Farm states eager to sell to Cuba

WASHINGTON - Farm state lawmakers and agricultural groups are ramping up efforts to lift the trade embargo against Cuba in the wake of President Barack Obama's decision to normalize diplomatic ties with Havana.

More than 25 food and agricultural interests including Cargill, which has facilities in Cedar Rapids, the National Chicken Council and the National Turkey Federation announced last week a coalition aimed at pressing Congress to scrap the embargo and open up the island to increased investment with the United States.

Among the attendees at the rollout of the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba were Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor.

Obama last month announced that the United States will open an embassy in Cuba for the first time in 53 years, and his administration would ease some travel and trade restrictions.

Vilsack said in December that Obama's decision will remove technical barriers between U.S. and Cuban companies and create a 'more efficient, less burdensome opportunity for Cuba to buy U.S. agricultural products.”

But the presidential executive action does not affect the congressionally imposed economic embargo against Cuba, which was tightened in 1996 and imposes significant restrictions on companies seeking to do business there.

Past efforts to ease trade and travel restrictions for U.S. farmers and ranchers have languished in Congress, but backers believe momentum could turn with Obama's move.

'We know the president took it about as far as he could legally, but he's opened the doors to a deeper conversation on the embargo,” said the group's vice chairman, Paul Johnson.

He said the group - formed this past May and now looking for momentum in Congress - will argue that opening ties would boost U.S. companies, as well as help Cubans get more goods.

'If you improve trade with the United States, you're going to create more opportunities,” Johnson said.

‘Potential market'

'I see a good potential market for coarse grains and meat,” said DeWitt farmer Bob Bowman, chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board.

Bowman, who visited Cuba in 2007 with Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey, said Cubans need high-protein, high-energy grain to feed their livestock.

'They were begging us to trade with them,” he said.

Bowman said it's in the national interest for the United States to be on good terms with its neighboring countries.

Increased trade, he said, will improve Cubans' standard of living and steer them toward a more democratic government.

While the Iowa Soybean Association has not taken a formal position on the topic, Chief Executive Officer Kirk Leeds said Cuba needs both soybean oil and meal.

Recent overtures, while positive, will not likely result in near-term exports, he said.

The National Pork Producers Association has not taken a position on normalization of relations with Cuba, according to Ron Birkenholz, spokesman for the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who attended the coalition's rollout, said lifting unilateral trade and travel restrictions would benefit farmers and ranchers in his state.

He noted a 2010 Texas A&M University study that estimated easing restrictions and lifting the travel ban could result in $365 million in additional sales of U.S. agricultural commodities, boost the U.S. economy by $1.1 billion and create 6,000 new jobs.

'Cuba imports the vast majority of its food, so when we don't sell agriculture products to Cuba, somebody else does,” said Moran.

Though the U.S. has allowed agricultural exports to Cuba since 2000, exporters said financing restrictions, including a requirement that Cuba pay on delivery or purchase, curbs competition for U.S. products.