WASHINGTON: US Wheat Associates Assistant Director of Policy Ben Conner and Kansas wheat farmer Doug Keesling joined members of the US Agriculture Coalition for Cuba to learn about the issues surrounding lifting the trade embargo. The visit included more than 95 US agricultural leaders who laid some key foundational work so that when the embargo is lifted both countries can have a good start on two-way communication.
Keesling said that he had high expectations before the trip as to what he’d see on the ground in Cubait’s hard not to have those preconceived notions after more than 50 years of an embargo.
“I understand why the embargo was put into place and I don’t disagree,” Keesling said. “But today, it’s hurting the US more than anyone because Cuba is able to get the necessities not extra supplies or abundance from other countries.
“But what I found there is that yes, there has been a struggle with the embargo, but my illusion of underdeveloped is wrong,” he said. “They are a developed country. They aren’t ‘third world.’ They just struggle with getting parts and supplies because of the embargo.”
Keesling gave the example of a sugar farm cooperative he toured that was in the middle of harvest. And they had two brand new harvesters, a state-of-the-art mill and other advancements. They were able to get parts and agricultural inputs through Brazil and other countries, he explained.
“I thought they would have nothing because the US had cut them off,” Keesling said. “But, in fact, they’re just getting it from everybody but the US” The key problem is financing to buy equipment and inputs.
“I talked with the sugarcane farmers and they said they had to make special arrangements for those combines because Cuba can’t finance on the world market,” he added. So, the equipment manufacturer delivers the equipment through Brazil right before harvest and the Cuban cooperative has to make two payments. The first is due right after the first harvest and the second payment after the second harvest. It’s a short-term loan in a situation when on the world market Cuba can’t do long-term lending. They are finding ways around the embargo, Keesling said.
Ongoing travel and finance restrictions mean that while US wheat farmers’ hands are tied in trading with Cuba, competitors in the European Union, Canada and other nations freely sell wheat to Cuba. According to US Wheat, even if the US eases its trade policies for Cuba keeping the embargo in place means an unstable business environment for both countries.
Keesling said he could see Kansas and other Great Plains states could benefit greatly from dropping the embargo. “There is a large need for stuff from Kansas,” he said. “Cuba can only grow durum wheat, and bread production is a staple of their diet, but durum isn’t a good bread wheat. There are 11 million people there, 90 miles off our shores, who want hard red winter wheat.
“They struggle to get it from Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, but we have plenty to trade,” he said. “There’s a market for animal feed and livestock genetics. They have a fair amount of livestock, mostly heat tolerant breeds like our cattle in the southern states. But they need animal feed.
“We saw a set of pregnant cows and you couldn’t tell that they were pregnant, they were that skinny,” he added. “I’m amazed at what they utilize. In the sugarcane harvest, everything that’s topped off is usually left in the field as waste in places like Louisiana. There, they had guys out there hand collecting that waste and hauling it in carts to feed cattle. They don’t waste anything and will take anything available to feed their livestock.”
Keesling said that the embargo lifting doesn’t have to be a one-way trade street, either. And it goes beyond Cuban cigars.
He said that because of the embargo, the Cuban government initiated an urban garden program, teaching their urban populations to grow backyard gardens to keep the population from starving.
“Since they haven’t been able to get chemicals and fertilizer, the majority of their papayas and tomatoes and other fruits that they do export are all organic,” he explained. “So, they have a value-added product right there that took years to create and there’s a market for that organic fruit and vegetable supply into the US” The logistics of bringing in that organic food is handy because a lot of those markets are in the Gulf and along the East Coast.
“My impression was that the farmers were looking to improve,” Keesling said. “In that sugarcane cooperative, the farmers there have a plan of a business model if their exports open up. Basically it tells what they would need to change in their agronomy practices to increase their production of sugar.” But, without markets opening up, these cooperatives aren’t likely to put money and effort into increasing production if there’s no hope for economic return, he added.
