Coffee prices surge on federal exchange as drought reshapes harvest

The price of Tierra Verde coffee rose to 3.24 florins per kilogram on Wednesday's federal exchange—the highest mark since 2023—as persistent dry conditions across the region's coffee belt have squeezed yields and accelerated ripening. Yerba mate followed, climbing to 2.88 florins per kilogram. The dual surge reflects what cooperative leaders are calling the toughest growing season in a decade, one that has forced smallholders to make hard choices about which fields to harvest and which to leave fallow.

The drought has compressed the harvest window from its usual four-month span to roughly ten weeks, meaning farmers must mobilize labour, transport, and processing capacity all at once. In the towns of Encarnación and Salto, harvest captains report they are already drawing on reserve workers and negotiating with transport cooperatives for priority rail access to the federal exchange stations. The pressure is visible in the cooperatives' meeting halls, where membership votes on emergency liquidity measures have stretched into evening hours.

Federal officials in Meridian have signaled concern about the tightness in the supply chain. The Federal Office for Cooperative Affairs released a statement acknowledging the drought's scope and indicating that a review of irrigation-subsidy eligibility is underway. Tierra Verde's Regional Assembly has also begun preliminary talks with the Federal Treasury about whether emergency infrastructure grants might be available before the next fiscal cycle.