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Argentina's Herd to Decline by As Much As 1 Million Head of Cattle Due to
Drought

by Reuters

   BUENOS AIRES --

   Argentina's herd will shrink by up to 1 million head of cattle next
   year as ranchers facing scorched pastures after the worst drought in
   decades decide to slaughter females rather than grow their herds,
   analysts said.

   A wave of hot, dry weather since November has cut 40 percent off
   overall grains production in the world's No. 3 corn and soy exporter
   and will knock off an estimated 0.7 percent from Argentina's gross
   domestic product this year.

   Slaughtering more female cows than expected will have long-term
   repercussions on the meat-loving nation's herd at a time it was hoping
   to boost sales abroad after falling out of the top 10 beef exporting
   nations under the previous government.

   Ignacio Iriarte, a grain market analyst, said Argentina's 53.5
   million-head herd would shrink by between 500,000 and 1 million head.

   "Winter is coming without having planted the grasses normally sown
   between February and March, which are the ones that provide feed in the
   middle of the winter," he said.

   "The next five or six months will be critical."

   According to the local beef industry chamber (Ciccra), 44.5 percent of
   cows slaughtered in March were female, a rate that was 3 percentage
   points higher than a year earlier.

   "This threatens the future offer," said Miguel Schiaritti, Ciccra's
   president. He said the herd had been growing sharply over the last two
   years, would likely hold steady in 2018 and would decline in 2019.

   The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its latest report
   Argentina's herd would shrink this year due to the weather and a larger
   than normal slaughter.

   Pastures have been depleted in one of Argentina's main cattle producing
   areas in Chacabuco, in the north of Buenos Aires province, according to
   Guillermo Voisin, the president of the area's rural society.

   "What is coming is very challenging ... but before the cows get too
   thin it is better to sell them," Voisin said.

   This story was written by Reuters.