May 4, 2004

Argentina Promotes Sheep Farming Recovery

Argentine lamb exports this year jumped 61% while the price of wool doubled. Sheep are returning to Patagonia but also to the pampas and the province of Buenos Aires.

According to Jorge Srodek, a sheep farmer and head of the Buenos Aires province Ovine Program, recovering sheep farming would not be easy. That is because both sheep activity and sheep culture in Argentina were almost swept out during the nineties.

Mr. Srodek revealed that Argentina has been implementing a sheep flock recovery plan for several years. The annual investment was the equivalent of seven million US dollars.

The plan is extensive to all sheep farming areas in the country, and pretends to recover flocks given the encouraging profitability for lamb, mutton and wool.

The money is loaned to farmers without any interest. But it must be returned "productively" - that is if a farmer with the credit purchases fifty sheep, he must return fifty healthy ewes in five years time. The loans can also be invested in genetic improvement and basic camp infrastructure.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Argentina had a flock of 70 million sheep, mostly in the province of Buenos Aires. However cattle gradually pushed sheep into Patagonia and by the eighties, the number had dropped to 22 million. This number fell even further in the late nineties, to 12.5 million. Patagonia actually represents 65% of the Argentine flock and the province of Buenos Aires now has 1,4 million sheep.

When asked about the reason of sheep farming resurgence, Mr. Srodek stated that greasy wool prices in Argentina have jumped 200% since 2002. Moreover there was a growing demand for lamb.

In the first quarter of 2004, Argentine lamb exports increased 61%, totalling 8.6 million US dollars. This is mainly due to the foot-and-mouth free Patagonia that is certified to sell to the European Union.

"But there's also an interesting demand from Brazil, Arab countries and South Africa", points out farmer Srodek. He added that in some cattle auctions in the province of Buenos Aires, live lambs reached 1,15 US dollars per kilo, almost 50% more than steers.