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MO corn farmers call for full USMCA renewal, stress ethanol market access

A mid-Missouri farmer says he’s optimistic the U.S., Mexico and Canada will renew their trade commitments in another multilateral trade agreement next year.

Jay Schutte raises corn and soybeans in Audrain County, and is an ex-officio board member of the Missouri Corn Growers Association.

“The American farmer does an excellent job of raising crops and we certainly have to find a home for it all at the end of the day.”

Schutte says bulk corn exports are important, as more than 99 percent of Missouri’s corn is exported to Mexico and Canada, but corn farmers would like to see Mexico buy U.S. ethanol. He says there might be regulatory hurdles to overcome to make that happen, but…

“It would certainly be a step in the right direction and we have to take progress whenever we can. If they would adopt a 10 percent blend rate like the United States pretty much has right now, that would increase our ethanol demand by 1.2 billion gallons.”

Canada remains the top market for U.S. ethanol, importing more than 603 million gallons in the 2022 marketing year.

Schutte says having good dispute mechanisms in place in the trade deal is also important, because of what happened with the biotech corn issue in Mexico.

“Quite frankly, we want to stress that everything be done, decisions be made on a scientific basis.”

Monday was the deadline to submit public comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative ahead of the U.S. Mexico-Canada Agreement renegotiation in 2026.

The Missouri Corn Growers Association signed two letters with their feedback, which includes asking the USTR to support a full 16-year renewal of USMCA with no modifications. Read the letter from U.S. ag industry groups and a letter from Missouri Corn.

The USTR will hold a USMCA public hearing on November 17.

Schutte is also a National Corn Growers Association board member. Hear the interview.