The storms of late October left nearly 6,500 hectares of yerba mate affected and some 1,000 cases of tobacco growers with damage, in a context of low prices and delays in the Fondo Especial del Tabaco.
The rain, wind and hail storms that lashed Misiones in the final days of October caused significant losses in provincial production. The heaviest impact is concentrated in the region's yerba mate groves and tobacco plantations, where growers warn that the situation is critical.
According to a survey by the Instituto Nacional de la Yerba Mate (INYM), a total of nearly 6,500 hectares of yerba mate are affected: 5,045 show light damage, 1,389 moderate damage and 147 severe damage. The areas surveyed are concentrated in the towns of Campo Grande, Aristóbulo del Valle, Salto Encantado, Dos de Mayo, San Vicente, Fracrán and San Pedro.
The technical department of the INYM said that "most of the yerba mate groves had already been harvested and were in a stage of intense sprouting," so the impact of the hail was mainly on the branches. The share of severe damage, which includes total defoliation of the plants and significant wounds to green and mature branches, laterals and main trunks, accounts for only a minimal portion of the affected hectares. The most severely hit areas were Campo Viera and Dos de Mayo.
The institute is working with growers to cushion the effects on the development of the groves: "Based on the damage observed, it is essential to consider actions on the management of plants affected by hail, with the aim of redirecting the plant's energy toward new shoots on healthy structures through sanitation of plants with moderate and severe damage, removing material with affected structures," they stated.
In the tobacco sector the impact was even more significant. Complaints filed with the Asociación de Productores de Tabaco show that some 1,000 cases have already been recorded and that in many of them the damage is "total." Given the time of year when the events occurred, the damage was critical for farming in the center-north of Misiones, in many cases with the harvest already under way or about to begin.
According to reporting by Misionesonline, sources in the region say the most significant damage was to the leaves, which means an impact on quality and therefore on marketing.
Weather adds one more critical factor to the difficult economic and productive situation facing the regional economies of the NEA. Against a backdrop of low commodity prices, difficulties in sustaining profitability and productive uncertainty, the storms cut harvest estimates even further and raise questions about the survival of many growers.
The emergency coincides with the sector's demand for some 1 billion pesos from the Fondo Especial del Tabaco (FET) that the national government has yet to send to the province for the damage caused by hail in 2025. The delay recently prompted provincial legislator Héctor "Cacho" Bárbaro to file a criminal complaint against the fund's national coordinator, Marcelo Horacio Reinoso. In his filing, the lawmaker points to delays in processing the Annual Operating Programs (POA), intended to finance productive, sanitary and infrastructure initiatives and assistance for tobacco-growing families. Last year's unpaid compensation would not arrive before December.
The Ministerio del Agro y la Producción de Misiones said that surveys are being carried out to estimate the damage caused by the storms, hail and flooding and to assess the economic and productive losses. Based on that work on the ground, they said, the province will "move forward with the procedures required for a possible declaration of a provincial agricultural emergency" and, subsequently, with joint work before the national commission.
"One of the main challenges of this process is determining the real magnitude of the losses, especially because weather events have been recurring and their consequences do not necessarily show up immediately," they said. If the emergency is declared, tax relief and production measures will be defined for the affected farms.
