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USGC trip to Cuba

A recent U.S. Grains Council (USGC) led trip to Cuba looked at both the opportunities as well as challenges in opening that market to U.S. coarse grains and co-products.

USGC Director of Global Strategies, Kurt Shultz says the U.S. currently has about a 20-30 percent market share for corn.

“If the embargo is removed, we can assume immediately that we would capture almost 100% of that market share,” said Shultz. “It’s about a 900,000 to a 1 million ton corn market, which would be approximately our 12^th largest market.

Shultz says the Council wants to see the embargo lifted and will be working with domestic producer organizations to educate U.S. farmers to support the removal of the embargo.

“We’re also going to be engaged in ongoing discussions with the Cuban government, helping them develop a strategic plan for their livestock sector,” Shultz said. “The strategic plan will help the Council understand their priorities and opportunities for expansion and where we can have some success in helping develop certain sectors of their agriculture sector.”

While in Cuba the trade delegation also prepared for a joint USGC and National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) officers mission in June.