Feeding Cuba

Southeast Missourian

For many crops, prices have plummeted to 30-year lows. Equipment costs have tripled over the past decade. Seed and fertilizer have grown more expensive. The fallout of this devastating agriculture economy has resulted in record U.S. government farm bailouts, costing taxpayers billions each year.

So you'll excuse Southeast Missouri farmers for unapologetically seeing Cuban President Fidel Castro as just another customer with a fist full of cash.

"If opening trade with Cuba helps pull us out of the slump, then we have to do it," said David Herbst, 34, who has operated a farm near Chaffee, Mo., for 10 years. "We have to open trade barriers, not build them up. We have to stop using agriculture as a weapon. The only one who ends up getting hurt is the American farmer."

New Madrid, Mo., farmer Gary Branum said it's ridiculous that the U.S. hasn't opened up trade to Cuba.

"It's a shame we've got a neighbor 90 miles away and we can't do business," said Branum, 55, who has 2,400 acres of rice and 400 acres of corn. "There's no doubt in my mind, more trade with Cuba would be good for farmers."

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson agrees. Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, returned last week with a Congressional delegation from a five-day trip to Cuba -- her second -- where she lobbied Castro over a lengthy dinner to buy American food.

"He was very responsive and not nearly as hard-lined as he was the last time," she said. "Another surprise was that he readily admitted that his government has not done enough for the people."

Such a partnership might have seemed laughable before 2000, when Emerson was a vocal supporter of legislation that eased the four-decades-old embargo, enacted to hurt Castro and promote democracy.

The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 allowed certain exceptions from U.S. sanctions for agricultural and medical exports, permitting Cuba to buy America products for the first time since 1962. The ban on U.S. imports from Cuba was not changed.

The act also bars both the federal government and U.S. banks from financing food sales, something that is common practice with non-sanctioned countries. This sticking point has often sent Cuba to other countries to buy food.

Emerson is not proposing government financing, realizing it would never pass Congress. Rather, she says private U.S. financing should be allowed. She gives the example of Cuba wanting to buy 400,000 metric tons of rice from a U.S. rice producer. The American company could finance the sale and then Cuba could repay over time.

"That's what we want to happen," Emerson said. "We know government financing will never fly, but this might have a chance, though it will be a tough fight."

Promoting democracy

Emerson also thinks the travel ban should be lifted. It might accomplish something the sanctions could not, she said.

"There's no faster way to promote our good democratic values than to have interaction between the American people and the Cuban people," Emerson said. "We've seen it to some degree in China and in the Soviet Union before the wall came down. The more opportunity they have to interact with Americans, the more opportunities those people have to pursue democracy and freedom."

She said her trip to Cuba is valuable in keeping dialogue open and to show Castro that change can take place. Emerson called it a win-win.

"We're looking for markets and this is a golden opportunity," she said. "We've got to have markets for our farmers in order to keep them in business."

Emerson feels it's worth the effort. In 1999, Cuba was an $800-million market for food and other agricultural products. If the United States were to expand trade and investment, along with increased tourism to Cuba, she said it could mean U.S. exports to Cuba could reach $1.24 billion annually.

Expanded U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba would generate an additional $1.6 billion in U.S. gross domestic product, which is simply a gross measure of market activity. It would also stimulate another $2.8 billion in business sales throughout the U.S. economy, Emerson said.

Missouri would be in the top 10 states that forecasters say would export crops to Cuba. Missouri stands to gain $40 million in sales each year. Major U.S. food exports to Cuba are forecast to be rice, soybeans, wheat, chicken, corn, beef and pork.

Charlie Kruse, president of Missouri Farm Bureau, said Emerson has vast support from farmers across the state.

"Why wouldn't she? It's a perfect fit," he said. "It has nothing to do with communism, but about business. We're 90 miles from them and they need what we have."

Cindy Faulkner has been a farmer for 25 years south of Sikeston, Mo. Faulkner, 41, was the first woman to receive Farmer of the Year in 1997. The main issue is no longer Cuba and its government, she said. It's America and its farmers.

"Cuba has survived," she said. "They've bought their commodities somewhere. We might as well be a player."

Business with communists

Even some who were close to the fight against communism say trade with Cuba has to happen. State Rep. Peter Meyers, R-Sikeston, was the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Ronald Reagan.

"I can remember Reagan's orders vividly: Only cash from communist countries," Meyers said. "He would never have wanted us to give them credit and I still agree with that. They get arms for weapons and other things. But I think we should be trading with them; no question Jo Ann's doing the right thing."

Farmer Larry Strobel said that the Cuban Missile Crisis is ancient history.

"If we wanted to spank them, we did it a long time ago," said Strobel, 64, who farms 3,400 acres of grain near Bell City, Mo.

Trading with Cuba, however, is not going to be what saves the American farmer, Strobel said.

"But if Cuba buys our product, it will raise the price," he said. "Even if it only raised it a penny, and I'm sure it'd do more than that, it would mean a lot of dollars. What are we waiting for?"

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137