Uruguayans overtake Argentinians as world's biggest beef consumers
Drought and restrictions mean humans could soon outnumber cattle in Argentina, which used to pride itself on its beef intake
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent
@rorycarroll72
Fri 24 Sep 2010 13.26 EDT First published on Fri 24 Sep 2010 13.26 EDT
Argentinians' consumption of beef has gone down to 56kg a year, down from 70kg a few years ago – allowing Uruguayans to become the world's biggest consumers. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin
For vegetarians it was revolting but for Argentinians it was a source of pride: they were the world's biggest beef eaters, consuming more than 70kg – about the equivalent of their own body weight – per year.
All-you-could eat churrasco restaurants and Sunday barbecues, a national institution, chewed through the cattle herds of the pampas, an iconic part of the landscape.
Now, however, Argentina has lost its century-old carnivorous crown. Beef consumption has slumped to 56kg – equivalent to a feather-weight boxer – elevating Uruguay, with 59kg, to the top spot.
Drought and government restrictions have whittled Argentina's herd from 57.5m head in 2008 to 48.9m today, a trend which could see the country's humans, currently numbering 40 million, outnumber its cattle within a few years.
The shortage has driven up prices by 70 percentage points in the past year, prompting consumers to scale back. "And so ends our century-old reign during which nobody could match our proud carnivorous voracity," the Buenos Aires daily Clarin lamented recently.
The milestone surpassed the humiliation of Maradona's team being thrashed in the World Cup quarter-finals, it said. "If that was a bitter drink, this will be a devastating blow."
Hugo Biolcati, head of the Argentine Rural Society, told the MercoPress news agency that per capita consumption would have to fall to 50kg or else Argentina would need to start importing beef.
Uruguay, a tiny neighbour and historic rival, has seen its herd and consumption rise, according to the Uruguayan National Meat Institute.
Farmers blamed a drought and government export restrictions for Argentina's tumble from the world's third largest beef exporter three years ago to seventh or eighth place today.
The sight of vast herds grazing on the pampas has increasingly been replaced by soy fields, with many ranchers herding their cattle into feedlots where they feed on grain rather than grass.
The meat industry