MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina promotes sheep farming recovery

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

"Recovering sheep farming won't be easy because both sheep activity and sheep culture in Argentina were almost swept out during the nineties", warns Jorge Srodek, a sheep farmer and head of the Buenos Aires province Ovine Program.

Mr. Srodek revealed that for several years now Argentina is implementing a sheep flock recovery plan investing annually 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, with no interest, and must be returned "productively", that is a farmer with the credit purchases fifty sheep, in five years time he must return fifty healthy ewes. The loans can also be invested in genetic improvement and basic camp infrastructure.

At the beginning of the XX 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 and even further in the late nineties, 12,5 million. Patagonia actually represents 65% of the Argentine flock and the province of Buenos Aires now has 1,4 million sheep.

Why the chances of sheep farming resurgence, asks Mr. Srodek, "because greasy wool prices in Argentina have jumped 200% since 2002, and also there's a growing demand for lamb". In the first quarter of 2004 Argentine lamb exports increased 61% totalling 8,6 million US dollars, mostly from 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 adding that in some cattle auctions in the province of Buenos Aires, live lambs reached 1,15 US dollars the kilo, almost 50% more than steers.