U.S. corn farmers worried about Mexico's GMO ban
A regulatory move within Mexico has U.S. farmers concerned that it will corn-er their corn crop production.
Most farmers, my generation and younger, have never used conventional corn. Hinkel Farms' Elizabeth Hinkel told FOX Business on Mornings with Maria Tuesday that they don't have the equipment to do it. If we had to go back to growing conventional, it would be a huge investment. On top of that, our yields would be decreased. American farmers are going to Capitol Hill to express concerns about Mexico's proposed ban on U.S. imports of genetically modified corn, as well as warning that the move could become the most catastrophic thing to happen to corn farmers.
Mexico is the biggest buyer of corn in the United States, purchasing more than $10 billion of yellow and white U.S. corn last season.
Hinkel explained that our corn is fairly local here in Pennsylvania, but our price is still determined by the board. If the price goes down, it's going to affect farmers all over the United States, no matter where their corn is sold. Farmers are husky about Mexico's GMO ban because they fear it will hurt their bottom line.
Hinkel said that I just can't imagine what this is going to do, and I just can't imagine in my mind what this is going to do. It's farmers from one end of the United States to the other. It's going to have an effect regardless where you sell it or what it's used for. Mexico has claimed that the regulation would help increase domestic production, with the ban set to take effect in 2024. The U.S. trade representative Jayme White met with Mexico's Under Secretary of Economy for Foreign Trade Alejandro Encinas last week to discuss the GMO decision and future relations.
After the meeting, the USDA released a statement saying Mexico's proposed approach, which isn't grounded in science, still threatens to disrupt billions of dollars in bilateral agricultural trade, cause serious economic harm to U.S. farmers and Mexican livestock producers, and stifle important innovations needed to respond to pressing climate and food security challenges. A fifth-generation Nebraska corn farmer, who mainly grows white corn for Mexican consumption, noted he wouldn't switch to non-GMO corn due to environmental and financial consequences.
Our destinies are tied together. Nebraska Corn Growers Association Chairman Andy Jobman told Alworth on Tuesday that they need us as much as we need them. We need to come to the table and just resolve this issue and allow GMO corn to continue going into Mexico. The country passed a regulation that discourages exports, including a 50% tariff on white corn leaving the nation, as Mexico prepares for the potential ban.