In a climate of expectations and urgency, the top executives of Banco Galicia, Adecoagro and Cargill sat down at the Palermo Rural Exhibition and released a forecast that shakes the economic board: Argentina’s agro-industry could generate an extra $25 billion in income over the next ten years. The trick? Lower tax pressure, improve infrastructure, and above all, send signals that the rules of the game will not change overnight.
Gastón Bourdieu, president of Banco Galicia, was the one to drop the number: «A study by the Fundación Producir Conservando shows that if taxes are reduced and investment is made in roads and railways, we can increase production of grains, meats and dairy products and add $25 billion in additional foreign currency.» The figure is not minor: in 2025, agro-industrial exports already exceeded $51 billion and represented 60% of total external sales of goods.
But the executives did not stop at optimism. Bourdieu recalled the country’s economic history with harshness: «We have had ten defaults and four or five deposit confiscations. That explains why Uruguay has a country risk of 73 points and we still have 400.» The lack of confidence, he said, is the main brake on the flow of credit and investment.
Mariano Bosch, CEO of Adecoagro, went further and pointed to a sector that has been stagnant for almost 30 years: dairy farming. «Today we produce the same amount of milk as in 1998, 11 billion liters. And this spring we will have one million more liters, but there is no industrial capacity to process them,» he warned. Companies like SanCor and Verónica, in judicial and labor crisis, are the bottleneck preventing takeoff.
Fernando García Cozzi, president of Cargill Argentina, directly targeted export duties, which he called «a tax on exports.» «You cannot think of an increase in production while that tax exists. A producer planned his harvest in October and in March found that his export duties had been increased,» he denounced. And he concluded: «The producer must do well, he is the axis of everything.»
The three agreed that Javier Milei’s government is taking steps in the right direction, but that it is necessary to «restore confidence» beyond a presidential term. Bosch called for a seed law that protects intellectual property and a land law that eliminates restrictions on foreign investors. García Cozzi highlighted that two competing companies, Louis Dreyfus and ACA with Molinos Agro, have already announced investments of $1 billion in Bahía Blanca and Timbúes, but long-term signals are needed.
Infrastructure was also a critical point. «Those of us who go out on the road know that we have to go slower and slower,» said Bosch. Bourdieu cited Australia as an example, where the private sector participates with long-term financing in roads and railways. García Cozzi added: «Improving rail freight transport will allow increasing production in areas far from ports.»
To close, Bourdieu dropped a fact that seeks to debunk the myth that the countryside does not generate employment: «A study by the Fundación Producir Conservando, coordinated by Juan José Llach, showed that the countryside employs 36% of the private sector workforce, directly and indirectly. In the United States they did a similar study and it gave 30%.»
The message is clear: the money is there, but the obstacles must be removed. Will the government be willing to listen?
Para mí esto huele a que los zurdos van a llorar, pero la plata la generan los que laburan, no los políticos vagos. 25 mil millones si bajan impuestos, claro que sí, vamo arriba productores, a llenar el país de dólares. Basta de impuestazos que nos roban el futuro, viva la libertad carajo, firmado El Gaucho Inmortal.
Para mí estos CEOs del agro son unos caraduras, quieren bajar impuestos para chorearse 25 mil millones de dólares mientras el pueblo se caga de hambre. Me parece que son unos explotadores de mierda, viva la reforma agraria carajo.