Flowing from a snake-like spout, 30,000 metric tons of grain poured Tuesday into the hull of a ship set to take it to a place American wheat hasn't gone in 40 years Cuba.
The ship, scheduled to leave today from the Port of Galveston in Texas, not only will deliver the first shipment of U.S. wheat to Cuba since the trade embargo was begun against the island country in 1961, but also will carry the economic hopes of farmers and lawmakers hoping to create a new market.
"This is a historic first shipment, but we have a long way to go," U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Tex., said as he and other officials stood near the ship as wheat was loaded in it.
The commercial shipment of wheat from Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma is a joint venture of Decatur, Ill.-based Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Kansas City, Mo.-based Farmland Industries Inc.
"This is a great day for the U.S. farmer," said Bob Honse, a Lawrence resident and Farmland's president and chief executive officer. "American agriculture needs new markets and enhanced trade. I hope this is the first of many sales of Farmland-member grain to Cuba."
The wheat sale was made possible by congressional action in 2000 that softened the embargo, allowing the sale of food to the Caribbean country but barring U.S. government financing of any such sales. The move came in response to damage caused by Hurricane Michelle, which struck Nov. 4.
American agribusiness is hoping this first shipment will open up Cuba as a new market. The Caribbean country buys about 1.1 million tons of wheat each year, mostly from Europe, Canada and Argentina.
"Cuba represents a market of $700 million a year. Those are pretty big numbers for us," Lampson said.
Farmland officials would not disclose the sale price for the wheat but said it was worth $3.5 million on the open market.
Last month, the first direct commercial agricultural exports from the United States to Cuba since 1963 corn and chicken parts arrived on the island. Trade between the countries was extremely heavy before the U.S. government imposed trade sanctions on Fidel Castro's government more than 40 years ago.
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