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Missouri corn and soybean prospects in Cuba

Missouri ag leaders are on board with expanding ag trade with Cuba and the head of the state’s Corn Growers Association says it’s a great opportunity to market Missouri corn. Gary Marshall tells Brownfield Ag News,  “We raise a lot of corn in southeast Missouri and a lot of that goes right down the Mississippi river to New Orleans so, we think it’s an excellent opportunity. But even if it’s not Missouri corn from a U.S. standpoint, if we had the entire Cuban market it would be over 750 thousand metric tons which would make that market the number 12 market for corn in the world.”

And,  Marshall says, there’s great potential for corn byproducts, “Excellent opportunity I think to move DDG’s into that market. They raise a lot of hogs, a lot of beef, some poultry and of course we can use distillers grains in each one of those markets so, we think an opportunity there and eventually if they get new cars, maybe an opportunity for ethanol.

Gary Wheeler, head of the Missouri Soybean Association, says Cuba is preparing to import more soybeans, “They have a 200 metric ton crush facility and they’re building another one, it’s actually being built right now so it’s instant access that we could take right from Missouri and collect on down from the states as well. On top of that, 100 percent of their imports on whole beans comes from the United States.”

Wheeler tells Brownfield corn and soybean growers alike would benefit, “You know, really, our growers are one in the same. Especially north of I-70 being a rotational crop so we’re definitely with our growers we’re going to take advantage of that, help educate them and give them access to a new market.”

Marshall and Wheeler were among several Missouri commodity leaders with Governor Jay Nixon at a discussion about Cuba exports at the Missouri Farm Bureau headquarters on Thursday.

Nixon is leading a trade trip to Cuba in early March with Missouri commodity group leaders and members of national ag groups that are part of the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba (USACC).