By Jolene Farley
Gene Sandager, Hills, returned March 25 from a 14-day international study tour in Argentina and Chile sponsored by the Minnesota Agriculture and Rural Leadership Program.
The tour was designed to expose participants to government operations, economics, trade and culture in the two countries.
An overnight stay on the Argentinean farm of Francis Macadams was the highlight of the trip for Sandager.
"I got to see how they farm and what my competition is … what their struggles are," he said. "It was interesting to be able to visit and compare with our (the United States') No. 1 competitor in corn exports."
He noted how similar farm operations there were to those in the United States.
"The Macadams' farm operation could be a mirror image of a medium to large farm in Minnesota," wrote Sandager in an e-mail to the Crescent.
"The major difference can be found in the government policies and the economy," he wrote. "Francis was very discouraged with paying large amounts of taxes with little or no results for the payment. He was also discouraged with the collapsing economy."
Sandager and his group toured the cattle yards in Buenos Aires, the largest auction in the world. The cattle yard sells 10,000 head a day, five days a week. Sixty private buyers are employed at the yards.
Fat cattle were the size of U.S. yearling cattle, according to Sandager. They sold for 15 cents per pound, compared with 70 cents per pound in the United States.
Due to an ongoing problem with hoof and mouth disease, the United States has banned the import of Argentinean beef, according to Sandager.
"The concern is to protect our internal production from disease," he said. "Also, our consumers don't understand the food is still safe." (Hoof and mouth disease cannot be transmitted to humans.)
Chile's government, considered the most stable in South America, is very similar to the United States government except voters vote for a party rather than individual candidates.
In contrast, Argentina’s government and economy is corrupt and chaotic. While the MARL group was in Argentina, the government froze savings accounts at banks nationwide and halted loans to farmers.
Argentinean currency de-valued rapidly on the international market. Farmers wondered how contracts would be paid on their products.
"The concern was what price would I get for my product," he said.
American companies used the flux in currency to import raw materials and manufacture products with the cheap labor in the South American countries, according to Sandager.
Sandager said he learned a lesson from his visit to the South American countries.
"It is extremely important to be involved or participate in making the rules that we live by," he said. "In Argentina 99 percent of the people we talked to hated the government but wouldn’t get involved to change it."
Both countries produce, on average, 160 to 180 bushels of corn (PER ACRE?), but don’t have the infrastructure to transport crops to market. With dirt roads, if it rains, harvest is halted.
Land in Chile and Argentina varies from $200 to $300 per acre at the end of the road to $2,000 to $3,000 per acre near an adequate road and a seaport.