The scarcity of rains that has been punishing a large part of the Argentine territory for three years and has worsened in recent months has caused
significant productive damage
: severe damage or total loss of crops and pastures, deterioration of the bodily condition of livestock and high animal mortality.
But in addition,
a huge number of watercourses dried up completely
, affecting not only agriculture and livestock but also tourism, commerce and the economy of many towns in the country.
One of them was
Navarro
, the Buenos Aires city that was left without a lagoon.
Laguna de Navarro dry.
Photo: Matias Arrascoyta
Located about 120 kilometers southwest of the country's capital, this historic town where Juan Lavalle ordered the execution of Colonel Manuel Dorrego back in 1828, today stands out for the agricultural and tourist activity around
a large 170-hectare lagoon
, both badly affected by the drought.
Drought in Navarro, Buenos Aires province.
drone images.
Photo: Matias Arrascoyta
There,
the normal rainfall regime used to be 1,200 millimeters per year but in 2021, only 700 fell and in 2022 barely 400
.
Thus, the year closed with a completely dry lagoon, populated by sparse vegetation of rustic grasslands.
The nautical activities made impossible months ago, the boats piled up on the ground, the deserted campsites, the shops with their sales drastically reduced by the lack of tourists, constitute the current landscape of Navarra.
Navarro Lagoon, Buenos Aires province.
Photo: Matías Arrascoyta
In the field,
crops planted early were lost, as were most of the pastures
, and those planted in January were trying to recover after the rains that brought little relief last week.
In dairy farms and livestock establishments there was a
significant liquidation of animals due to lack of grass to feed them and the deterioration of the body condition of the farm
is notorious.
The nautical activity that called for tourism is no longer possible.
Photo: Matías Arrascoyta
"The outlook is bleak," says Navarro's Secretary of Government,
Raúl Lambert
, in dialogue with Clarín.
In January, during the weekends, between 5,000 and 7,000 people visited the city to enjoy a mirror of water that today is nothing more than a bed of earth.
That's $40 million a month that's no longer coming into the city.
Currently, the area has a declaration of emergency and agricultural disaster something that, according to the people of Navarre,
had not happened since 1902
since the usual thing there is precisely the opposite scenario, floods.
Raúl Lambert, Secretary of Government of Navarro.
Photo: Matias Arrascoyta
Eduardo Caruso
, is an agricultural producer and president of the local Rural Society.
In his establishment he cultivates extensive crops, has two dairy farms and breeds Holando calves.
From 400 cows that he milked, he had to reduce the herd to 330
due to the lack of grass and the high cost of feed.
“
Situations like these sometimes make us lower our arms
”, he says.
However, after two rains that dropped 100 millimeters in one week, his hope is reborn when he sees that a trickle of water reappeared in the three streams that cross his field, the pastures begin to recover their green tones and the soybeans shine again its upright leaves.
Eduardo Caruso, president of the Rural Society of Navarro.
Photo: Matías Arrascoyta
In Navarro, the prime crops, corn and soybeans, were lost, and many hectares could not be planted directly due to lack of moisture.
Caruso chose to graze the early lots of the oilseed because the pastures "were detonated, there was nothing left."
Now he places hope in the second-rate crops that were planted in January: corn to have some reserve for the animals and soybeans that he will partly use for fodder and partly for grain.
He also lost the associated alfalfa-based pastures, for this reason, he had to buy rolls from other producers in the province and in Córdoba.
“
I lost a lot of productivity, 40% of liters per day
”, says the dairyman.
“All
the grains became very expensive for the soybean dollar
, we are paying more for balanced feed than for a liter of milk, added to that
the drought that left us without pasture
, and
the tax issue
that drives us crazy,
is a tenacious effect
that squeezed us from all sides ”, he explains.
Drought in Navarro, Buenos Aires province.
drone images.
Photo: Matias Arrascoyta
Today,
a roll costs between $15,000 and $20,000 and is barely enough to feed 25 cows for a day
.
To that, we must add the balanced expense.
The numbers do not close, for this reason,
"He is working at a loss," he maintains, and many dairy farms in the area have disappeared.
“We are giving 70% of what we collect to the Government and we have no profitability, we cannot survive, it is outrageous, we are all losing, the producers and the country, because
for 25 years we have been stagnant in the number of liters of milk produced
and we fell back in the number of heads”, he expresses.
Despite the fact that they have the declaration of emergency and disaster due to drought, according to his account, for a month and a half they have been trying to get some tax relief in the face of this situation and they have not succeeded.
"The only measure they have granted is the drop in the Banco Provincia rate from 69% to 47%, but it is very difficult to access credit and you can spend a month to get it when we are in a limit situation," he says. he.
Aerial view of the Navarro lagoon.
Photo: Matias Arrascoyta
“The coffee talks are always the same:
how hard this year is going to be, it is not there to invest, this year it is not there to do anything
, and it hurts because we came from ten years of growth with the firm, to notice that this is ends, that there is going to be an impasse in growth both in the industrial park and in the town and in our group, it has an impact”, laments
Gastón Tieri
, a local agricultural producer.
Gastón Tieri, an agricultural businessman from Navarro.
Photo: Matias Arrascoyta
Last week's rains brought a glimpse of relief and today, the people of Navarre await with anxiety and hope, the next storms anticipated for this week, dreaming that the forecasts of the removal of La Niña will come true.
