July 15, 2010
Mercosur member Paraguay sees good beef prospects
Mercosur full member Paraguay is now between the world's eight top exporters of beef, with prospects of increasing that position as meat quality increases, boosted by improved breeding and better sanitary conditions.
Argentine meat expert Ignacio Iriarte praised current Paraguayan policies to promote cattle breeding in the country, which contrasts drastically with what has happened in Argentina "that has seen the national herd down 11 million head, a record for any period in the country's history".
Iriarte, a consultant on the beef industry, was invited to give a conference in Paraguay in the framework of the 2010 edition of the country's most important cattle show currently taking place a few miles away from the capital Asunción.
His conference, "International market prospects for beef", pointed out that Paraguay has steadily advanced in promoting the country's quality beef and now figures among the world's top eight exporters.
"Given the policies implemented and global demand prospects, we can say Paraguay is in a privileged position to keep expanding its beef industry supported by high quality cattle," said Iriarte.
Cattle fed on natural pastures, strong campaign to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), sanitary advantage with no exotic diseases such as BSE (mad cow disease), reliable veterinary service, reliable supplier, are among some of the qualities which make Paraguayan beef a competitive product, said Iriarte.
Regarding international tendencies, Iriarte said that beef prices in the US and Australia, top exporters, between May and November 2008 fell far more than for the Paraguayan product, with a US$35 difference for the first time.
Iriarte also underlined the errors of Argentine farm policies which have seen a drop of 11 million head of cattle (from a normal average of 56 million) which he said will take at least ten years to recover, given normal conditions.
Paraguay thus joins the other three Mercosur full members, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay which are among the world's top eight exporters of beef.
The country currently has 500 farms included in the EU certified traceability programme which is equivalent to a million head of cattle. A year ago the number of farms that enjoyed that condition was only 38.
