Argentina may be forced to import wheat and beef as soon as 2010 as a result of the deteriorating investment climate in Argentina coupled with the worst drought in 50 years, Mercopress reported May 13, citing an internal paper from the Argentine Agriculture Ministry. The stark decline in Argentina's agriculture industry is a serious challenge for the government, which is already teetering on the brink of what may become a serious fiscal and economic crisis. The status of Argentina's agricultural industry has been an issue of concern for STRATFOR. The combination of domestic food price controls, high export taxes and, most recently, a major drought, has left the industry foundering. A shaky investment climate resulting from the restrictive policies of populist Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner also has sent agricultural investors running scared to neighboring Uruguay and Brazil.