“Promote agriculture”: the government announces measures for the countryside

At a key time for weed control and wheat planting, the Government has announced it will lower import tariffs on key herbicides used in agricultural production.

“In April we will adopt measures in favor of agriculture”; the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, stated this in a post.

The official reported it Tariffs on atrazine, glyphosate and 2-4-D herbicides will drop from 35% to 12.6% (which is the common tariff in force for Mercosur). On the other hand, he noted that the tariff for primary atrazine will be reduced from 24% to 10.8%.

Furthermore, he indicated that hwill open up an improvement in Senasa permit approvals.

This announcement takes place in the context of Excellent numbers for the wheat campaignthe main winter crop, due to the high input values ​​due to the Country Tax (which mainly affects fertilizers) and the drop in international prices.

According to a report from the Rosario Stock Exchange, based on the latest price update (inputs, freight rates, dollars and future raw material prices), in the main agricultural area, income minus costs gives a net margin of 72 US dollars per hectare for your own field In the condition of rented land, which today is between 60% and 70%, the margins are negative and amount to 90 US dollars per hectare.

Faced with this scenario, the countryside is calling for a reduction in withholding taxes on cereals, which today are taxed at 12%, such as corn. This was done a few days ago by the liaison table, which has now been joined by the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, which also asked for the elimination of the PAIS tax and the advancement of the possibility of unifying the exchange rate.

“This adverse scenario it can influence the number of hectares planted and the technology that producers will eventually be able to applywhich in turn will affect the future yield of their crops and, ultimately, the quantities produced and exported next year,” the organization said.

The Northern producers, however, were harsher in their denunciation and harshly criticized Caputo’s post. “You don’t favor the agricultural sector, you still favor the country. And unfortunately these are crumbs of how much they plunder us throughout our country!!!”