New Mexico Agricultural Producers May Find New Markets in Mexico
Date: July 21, 1997
Editor: D'Lyn Ford (505) 646-6528, dlford@nmsu.edu
LAS CRUCES -- New Mexico has an advantage over other states when it comes to agricultural trade with Mexico, but producers need help to expand markets and remove barriers, a trade official said.
At a recent meeting on New Mexico State University's campus, Rodrick McSherry, senior attache with the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in Mexico, told agricultural leaders that New Mexico is sitting on top of a tremendous marketing opportunity.
After Japan and Canada, Mexico is the third most important market for U.S. agricultural products, he said. Last year, U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico netted $5.4 billion.
"New Mexico is becoming one of the leading states in dairy production, and Mexico is a dairy-deficient country," McSherry said.
The top 10 agricultural commodities that Mexico imports are corn, dairy, wheat, cotton, beef, vegetable oil, fresh fruit, sorghum, hay and animal fat, he said. Besides traditional exports, New Mexico may be able to penetrate Mexico's potato, pinto bean and peanut markets.
"There are the classic products like sheep, horses and wheat that the United States has always sold to Mexico," McSherry said. "There also are new products like potatoes. Mexico is a tremendous consumer of French fries with all the new hamburger chains operating in that country."
More than half of Mexico's population of 90 million is under 25 years old, he said. "They're consumers of convenience foods and have a taste for American foods. The FAS is tapping into that market with the hlpe of other agricultural agencies and the private industry."
The meeting with representatives from NMSU's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA), agricultural producers and other agencies is the first of many exchanges of ideas and information, McSherry said.
FAS, a United States Department of Agriculture agency, operates in more than 130 countries. "We have tremendous resources in Mexico City because we're hooked into one of the largest networks of agricultural trade information in the world," he said. "We promote U.S. agriculture overseas, and analyze and report on what's happening in the global food economy and market development."
A graduate of NMSU's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, McSherry worked in France and Greece before taking a job with the FAS in Moscow. While in Washington, D.C., he worked on U.S. trade policies for China. His father is G.X. McSherry, state representative from Deming.
"In Mexico, my primary focus is to analyze, identify and prioritize the trade barriers that are keeping out agricultural products from the United States," he said. "We work with individual producer groups like cattle and wheat associations -- farmers, ranchers, and people in fishery and forestry."
FAS looks at funding and projects that can assist New Mexico producers, McSherry said. Target audiences in Mexico are analyzed to find out who uses a certain product and who is not buying it.
"New Mexico agricultural producers can participate in trade missions and food shows sponsored by FAS in Mexico," McSherry said. "These events show what the American food and beverage industry has to offer other countries."