Adecoagro Founder Says Argentina Could Triple Milk Production

The co-founder of Adecoagro said Argentina could triple its milk production. He presented the prospect as part of a broader need to develop processing capacity rather than rely mainly on exporting agricultural raw materials.

According to Bosch, greater scale in farming would not by itself be sufficient. Argentina would also need facilities capable of competing with producers in other countries. He said plants making cheese should become more efficient, more technologically advanced and more robotised so that Argentine products could reach international markets competitively.

Bosch also identified milk powder as an example of the value that processing can add to milk. He described industrialisation as a way to move beyond the simple export of agricultural commodities. The production of milk powder requires drying the milk, a process that depends on energy availability and cost.

Commercial continuity was another issue he raised. Bosch said restrictions on exports, imposed at different times, had made it difficult to guarantee stable supplies to international buyers. In his account, interruptions to supply had affected long-term commercial relationships, using milk powder to illustrate the problem.

Energy costs were described as a structural constraint across the dairy chain. Bosch said competitive energy prices were necessary to make it possible to process milk in Argentina’s interior and to support exports to different markets. “We need energy at competitive prices,” he said.

His comments linked genetics, production scale, processing, foreign trade and energy infrastructure. The areas he identified included the expansion of milk volumes, the manufacture of products such as cheese and milk powder, the reliability of export arrangements and the operating costs of industrial facilities.