KyCorn supports calls by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) for Mexico to reverse a proposed ban on genetically modified (GM) corn.
In 2020, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that his country would phase out GM corn and the use of herbicide glyphosate by 2024. Mexico currently imports millions of metric tons of U.S. corn each year, including corn from Kentucky.
Almost all U.S. corn is genetically modified. Genetic modification ensures that corn can withstand damaging pests, allowing farmers to maximize yields while minimizing inputs and costs.
The efforts against GM corn by López Obrador are based on unfounded concerns about GM corn and the use of essential herbicides by American farmers.
“Any interruption to corn exports to Mexico will have a significant impact on this state and its growers,” KyCorn President Joseph Sisk said in a statement.
Sisk noted that Mexico’s demands are not only a non-starter, but they would take years of preparation and transition time to enact.
“Corn growers are busy right now booking their bags of seed for spring 2023 planting, meaning that what we purchase this fall will be in grain channels as late as 2025,” he said. “Much of that seed corn is and will continue to be biotech corn that empowers us to conserve the soil and reduce insecticide use.”
KyCorn and NCGA are calling on the Biden administration’s U.S. Trade Representative to launch a formal bilateral consultation under USMCA. Such a move would allow for extensive debate on the matter and mediation.
“We’re now looking to the Biden administration to intervene to ensure that corn exports to Mexico don’t come to a sudden stop,” NCGA President Tom Haag, who farms in Eden Valley, wrote in an opinion piece published in The Hill.
Following repeated calls from the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) asking the Biden administration to respond to plans by Mexico to block imports of biotech corn, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai met virtually with Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, Raquel Buenrostro. During the meeting, Tai talked about the importance of avoiding a disruption in U.S. corn exports.
“We applaud Ambassador Tai for listening to corn grower leaders and sharing our concerns with the leadership in Mexico,” said NCGA President Tom Haag. “But, given the magnitude of Mexico’s threats and the fact that the embargo is set to be fully implemented by 2024, we need USTR to resolve the impasse as soon as possible by filing a dispute under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
“We need USTR to act soon and the problem to be resolved quickly, because while some might think the clock is ticking, in reality, we’re already out of time.”
Have questions about genetically modified corn hybrids and other crops? Check out https://www.gmoanswers.com.