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The Irish Women in Agriculture group planned this exciting trip to Argentina following the success of previous tours to Australia and the USA .

Organizers Mary Carroll (author of the book ‘Women drive tractors too’) and Mary Flynn said “This trip is designed to be both educational and fun. As well as meeting with other Irish women in agriculture on the tour, we will meet Argentinean farm women and celebrate World Rural Women’s Day (Oct 15^th) with them, as well as visiting farms and other relevant organizations”.

Argentina has well established women in agriculture groups who are looking forward to hosting the Irish group. Argentina has many connections historically and agriculturally with Ireland , and many Irish farmers have bought land there. On this trip women will have an opportunity to see the region for themselves, and visit some of the farms bought by Irish farmers. There will also be ‘tourist time’ built in, including a visit to Rio de Janeiro on the way home.

NOTE: - Irish Women in Agriculture is a non-formal network inclusive of all women in agriculture, be they farmers, women with farming backgrounds, women working in the agricultural industry, women living on farms or those having an interest in agriculture. The broader the better!

Recorriendo el establecimiento 'La Unión' de familia Klein (at Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe)

Otra secuencia de la exposición del Ing. Agronomo Enrique Klein (at Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe)

El Ing.Agr. Enrique Klein informando sobre la actividad (at Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe)

El señor Klein recibe un presente de las granjeras (at Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe)

Darío Mascioli recibe presente de una de las granjeras (at Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe)

Darío Mascioli recibe presente de una de las visitantes (at Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe)

Mary Carroll, Beatriz O'Connell, Luisa Toranza Scott y Anne (at Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe)

The recent Irish women in agriculture study tour to Argentina could not have taken place at a more interesting time, as the week before our arrival the first ever Ministry of Agriculture was established. In a country built on agriculture this may come as a surprise, but for farmers here who are locked in protest with the Government, it is a sign of how they are viewed by decision makers.

With a population of 40million people, Argentinean agriculture is capable of feeding 300million people. Farmers unions claim that they are being blocked by gruelling taxes, especially the current 35% export tax, along with income tax, local tax and a production based land tax, all designed to keep cheap food available for the domestic market.

This was among some of the issues the Irish women in agriculture group discussed during a meeting with the Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA), which is the Argentinean equivalent of the IFA. Meeting with the President and the vice President of the SRA, Dr. Hugo Luis Biolcati and Alexander Delfino, the group heard how the 4 largest farm lobbies in Argentina have come together to fight the Government. They have formed ‘The Liaison Board’, which is seeking a reduction in export duties and more aid to farmers hit by extended droughts and falling commodity prices.

Knowledge amongst the urban population about agriculture is very limited and farm unions here are now realising the importance of communicating their message to win support, especially against a Government which is unpopular with everyone. Farmers are now taking on a new role to promote and explain their work and to counter the message from Government that they are a self interest lobby group who make easy money.

Given the size of the country and the differences in climate, a great variety of agricultural enterprises are found, from tea growing in the tropical north to sheep production in the cold south in Patagonia. Agriculturally the most important areas in Argentina are the humid Pampas – the flat grasslands that extend inland for up to 500miles.

Travelling out to the Pampas the group were struck by the vastness of the farms and the flatness of the terrain. Passing towns with names like Murphy, Duggan and Kavanagh, really brought home the influence the Irish have had here. The Irish acquired large areas of land, much of which their descendants still control.

Visiting a grain and dairy farm, one of the group leaders, Mary Flynn from Co Waterford said “It is difficult to apply to our own systems as the scale is so much different as are regulations or lack of them in Argentina, but it is very interesting to see how their system operates”.

Mary Vaughan Mullane from Co Limerick added, “the farms here are run much more as a business. This is something we need to do at home to make anything out of farming. We need to find the person best able to run it as a business and make it profitable rather than just hand it on in a traditional way”.

The group were hosted at one of the farms managed by the company set up by Jim McCarthy. The farm, ‘El Descanso’ (‘The Resting place’), is situated 405km from Buenos Aires. The 5,431ha (13,420 acres) – that’s all the land on one side of the road from Catledermot to Athy by 2 miles deep! - is owned by a group of Irish and English shareholders.

The farm is currently producing Wheat, Soyabean and Maize. The most upto date proven technologies are used to cut costs, save time and ensure the entire enterprise is more efficient and accountable. GPS farming systems provide precise guidance for field operations. They manage every aspect of their agricultural operations to improve overall productivity and efficiency - from planting to harvesting, and literally work the land by the square foot instead of the square mile.

