December 30, 2008

Argentina to finance building of cattle feedlots

The government of Argentina is financing the building of five major feedlots, with the capacity of 40,000 head of cattle in each.

These yards are tailored for dairy bull calves to take them on for young steer beef.

The government is subsidising feedlot cattle to US$30 per head, which is a very big deal for farmers who rather receive a subsidy to raise beef cattle and also pay a 15 percent tax of the finished beef for export.

Farmers have been utilising the feedlots to free up more land for the planting of soy in recent times.

There are an estimated 12 million head of cattle being fed in yards today, three times the amount from 5 years ago.

Argentina consumes 70 kilogrammes of beef per capita yearly which is the highest rate in the world, therefore beef prices on the local market is a large political issue.