30, 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries announced the temporary suspension of the registration of Sworn Declarations of Foreign Sales (DJVE) for corn . Specifically, this applies to sales whose shipments predate March 1, 2021, the official start date of the 2020/21 season.

In the resolution, the ministry states that it is "based on the need to ensure the supply of grain for the sectors that use it as raw material in their transformation processes."

This measure comes amid a prolonged drought that affected the entire Southern Cone and, specifically, the 2019/20 and 2020/21 growing seasons. This resulted in lower yields for Argentine crops, as well as changes in land use.

In line with the above, the accompanying report presents a comprehensive overview of the agricultural sector. This will allow for an understanding of the current situation in both national production and global markets. The following points are analyzed:

  • Grains: wheat, barley, corn, soybeans, sunflowers and grain sorghum. And the soybean, corn and wheat markets.
  • Dairy products: local production, prices, consumption and exports.
  • Meats: bovine, poultry and porcine. And meat consumption.

📄 Download the report (PDF)

Furthermore, the report does not shy away from analyzing the volume and importance of agricultural exports in generating foreign exchange for our country. On the contrary, it puts into perspective the sector's importance in addressing the limitations of the so-called external constraint. Below is an excerpt from the report.

The field produces grains

In Argentina, more than 20 different varieties of crops are produced . Three of these stand out significantly from the others, covering over 5 million hectares: soybeans, corn, and wheat, in order of importance.

Area sown with soybeans, corn, wheat, sunflower, barley and sorghum in Argentina, in millions of hectares, from 1989 to 2019

Argentina is the world's leading exporter of soybean oil and meal , and a significant supplier of soybeans (though less than 10% of the global market). Brazil, the United States, and Argentina account for over 85% of the total global supply of soybeans and soybean byproducts.

Currently, soybeans and sunflowers are the most important oilseeds in terms of production volume. Soybean production has experienced strong growth over the last 60 years, increasing from 5% of total grain production in 1961 to 10% today. This increase is primarily due to greater demand for animal protein and edible oils, resulting from both population growth and rising per capita incomes worldwide.

The field produces dairy products

Since the beginning of the century, Argentina has produced approximately 10 to 11 billion liters of milk annually. More than 20% of this is destined for the export market. An interesting relationship to track, and one closely related to the Ministry resolution mentioned at the beginning of this article regarding corn exports, is the input/output ratio in milk production.

Typically, the ratio of kilograms of corn to liters of milk is used to succinctly indicate the purchasing power of milk production relative to the inputs needed to produce it. In October 2020, this ratio stood at 1,6. This means that a producer could buy 1,6 kg of corn with one liter of milk. Thus, the ratio is approximately 23% lower than the average of the last 5 years (2,07) and one of the lowest of the entire decade.

Input/output ratio in dairy farming: kilos of corn per liter of milk, from November 2016 to October 2020

The field produces meat

In meat production, the Argentine cattle herd is estimated at 54,46 million head. For reference, the following should be considered: In the 50s, Argentina had approximately 60 million head of cattle with a population of less than 20 million. Brazil, in 1975, had 57 million head of cattle (almost the same as Argentina today), and today it has more than 200 million.

Thus, in 2019 approximately 14 million head of cattle were slaughtered, generating a production of 3,13 million tons of meat, of which 0,85 million tons were exported. Domestic consumption reached 2,3 million tons, with per capita consumption at 51,36 kilograms per inhabitant.

Poultry, pigs and meat consumption per person

Regarding poultry production , over 750 million birds were processed in 2019, yielding 2,2 million tons. Per capita consumption has been growing in recent years, but at a slower rate than pork. In 2019, it reached 43,16 kilograms per person per year, and 0,27 million tons were exported, representing an export ratio of approximately 12%.

The pork sector is the most dynamic in the country. In the last five years, it has grown by more than 20%, reaching 610,000 tons. This increase is due to both higher slaughter rates and an increase in the average weight of the animals. Per capita consumption in Argentina has also been growing in recent years, reaching 14,15 kilograms of fresh pork per person per year.

During 2019, the average consumption of meat per person in our country was 108,8 kilograms. Of this, 51,4 kilograms were beef (47%), 43,2 kilograms were poultry (40%), and 14,2 kilograms were pork (13%). The report includes complete information for 2020.

Open access, for use and citation

The report is available freely and without charge, under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0):

Monitor del sector agropecuario | diciembre 2020. Informes del Observatorio UNR N.º 53 — Serie Informes de Coyuntura N.º 19, enero de 2021. ISSN 2683-9067 / 2683-9075. Autores: Alfredo O. Bula, Diego Marfetán Molina, Lucia Papa, Germán A. Tessmer y Luciano A. Jara Musuruana.