Gov. Mark Dayton and MCGA farmer-leader Dan Root on a trade mission in Mexico.
Dan Root, a Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) board member, recently spent a week in Mexico with Gov. Mark Dayton meeting with agriculture, trade and manufacturing leaders in Mexico City and Guadalajara.
“Minnesota agriculture was well-represented as a whole,” Root said. “There are a lot of opportunities down there.”
Also included in the 45-member delegation with Root were representatives from the Minnesota Soybean Growers, Minnesota Soybean Processors, Minnesota Pork Producers, Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson and Congressman Tom Emmer.
Sales to Mexico accounted for 10 percent of Minnesota’s total exports in 2014. In 2014, Minnesota sold almost $592 million worth of food to Mexico, up more than 77 percent from the previous year. Over 95 percent of Mexico’s soybean needs and a large amount of its field corn are imported.
The agriculture portion of the delegation met with representatives from the National Association of Manufacturers of Animal Feeds in Guadalajara to learn more about feed and grain supplies in Mexico and discuss prices for various agricultural commodities. The group was interested in further discussions about importing distillers dried grains from Minnesota.
“We were exploring value-added opportunities for Minnesota farmers,” Root said. “The contacts we made and discussions we had will help us move forward in improving direct trade relations with Mexico that benefit Minnesota farmers.”
That’s Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson and MCGA farmer-leader Dan Root in the middle during their recent trade mission to Mexico.
Other stops on the trip included a tour of Grupo BIMBO – a multinational bakery company based in Mexico City that operates in 22 countries with more than 100 brands. In Minnesota, BIMBO Bakeries USA operates 21 branches employing nearly 700 people.
The delegation also met with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministers of Economic Development, Innovation, Science and Technology and Rural Development, the Commercial Services and the Agricultural Trade Office, General Mills Mexico and Group FH – a large provider of logistics and international trade services. Other tours included a software center with more than 36 companies developing digital products and an oilseed processing facility.
“It was a huge learning experience,” Root said. “You couldn’t be afraid to just start talking to people. I think we laid the groundwork for some good things to happen down the road.”