Drought imperils Tierra Verde coffee as rains fail to arrive

The rain that usually blankets Tierra Verde's interior valleys by mid-July has not come. Across the coffee-growing cooperatives of the central highlands, farmers report soil moisture at levels typically seen in October, when the dry season has already taken hold. The Federal Meteorological Service issued an alert on Monday warning of continued drought conditions through August, a shift that could reshape the region's export calendar and press smallholders already operating on thin margins.

The timing cuts against the cooperative harvest cycle. Coffee plants stressed by prolonged drought in July often produce smaller cherries and lower yields in the weeks ahead. Tomás Riveros, who tends thirty hectares near Salto for the Cooperativa del Río Esperanto, said his irrigation channels ran nearly dry by last week. The cooperative's council called an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss emergency water-sharing protocols and the possibility of early requests for federal drought relief.

The drought arrives as Tierra Verde's coffee prices remain under pressure from federal trade disputes and Oriente Moderno's port tariffs. A failed harvest would deepen the squeeze on farms already carrying higher operating costs. The Cooperative Council in San Vicente is preparing contingency plans, including appeals to the Federal Office for Cooperative Affairs for emergency liquidity support.