Foundation and early influence and Paraguay streets of Buenos Aires Calls for the foundation of an economic society dedicated to fostering agricultural growth in Argentina, a country rich in prospective farmland, were commonplace among the Argentine elites as early as the 18th century during the colonial rule of the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, and continued well into the 19th century following Argentina's independence from Spain. On 10 July 1866, one day after Argentina's 50th independence anniversary, a group of landowners led by Eduardo Olivera established the Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA) to promote agricultural development. Its motto, "Cultivar el suelo es servir a la patria" ("To cultivate the soil is to serve the nation"), reflected its ideological alignment with agrarian elites. The SRA organized its first
Exposición Rural on 11 April 1875, which became Argentina's premier agricultural fair and a significant regional event. From its inception under President
Bartolomé Mitre, the SRA represented large landowners and exerted direct and indirect influence over government policies. A pivotal moment was its involvement in the
Conquest of the Desert (1878–1885), a military campaign led by President
Nicolás Avellaneda to displace Indigenous communities from the
Pampas and
Patagonia regions, drastically expanding Argentina's agricultural frontier. The SRA financed the campaign through land bonds (4
pesos per hectare) and the government shared the SRA's vision that agricultural expansion (and, in particular,
livestock farming) was the primary goal of the campaign. Key beneficiaries of the campaign included many of the SRA's most prominent members, such as the Martínez de Hoz, Anchorena, and Álzaga families, who acquired millions of productive hectares. José Martínez de Hoz, then SRA president, received 2.5 million hectares.
Political interventions throughout the 20th century During the 1930 Exposición Rural, Agriculture Minister (who served under President
Hipólito Yrigoyen) was heckled by crowds demanding Yrigoyen's overthrow. The incident, coupled with the disappearance of official vehicles, escalated tensions. Six days later, a military coup led by General
José Félix Uriburu ousted Yrigoyen, with the SRA's hostility cited as a contributing factor. The SRA regained political influence in the successive governments of the
Infamous Decade. In 1944, the SRA opposed General
Edelmiro Farrell's
Estatuto del Peón Rural, which granted labor rights to rural workers. The SRA argued it would cause "social disorder" and likened labor relations to paternalistic hierarchies. Antagonistic relations remained during the subsequent governments of
Juan Perón: the SRA supported the anti-Peronist
Democratic Union and, in December 1945, organized a
lockout to block the
aguinaldo (year-end bonus) instituted by the Perón administration. This triggered a general strike, forcing a compromise to pay the bonus in installments. In 1975, during the
Isabel Perón government, the SRA co-founded the Asamblea Permanente de Entidades Gremiales Empresarias (APEGE) and launched an 11-day strike against the government, reducing crop planting and causing shortages. The strike, alongside APEGE's 1976 lockout, preceded the
24 March 1976 coup. In the aftermath,
José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz was appointed minister of economy and SRA secretary
Jorge Zorreguieta named secretary of agriculture by the
National Reorganization Process dictatorship. Pro-agribusiness measures adopted by Martínez de Hoz at the helm of the economy ministry included the repealing of the Estatuto del Peón Rural in 1980. Following the return of democracy in 1983, the SRA adopted an antagonistic posture against the newly democratically-elected president
Raúl Alfonsín. Alfonsín was booed at the SRA's 101st Exposición in 1988, denounced the hostility as "fascist," and left without inaugurating the event.
21st century During the Kirchner administrations (2003–2015), the SRA clashed with the government and aligned social movements, positioning itself as a leading opposition force. In 2008, the SRA led the Mesa de Enlace, allied with other agrarian groups, in a
129-day strike against export taxes projected by President
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Roadblocks and port disruptions forced the repeal of Resolution 125 after Vice President
Julio Cobos cast a tiebreaking Senate vote against it. ==
La Rural fair==