Obama Announces Move Toward Normalizing Relations With Cuba

Dec 24, 2014

In a Dec. 17 statement, President Barack Obama announced that the United States will begin moving toward normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba. Obama outlined several steps in the process, including the establishment of a U.S. embassy in Havana and lifting of certain restrictions that have inhibited business transactions between the U.S. and Cuba.

For agriculture one key move in Obama's action is to allow U.S. financial institutions to open accounts with their counterparts in
Cuba, making it easier for U.S. exporters to sell in Cuba, which has a population of 11 million people.

The U.S. has allowed agricultural exports to Cuba since 2001, but the process has been complicated because of the banking restrictions. Payments had to be routed from Cuban banks to banks in other countries before the money could be sent to the U.S.
Farm Bureau has long called for a removal of trade restrictions with Cuba, maintaining that expanded trade with the U.S. can serve as a cornerstone for additional reforms.

"The president's opening to Cuba promises to improve trade conditions by making it easier for Cuba to buy U.S. agricultural and food products. This is welcome news for our nation's farmers and ranchers," American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman said in a statement.

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Video: Reducing Nursery Feed Costs Without Losing Performance - Dr. Julian Arroyave

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Julian Arroyave, a research swine nutritionist at Carthage Innovative Swine Solutions, discusses nursery feed budget strategies designed to reduce costs without compromising pig performance. He explains trials comparing high, medium, and low phase 1 and phase 2 feed budgets, including commercial validation data showing improved income over feed cost when lower-budget programs were applied under healthy herd conditions. Listen now on all major platforms!

Click here to read the full research article: https://academic.oup.com/tas/article/...

"Results showed that the low-budget program increased income over feed cost by $1.48 per pig."

Meet the guest: Dr. Julian Arroyave / julian-arroyave-jaramillo-638740129 is a research swine nutritionist at Carthage Innovative Swine Solutions, with experience in nursery nutrition, diet formulation, and commercial research trials. He completed his PhD at Kansas State University and previously worked as a nutrition supervisor at Kekén in Mexico. His work focuses on nutritional strategies that improve production efficiency while controlling feed costs. Learn more from Dr. Julian Arroyave Jaramillo on The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, available on all major platforms.