10,000 farmers protect in Brasilia

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More than 10,000 farmers turned out on Tuesday in Brasilia to call attention to Brazils worst farm crisis in over 10 years. The farmers paraded in front of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvas palace to emphasize their request for financial aid to help refinance their expenditures for this years harvest. Finance minister Antonio Palocci, however, has claimed that the government cannot afford to help them. With no insurance and no subsidies, one economist says that Brazilian farmers are much more at the mercy of market fluctuations than American and European farmers. While Brazils currency has gained over 25 percent since last years crops were planted, prices for several of this years crops have fallen. Soybean prices are down 47 percent and cotton prices are down 35 percent. Meanwhile, according to Jose Rogerio Salles, the head of Aprosoja, the soybean growers association, costs were calculated when the real was trading at R$3.20 to the dollar. But crops are currently selling at R$2.40 to the dollar. Under these circumstances, Brazilian farmers stand to lose R$10 billion this year. And, as if all this were not enough, a drought in the south of Brazil has destroyed 15 percent of the grain crop.