Argentina, a nation that prides itself on having more cattle than people, may soon be forced to import beef to keep its meat-loving citizens happy at the dinner table.

Intense government efforts to keep meat affordable through taxes, export restrictions and price controls have enabled Argentines to eat record amounts of beef this year, but the short-term bonanza has come at a very steep cost. With little or no profit left in meat, ranchers are selling out, slaughtering even the female cows needed to maintain their herds.

President Cristina Fernandez, who famously dismissed soy as a "weed," has said her government must protect consumers at a time when booming soy production has taken over 32 million acres (13 million hectares) of grassland once used for ranching.

Her government also has paid huge subsidies for massive feedlot operations where previously grass-fed cattle are fattened on corn and grain.

But it still takes three years from the moment a calf is born for a cut of beef to reach the supermarket, where the price _ set weekly by government bureaucrats _ is roughly 2 dollars per pound (half kilo), less than the going rate for a pizza that takes minutes to make.

Those low prices have Argentines, already some of the world's biggest beef consumers, practically gorging on steaks. By August of this year, Argentines devoured more than the average body-weight in beef _ nearly 165 pounds (73.9 kilos), the most in 15 years, according to the Chamber of Commerce of the Argentine Meat Industry.

Most Argentines stubbornly reject the idea of replacing beef with chicken, pork or other meats. Despite rich South Atlantic fisheries, seafood is rarely seen on dinner tables, and vegetarians are generally seen as culturally suspect. A typical "parillada," or mixed grill, includes ribs, steaks, sausages and even intestines.

"In my house we eat beef nearly every day," said a typical griller _ Maria Gremone, 77, an Argentine-Italian widower. "Every Sunday I roast for my children, grandchildren and anyone else who comes to visit."

Argentina's meat industry slaughtered about 11 million head of cattle during the first eight months of this year, more than any similar period in the past two decades. "It would be great news were it not for the fact that 50 percent of the cattle slaughtered were female," said Miguel Schiariti, the chamber's president.

"By 2011, the shortage will be evident and it will be impossible to continue without importing beef," added Hugo Biolcati, president of the Argentine Rural Society, which called on its 10,000 members _ mostly large property owners involved in ranching and farming _ to join an anti-government protest in the capital Thursday night.