Water as far as the eye can see, roads turned into canals, cattle searching for grass between the mud and lost crops \u2013 that is the catastrophic outlook across millions of hectares of the Argentine Pampas, which have been flooded for months now due to unusually heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n
Alongside the downpours linked to climate change are other factors: a lack of maintenance on rural roads and drainage channels, and the halt of long-delayed infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n
\u00abI had to take my family away. In March we had to go to the nearest town so the kids could go to school,\u201d said Luciano Macaroni, a cattle rancher from the district of 9 de Julio, Buenos Aires Province.<\/p>\n
Macaroni can only enter or leave his land on horseback, the surrounding roads remain under water. Many other farmers face the same predicament across the fertile heart of Buenos Aires Province.<\/p>\n
Some five million hectares \u2013 an area larger than that of Denmark \u2013 are either covered in water or inaccessible due to the flooding of roads, according to the Confederaci\u00f3n de Asociaciones Rurales (Rural Associations Confederation).<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t able to grow anything, the cows lost weight from just being in the water and I have no way to get in there with feed,\u201d said Macaroni, 46.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A local once told folklore musician Atahualpa Yupanqui that the Pampas were \u201cthe world upside down.\u201d Today, the sun and clouds are reflected in the region\u2019s flooded fields, now vast lagoons where waterbirds glide.<\/p>\n
Alejandro Vallan, a 43-year-old farmer, believes the consequences will truly make themselves felt next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t grow, we have no animals. What the hell are we going to do?\u201d he said. \u201cThere are people aged 60 or 70 who\u2019ve saved their whole lives to have their cows and now they\u2019ve lost everything. They\u2019re very unlikely to get them back.\u201d<\/p>\n
9 de Julio is one of the most affected of the 28 districts of the 28 declared in emergency by the Buenos Aires Province government. The flooding there has not receded since March.<\/p>\n
The \u201ccatastrophic\u201d situation \u201cwill cause a regional economic problem,\u201d warned Hugo Enr\u00edquez, a farmer and chair of the local rural society, who said this will affect \u201ctransport, contractors, fields, stockpiling and suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far in 2025, precipitation in the district has exceeded 1,600 millimetres \u2013 nearly twice the annual average.<\/p>\n
Just two years ago, the region endured one of the worst droughts in decades, causing losses of around US$20 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear there are matters related to climate change and fundamentally to the increasing frequency of very strong climate events,\u201d said Buenos Aires Province Agriculture Development Minister, Javier Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n
Cindy Fern\u00e1ndez, spokeswoman for the National Meteorological Service, explained that \u201cif the atmosphere is hotter, there is more vapour in the air, and therefore more water available to fall in greater quantities.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Gentile, the mayor of 9 de Julio, the influence of climate change is undoubtable. \u201cDenying it is refusing to see reality,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The smell of stagnant water, clouds of mosquitoes and frogs abound on the rural roads of 9 de Julio. Built at a lower elevation than the surrounding fields, many have become canals that block farmers\u2019 access.<\/p>\n
Everyone agrees on the solution: public works. Refitting roads and canals, controlling the construction of illegal canals and finalising infrastructure projects that have been left pending for decades, such as dredging the Salado River, the only natural drainage outlet in the region.<\/p>\n
Rodr\u00edguez said the provincial government is progressing with the works, but notes that, since the inauguration of President Javier Milei last December, the section overseen by the national government has been halted.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that hadn\u2019t been stopped in 2023, that section would be complete and without a doubt it would drain water better,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich has announced resources \u201cto open up roads and reach isolated families\u201d and said the dredging work is the responsibility of the province \u2013 which is governed by the opposition Peronist force.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo-one takes responsibility; everyone blames whoever came before. We want solutions,\u201d says cattle trader Ra\u00fal Daguerre.<\/p>\n
Argentina\u2019s agribusiness sector accounted for 58 percent of the country\u2019s total exports in 2024 \u2013 a cornerstone of one of the world\u2019s leading food producers.<\/p>\n by Tom\u00e1s Viola, AFP<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nrelated news<\/h6>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n