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Illinois farmer says Cuba hungry for trade

Lou Lamoreux edit

A Midwest farmer who was on an ag trade mission to Cuba this summer says Cuba is hungry for trade with the U.S.

Lou Lamoreux  farms in northern Illinois, near Lanark, and is chairman of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board. He also went on the trade trip as a member of the Illinois Beef Association. He tells Brownfield Ag News, “The Cuban people want to trade, the Cuban government wants to trade. With all those we talked to, whether it was the Bureau of Tourism, the Minister of Agriculture – we talked with six different ministers while we were there. Basically, the response was the same. They want our trade.”

He tells Brownfield Cuba’s economy is improving but still suffering and its agriculture economy is very poor, “Basically, Cuba is an island that’s rock. They cannot produce food or feed. They have some pineapples and they have some sugarcane but as we travelled through Cuba – and, we didn’t do extensive travel – but as we travelled through – there’s very little arable land in Cuba. So, agriculture as part of their economy is very, very small.”

And, he says, Cuba doesn’t have a feed source for livestock, “They want our grain. They want our byproducts to feed. The problem they have is economy. How are they going to pay? The quality of their livestock needs improved but the quality of their livestock would improve a lot with proper feed.”

Lamoreux says there are good opportunities for U.S. ag trade if relations are normalized and that Cuba wants to focus on growing its tourism industry.

AUDIO:  Interview with Lou Lamoreux at 2015 Illinois State Fair Ag Day:

 

 

 

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