UPDATE 1-Argentine farm talks stagnate as deadline nears

(Adds political analyst's comments and details on Tuesday's meeting)

By Nicolas Misculin

BUENOS AIRES, April 22 (Reuters) - Argentine farmers complained of a lack of progress in talks with the government on Tuesday, causing jitters in financial markets due to growing expectations they could go back on strike.

The farmers staged a three-week strike in March over a tax hike on soy exports, but suspended the protest on April 2 for 30 days in order to negotiate with the center-left government of President Cristina Fernandez.

As the end of the 30-day truce draws near, the only concrete development has been an agreement over beef prices and exports. However, that deal has already run into problems and fewer cattle were sent to the main Liniers market on Tuesday.

"The talks are pretty difficult. The only area where we made a small advance was the beef issue, but today we're back to square one," Pablo Orsolini, vice president of the Argentine Agrarian Federation (FAA), told Reuters.

"We're going to carry on negotiating until May 2. We're going to exhaust all avenues, but people are very annoyed and they're already thinking about taking some kind of measure from May 2," he added.

The FAA was one of four agricultural associations that led the strike, which disrupted the country's key grains exports, emptied meat counters and landed Fernandez with her biggest crisis since she took office in December.

UNCERTAINTY

Argentine bonds, the peso currency and stocks took a beating on Tuesday due to the uncertainty over the farm talks, while soy futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed up, partly on perceptions that the truce in Argentina could break.

If farmers do renew their protest, it is not clear if they would resume the strike tactics seen last month when they halted sales of livestock and grains and manned roadblocks to stop farm goods reaching ports and supermarkets.

Government officials and farm leaders were due to meet late on Tuesday to discuss wheat policy, but some agricultural representatives told local media they were opposed to the government's proposal.

The government has tightly controlled the wheat market in recent years as it seeks to tame rising prices for staples such as bread and pasta.

Argentina is a top five global wheat exporter, but the country's exports have been restricted and no new wheat export permits have been granted for months.

As the negotiations have become increasingly bogged down, farmers have accused the government of sending mixed messages by involving controversial Domestic Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno in the negotiations.

Some political analysts say the government could be involving Moreno to put pressure on farmers to accept official proposals. Farmers have accused him of using threats to influence the talks.

"Both sides want a deal, but neither wants to give too much ground," said Roberto Bacman of the Center of Public Opinion Studies. (Writing by Helen Popper, editing by Matthew Lewis)