U.S. ag groups concerned with Trump’s comments to Cuba

Jun 27, 2017

Trump plans to cancel Obama’s work in Cuba ‘immediately’

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

American farm organizations are worried about possible repercussions of President Trump’s plans to cancel the “Cuban Thaw” started by President Obama in 2014.

“…effective immediately, I am canceling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba,” President Trump said during a June 16 event in Miami.

U.S. ag organizations worry farmers may be caught in the crosshairs.

“We should be doing more, not less, to encourage U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba,” Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a June 20 statement. “Our farmers and ranchers and the Cuban people would benefit from increased sales of high quality, American grown food and feed.”

U.S. farm groups feel Cuba's proximity to America can make it a successful tradiing partner.

“Cuba should be an easy market for U.S. corn farmers,” Wesley Spurlock, president of the National Corn Growers Association, said in a June 16 release.

“Instead, we have just 11 percent market share in a country only 90 miles from our border. At a time when the farm economy is struggling, we ask our leaders in Washington not to close doors on market opportunities for American agriculture.”

Wheat producers are facing tough economic times and require access to more markets, David Schemm, president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, said in a statement on June 16.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.