Monday, June 19, 2017

Farmers object to Trump’s stance on Cuba

Farmers are not happy about United States President Donald Trump’s cold shoulder treatment of Cuba.

“We urge the administration to exercise caution in rolling out any new restrictions on doing business with Cuba that would limit our agricultural export opportunities," American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said in a statement. 

"Our farmers and ranchers and the Cuban people would benefit from increased sales of high-quality, American-grown food and feed."

Cuba has been open to U.S. exports since 2015, but limited to cash sales. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) last year set updated export requirements for exports to Cuba including fresh and frozen pork, poultry, beef, sheep and goat meat. 

From the beginning of the Cuba revolution in 1961, Canadian farmers have had good relations with Cubans.

In the early years, Cubans bought Holsteins and Yorkshire hogs from Canada, especially from Southwestern Ontario.