Argentina’s tendency for no-till farming was also evident on the farm. In no-till agriculture the soil is left undisturbed from harvest to planting. The farmer uses a disk or chisel plough to prepare the field for seeding. Rather than turning the field, these ploughs create a narrow furrow, just large enough for the crop's seeds to be injected. Tractor attachments inject a band of fertilizer in with the seeds, thus negating the need to fertilize the whole field, and close up the furrow after the seed and fertilizer have been planted. Following harvesting the remains of the plants are allowed to form a mulch on top, which protects the land from drying out.

In a properly designed no-till system, pest (weeds, disease, and insect) control is accomplished primarily with the following cultural practices: rotation, sanitation, and competition. Herbicides may be used to provide the crop with a competitive advantage over the weeds.

Co Limerick farmer, Anne Gabbett said “The vastness of the Pampas farms is hard to imagine. The way they work with technology to maximise profitability is very interesting as is how they have developed the land and the use of the no till system”.

Another striking difference to Ireland is that GM crops are now a form of conventional agriculture for farmers in South America.

Everywhere we went great slabs of beef appeared on the table usually through the traditional ‘asado’ or barbecue. There is no doubt the Argentineans value their beef and the amount produced and consumed is sizeable. People here eat more beef than do people in any other country -- about 65kg (143 lbs) a year per person – compared to average of 18kg per person in the EU.

With the vast amount of beef consumed it is no surprise that the largest cattle market is found in Argentina! Liniers Cattle Market in Buenos Aires covers over 34 hectares or a little over 84 acres, and supplies the domestic beef needs for Buenos Aires. Some 10,000 to 15,000 head of cattle are sold here each day, four days a week. On the day we visited there were 12,384 head for sale.

A whole system of walkways had been built over the market, allowing anyone to hover over the cattle and never set foot on the ground. A TV reporter and cameraman follow the auctioneer around, reporting on the day's prices, which are a major influence on prices across Argentina.

When they arrive, each lot of cattle is weighed and inspected thoroughly to strict health standards. They will not leave the confines of Liniers Cattle Market until they have been sold; in the rare case of a lot remaining unsold that day, it will simply be up for auction the next. In the meantime, they ingest only water. No feeding is allowed, so the quicker they are sold, the better.

To enter the market, an animal must be at least 2 years old and weigh no less than 260 kilos. The price per kilo at the market is astonishingly low at approx 3.2pesos/kg live weight, which is less than 60c/kg. The majority of the cattle are either Angus (black and red) or Hereford.

Planning for succession of Argentinean farms takes place in a very different way to here. In Argentina, a farmer can only dispose of 20% of his assets/property to who he chooses – the remaining 80% must be divided equally between all his offspring. This system has been in place in Argentina for a long time and removes the resentment that can be felt if land is given to one offspring. As the larger property is subdivided through the generations what usually happens is that the farm is formed into a company with the siblings acting as shareholders, with those more actively involved being paid a wage as managers of the farm. If one sibling wishes to sell they can sell to another sibling or to an outside shareholder. In this way the size and possible income earning from the farm is not affected.

It might as well have been a community hall in the midlands of Ireland, but it was the Fahy Centre in central Buenos Aires, and the hosts with the midlands accents were Argentinean. The Irish women in agriculture group were being welcomed to Argentina by the Irish-Argentine Society and the Irish Ambassador Philomena Murnaghan. Nearly two thirds of the Irish migration to Argentina was from Westmeath so many still speak English with Westmeath accents, and have interesting mixes of Spanish first names and Irish surnames, such as Patricio Wallace, and Oswaldo O’Connell.

The pride the society feels in its connection to Ireland is immense and as word of the visit spread there was another reception to greet the group as they travelled out to the Pampas area in the town of Venado Tuerto, where the Irish-Argentine society is lead by José Wallace.

The Irish migration to Argentina is unique in a number of ways. It is the only large Irish migration to a non English speaking country, and the migration was mostly to rural areas. It is estimated that there are at least 300,000 people of Irish descent in Argentina.

All participants felt that the trip opened their eyes to a range of different ways to do things, but an even more important part of the trip are the friendships which were formed which will last much longer than it takes for the Argentinean dust to settle from the group. Mother and daughter Ann and Mary Gibbons from Kilkenny, travelled out together and found the accessibility to ordinary Argentinean lives amazing – “We met and chatted with local people and visited them on their farms and saw the real Argentina. We were treated like absolute VIPS including the welcome we received from the Irish ambassador”.

One thing the tour showed above all else is that farmers' concerns are the same everywhere – problems with prices and concerns about Government policies.

For any Irish people interested in getting involved with Argentinean agriculture the message seems to be it is a profitable business but you must be prepared to play by the local rules.

Visits 2009