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January 19, 2011

Argentine farmers freeze grain sales in protest

Argentine farmers halted sales of wheat, corn and soy on Monday as they went on strike over export curbs, rekindling a dispute that helped drive global grains prices to record highs three years ago. The seven-day protest by growers in the South American nation, one of the world's biggest food suppliers, could fuel supply concerns just as dry weather linked to La Nina worsens the outlook for soy and corn production.

Argentine farmers have been at odds with the government for years over export curbs aimed at taming double-digit inflation and guaranteeing affordable supplies of everyday staples. They say the system of wheat and corn export quotas lets millers and exporters pay farmers low prices, and want center-left President Cristina Fernandez to scrap the caps.

"These distortive, interventionist measures have been repeated for several harvests in recent years," Hugo Biolcati, leader of the Argentine Rural Society, said when the country's four farming groups announced the strike last week. This week's protest, which will last until midnight next Sunday, is bad news for Fernandez nine months from an October election in which she is widely expected to seek re-election. Read more...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.

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