In 2000, the US economic embargo against Cuba was loosened to allow American farmers to export to the island. The US quickly became the largest agricultural exporter there. But no longer; US exports to Cuba have fallen off a cliff, down 48 percent from 2014 to 2015. And many American farmers say the US needs to fix that.
Larry Wooten, president of the North Carolina Farm Bureau, has been leading groups of farmers to Cuba to look at ways to increase exports there.
Cuba hasn’t come up much on the campaign trail in this presidential election. But a few days ago, Donald Trump did mention the country, saying he’d reverse concessions made by the Obama administration, such as the easing of remittances and travel restrictions. Hillary Clinton has declared: “The Cuba embargo needs to go.”
“Two things tourism needs are good accommodation — hotels and places to stay — and good food,” says Wooten.
His farmers can provide that.
In eastern North Carolina in a little town called Chocowinity, Shawn Harding shows off the 150-acre farm where he grows strawberries, tomatoes, sweet corn, soybeans and wheat.
Harding considers himself a small farmer, and he sells locally. Cuba really isn’t on his radar. That said, he’s a businessman, and a proponent of more international trade.
“The more we export as a country, because we overproduce in the United States, the higher the price is going to be,” says Harding.
The more sweet corn that’s sold to Cuba, the less there will be on the US market. So, the price for local corn would go up.
Agriculture is a $13 billion industry in North Carolina. Cuban exports are just a tiny drop in that bucket. But they still matter, says Blake Brown, an agricultural economist at NC State University.
“It’s a new market. The growth in product [Cubans] consume as their income grows will be very substantial. And it’s right off our shores, so you’d be kind of crazy not to look at trying to move into that market,” says Brown.
But selling crops overseas is complex in the 21st century. American farmers need to help poorer nations finance their purchases. The US Commerce Department often helps with that. But there are prohibitions against issuing US credit to Cuba, and that’s hurting North Carolina farmers.
