Wisconsin Ag Officials Hope For Stronger Ties With Mexico

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is sending a delegation to Mexico next month to strengthen dairy exports.

DATCP officials and agricultural companies from Wisconsin will have an exhibit at Expo Leche, Mexico’s largest dairy conference.

A press release from DATCP said the purpose of the trade mission is to “establish and reinforce relationships with Mexico.”

As President Donald Trump calls for negotiating trade with Mexico through the North American Free Trade Agreement, Bob Cropp from the University of Wisconsin-Madison said Wisconsin isn’t the only one looking to reinforce trade relationships.

“We’ve had people from the U.S. just recently go down to assure Mexico that we’re serious about maintaining a strong relationship with them,” Cropp said.

Mexico is Wisconsin’s second-largest ag export market, buying $61 million in dairy products in 2016.

The state’s No. 1 market is Canada. But that trade relationship has been strained in the last month as new Canadian policies make it harder for U.S. producers to compete.

John Pagel, from the Dairy Business Milk Marketing Cooperative, said these changes make talks with Mexico even more important.

“We want to do whatever we can to increase trading and being able to increase the number of products going out from Wisconsin to Mexico instead of reducing it,” Pagel said.