MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine dairy farm 50 years in the business forced to close

The Magnasco family milk 1.000 cows and produce 22.000 litres daily.

Magnasco, one of the oldest dairy farms in Argentina with a history of more than 50 years has ceased activities and will dedicate its farmland to potatoes. The family business which owns four dairy farms and rents another five took the drastic action because “there’s no way of making of profit” with the erred agriculture policies from the administration of the Kirchner couple.

“After half a century of family activity in the business and since my father moved to Tandil (Buenos Aires province) in the fifties, we always had that attitude inherited from the “gringos” (Italians) which was that all is done through hard work, dedication and austerity”, said Atilio Magnasco during a television interview in Buenos Aires.

“We always invested earnings, we always had a positive attitude, looking forward and expanding, and now for the first time we have to step on the brakes; we first accelerated, then the brakes and now we must reverse”, added the dairy farmer.

According to Mr. Magnasco the cost of a litre of milk in Argentina is 1.15 pesos if you rent the land and 1 peso with your own herd in your own paddocks. But the official price and money is hand is only “82 Argentine cents”.

The Maganasco dairy farms owned by the family have a daily production of 22.000 litres with approximately 1.000 cows. These dairies’ farmland is now to be ploughed and dedicated to potatoes.

“We decided the drastic measure and we are not ashamed, so we can pay bills, keep the farms working and avoid other drastic decisions, because behind a dairy farm there are people and families”, added Maganasco.

“The disappointing side of this is that excellent milking cows will end as hamburgers”, said Magnasco who openly accused Argentina’s Domestic Trade minister Guillermo Moreno and his policy of artificially containing prices as the “only culprit of this situation” which has forced us to close shop.

Finally he revealed he was unable to meet with Agriculture minister Carlos Cheppi, in spite of the reiterated requests for an appointment. “But in Argentina everything is short term, there’s no medium or long term planning, and this way we are always going to face problems”.

“There are alternatives for dairy farming to exit this dreadful storm; I only hope that at some moment they will apply the appropriate measures”.