Herbalists maintain harvest cessation and analyze new protest measures

The strike by yerba mate producers in Misiones is growing day by day. The rebellion that began in the San Pedro area last December began to spread to the rest of the province and the leaders estimate that in January and so far in February the harvest has fallen by more than 50 percent.

“The official numbers are not available, but we have data showing that in January about twelve million kilos of yerba mate were processed, far from the 21 million kilos of a year ago. And in February the drop is greater, we believe that it will not exceed 10 million kilos. Today only the mechanized harvest is being done because it cannot be delayed, the rest are not harvesting,” said a yerba mate leader from the central area of ​​Misiones who participates in the assemblies where they are looking for a solution to the crisis.

“The ones that are also processing yerba mate are the integrated companies , that is, those that have their own yerba mate plantations, drying rooms and mills. The 220 pesos that they are paying for the raw material are of no use to the small producer because it is 30 percent of the costs,” added the man, who was a member of the board of the devalued National Institute of Yerba Mate (INYM).

Producers face a complex situation due to last year's record harvest. In 2024, almost 987 million kilos of yerba mate entered the dryers, 212 million kilos more than in 2023. "Today, industries have stock to cover the demand for an entire year. The equilibrium number for the sector is that there is yerba mate in the warehouses for seven or eight months," said the leader.

In recent days, the producers' meetings have been held in Jardín América, San José, Montecarlo and other towns. This Friday there will be a meeting in the Parque de las Naciones in Oberá, where the yerba mate growers will decide whether to insist on the restriction of green leaves and dried yerba mate on the roads.

The yerba mate growers are convinced that the deregulation of the sector was a return of favors from the libertarian government to the big millers who supported its campaign. “The millers were the most interested in the INYM stopping setting reference prices. In Agriculture they admitted to us that the decision to remove the Institute's powers was a request from the industrialists,” one of the leaders admitted when consulted by Clarín.

In recent decades, producers received 10 percent of the value of the package on the shelf for raw materials. “If that percentage were maintained, today we would be above 400 pesos per kilo and the numbers would be closing with a small profit margin,” said a yerba mate grower from the central area.

“Discontent with the National Government is increasing. Producers trusted Milei and today they feel disappointed. In WhatsApp groups they no longer hide their anger because they caused a phenomenal disaster in an activity that had been working more or less well for more than 20 years,” said another producer, a regular attendee at yerba mate assemblies.

The Minister of Agriculture and Production of Misiones, Facundo López Sartori, visited one of the yerba mate pickets and spoke with the producers. He admitted that “production costs have increased significantly and small producers are facing difficulties in sustaining their crops” and added that “the demand for a fair value for the raw material is becoming urgent.”

"The lack of price updates directly affects the profitability of the sector, putting at risk the continuity of thousands of families who depend on yerba mate production for their livelihood," he warned.

The Government of Misiones, in excellent harmony with the libertarians, did not achieve the return of powers to the INYM. And the judicial rulings obtained by the producers are not complied with by the National Government either.

According to the latest available statistics, there are about 13,000 yerba mate producers in Argentina, of which 12,500 are in Misiones, a province that concentrates almost 90 percent of production.

To understand the impact of this regional economy, it is enough to say that there are around 50,000 people who depend directly on yerba mate production. There are small and medium-sized producers, but also those who provide harvesting services, harvesters, employees of the drying plants, mills and transport.

Claudio Anselmo, Minister of Production of Corrientes and a man who emerged from the yerba mate plantation Las Marías, expressed confidence in a recovery in the price of the raw material this year due to a decrease in the supply of green leaves.

“It is difficult to repeat a year as exceptional as 2024 in terms of production,” he said. The fact is that the year started with rainfall below the historical average and that would affect the yields in the yerbales.

For the official, it will be essential to begin to align supply with demand so that prices throughout the entire production chain can begin to recover, something that is difficult with the entry into production of thousands of hectares of new yerba mate plantations.