Will the USMCA Help Dairy Farmers?

Will the USMCA Help Dairy Farmers?

Rick Worthington
Rick Worthington
Will the USMCA Help Dairy Farmers?

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement is officially the law of the land.

What does the USMCA means for dairy farmers in the US?

Mark Stephenson with the University of Wisconsin-Madison shares some insight.

“The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is a complex document, as you could imagine between three contiguous countries. And we’ve had historically a lot of trade. Mexico has for a long period of time been our largest trading partner for dairy. Canada has been our largest trading partner for all goods, and they’ve usually been our second or third largest for dairy as well.”

And, Jeff Lyon with FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative says Milk prices have started to recover and the USMCA could go a long way in restoring the dairy economy.

“We’ve seen a tightening of the milk supply…so we have seen some improvement in prices. We’re seeing tremendous demand for dairy products, both domestically and obviously there’s people that want it worldwide, as well. So the demand is still strong. You’re seeing growth there, our consumption per capita of dairy products is very, very strong, and that continues.”

Lyon says, the USMCA sends a positive message to the rest of the world — demonstrating that the U.S. can sign and pass a trade agreement that reflects modern trade rules.

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