Agricultural mission heading to Cuba

AUGUSTA – Six states – including Maine – will be vying next month for profitable agricultural contracts when round-table discussions begin Wednesday, Dec. 15, in Havana, Cuba.

But Maine’s leadership has a strategy: The delegation of a dozen agricultural and educational experts plans on arriving Sunday, Dec. 12, to get a jump on the competition.

“We’re going in early, and we already have negotiations set for Monday [Dec. 13],” said Doyle Marchant, president of Cedar Springs Agricultural Co. of North Yarmouth, who has been doing business with Cuba for three years. “I want these deals done.”

Marchant, who helped organize Maine’s first Cuban agricultural trade mission two years ago, said Monday it is key for Maine’s delegation to “first provide a good product. Then establish a good relationship so the Cubans know they can trust us, and we know we can trust them before we plant.”

But, he added, “I have the ear of the Cubans, and they want Maine’s products.”

In 2000, Congress amended the 40-year embargo on trade with Cuba, allowing agricultural products to be traded. This was followed in March 2002 by a Maine Legislature resolution that promoted the trade – only the second state to do so.

The first trade mission resulted in the shipment of bred heifers, dairy cows, eggs and seed potatoes to Cuba.

Today more than 25 states market agricultural products to Cuba ranging from wheat to blueberries.

Marchant has been traveling to Cuba every eight weeks for the past three years, promoting Maine agriculture and setting the stage for the upcoming negotiations.

He said he was hesitant to estimate how much profit Cuban contracts could represent for Maine’s agriculture industry, but provided an example.

“Vermont just contracted in August to send powdered milk to Cuba. It was a $6 million deal,” he said. “Without a doubt, the small amount of commerce we are already doing with Cuba is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Cuba contracted for more than $1 billion in U.S. agricultural products over the past three years and made timely cash payments of $925 million to American providers, according to data from the United Nations Foreign Agricultural Organization.

“They are keenly interested in our potato products,” he said, “both seed and table stock. This could develop into something very, very substantial.”

The Cubans also are interested in apples. “Not cooking apples, but crisp apples,” he said. “They are currently importing eight to twelve carloads of apples a month.”

“They are also looking for cattle, purebred Holstein and Jersey breeds, and embryos,” said Marchant. “They are embryo-smart and understand the technology, but they are not doing too much of it because their infrastructure is falling apart because of the embargo.”

Marchant will lead the mission along with former Maine Gov. Kenneth Curtis and Maine Commissioner of Agriculture Robert W. Spear.

Members of the delegation will include representatives from the potato, apple, dairy and maple syrup industries, as well as Maine academia. Delegation members include:

. Apples: Jason Cooper, Cooper Brothers, Turner.

. Dairy (embryos and livestock): Dennis Conant and Steve Keene, Conant Acres, Canton.

. Maple Syrup: Jeremy Steeves, Strawberry Hill Farms, Skowhegan.

. Potatoes: Seth Bradstreet III, president of the Maine Potato Board, Bradstreet Farms, Newport; Rodney Chamberland, Chamberland Farms Inc., St. Agatha; Don Todd, D.E. Todd Inc., Bangor.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Mark Hutton, Highmoor Farm, Monmouth.

Spear, in a prepared statement, said he also will use the Cuban mission to explore options and issues for other agricultural growers and producers in Maine.

“It is important for Maine that we explore this new market and tap into the potential we believe exists for Maine’s quality agricultural products, as well as establish a proactive long-term relationship with Cuba,” Spear said. “We hope that this is only the beginning of a relationship between Maine’s hardworking agricultural producers and this large and relatively untapped market.”