MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine “soy king” warns about the “tragic convergence”

Farmer Gustavo Grobacopatel

The tragic convergence of drought, international crisis and export taxes could lead to the destruction of Argentina's farm production and the camp is in need of immediate support.

"Somebody must tell the government that this system has made Argentina loose a billion US dollars" according to Gustavo Grobacopatel, Argentina's "soy king" who has become the country's main producer of the oil beans. In a long interview with Buenos Aires La Nacion Mr. Grobacopatel is described as the man who pioneered the "planting pools" and in doing so has become a reference of modern Argentine agriculture where the possession of land is not as important as the know-how to organize and advise farmers, helping them finance input to improve volume and yields. "That's the clue to XXI century business in a globalized world, organization and know-how, not ownership of the land", points out the successful business-farmer whose roots date back to the late XIXth century when central Europeans, mainly Ukrainians and Russians, many of them Jews migrated to Argentina, where they began toiling the land as peasants in almost feudal conditions. They were known as the Jewish Gauchos. The Grobocopatel family's company owns 12.000 hectares but plants 120.000 in Argentina totalling 250.000 when Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil are added and probably not too distant in the future Colombia is a new option. With Argentina's farmers bitterly confronted with the government over export taxes on cereals, oilseeds and other farm production, Grobocopatel proposes an "open dialogue" between President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and farmers in the middle of a soy field, also known as the "cursed weed" in reference to a presidential blunder when she described the oil seed as a weed that grows "all over the place". "If export taxes are not lowered or international prices climb, the farm production machine will suffer extreme damage. For the first time in my lifetime I've seen fields not tended, abandoned, not planted, because even with drought something was always planted" underlined Grobocopatel. "If last year the farmers' dispute with government was conceptual, this year they are running for their lives, fighting to survive. The situation is dramatic", he added. Regarding criticism that he was one of the effective and efficient promoters of turning most of Argentine rich farmland into soy fields, in detriment of other activities, Grobocopatel dismisses the discussion. "Don't blame soy beans; that are not the problem. We want more soy but we also want more of all cereals and farm produce and industry. We need active, adequate policies so other options can develop. The current policies on beef, wheat, milk, sun flower are dreadful and for next year I'm anticipating Argentina will have to import beef. The truth is that forcing the situation to this point is suicidal". Grobocopatel was not involved in last year's farmers' conflict which ended in a major political defeat for the Kirchner couple administration and their camp policies when the Senate did not support an extension of the export taxes on grains and oil seeds. "It's time to build mutual trust. We are facing a dialogue among deaf people, 80% of farmers are broke or on free fall to that condition and on the other side the President seems to be unaware of the situation and promises to suspend taxes on farmers' profits. It's a joke", emphasized the "soy king". He admits having done business through the Kirchner government: a contract to advise the Venezuelan government on soy development, "which should have made Argentina proud, that we advise overseas. But I admit it was bad public relations because of the circumstances but I have done something similar in Colombia where I met President Alvaro Uribe, and nobody said a word". As to his family's company which apparently had a turnover of 500 million US dollars, Grobocopatel underlines that what is important for a company is not how much money it makes of their staff are paid, but rather how much is reinvested. "We practically reinvest all earnings, have a 1.000 people employed, 5.000 clients and 4.000 small companies that provide us services", he said. Besides in a modern globalized world it's not owners and shareholders that make the money, "it's the CEO, managers, those who have the know-how to organize and deliver". "I personally make more money as a manager of the company than as shareholder", he admitted.