Milk for dollars helps Venezuela's ranchers weather economic woes

15/1/2022 6:46

        Cattle ranchers in Barinas state, one of Venezuela's main agricultural regions, milk their herds in the small hours each morning before selling the milk in dollars to make ends meet, as a lack of credit worsens a long-running economic crisis.
        
        Venezuela's agriculture industry has been hit by years of regulations and expropriation of land, leading ranchers who depend on selling meat to scale back cattle breeding and shift to dairy.
        
        Ranching across Venezuela's sprawling plains boasted 2.5 million head of cattle as little as four years ago, but has dwindled to 1.7 million as rearing costs soared, producers said. Fewer cattle are being slaughtered because high inflation has hit demand for beef, they added.
        
        Though President Nicolas Maduro's government loosened business regulations in 2019, the measure has not permitted the complete reactivation of key areas for the South American country's battered economy.