Texas agricultural exports to Cuba continue growth

AgriLife Today/ By: Blair Fannin

COLLEGE STATION – Though tightly controlled, there are opportunities for Texas agricultural producers and businesses to capitalize on potential exports of food products to Cuba, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service economist.

Dr. Parr Rosson, AgriLife Extension economist and director of the Center for North American Studies at Texas A&M University in College Station, said the Cuban economy has held its own amid world economic turbulence.

Thanks to the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, U.S. businesses may export food, agricultural and forestry products and medicines to Cuba.

Texas supplies Cuba with several export items, including chicken leg quarters, corn and wheat. U.S. corn exports to Cuba saw more than a 200 percent increase in value in 2011 to $109 million during the January-November period as Cuba uses more corn products for poultry feeding operations and other uses.

“We’ve begun to see some higher quality beef cuts enter the Cuban market as well,” Rosson said. Pork, cotton and dairy products produced in Texas are also exported there.

“Pears, apples, raisins and dry (pinto) beans were exported in 2011, along with corn chips and potato chips,” Rosson said. “These are products that we are seeing more interest in due to the growing tourism market in Cuba.”  More >>