Mexican government stops importing milk powder

The Mexican government stopped importing milk powder in 2020, reported Víctor Villalobos, secretary of Agriculture (Sader).

«As a result of the policy of promoting self-sufficiency in food with sovereignty, the head of Agriculture, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, announced that this year milk powder will not be imported; in 2019 it was cut in half, while in 2018 60,000 tons of dairy were imported,» the Secretary of Agriculture said in a statement.

With guarantee prices, in the first five months of 2020, 65,766 producers have been supported with an economic spill of 4,967.56 million pesos in 26 states, and 760,000 tons have been collected, of which 712,400 are corn, and 47, 900 of beans, in addition to 168.5 million liters of milk.

In particular, the government of Mexico, through the Guarantee Prices Program for basic grains and milk -operated by its organization Seguridad Alimentaria Mexicana (Segalmex) – reported that bread wheat production grew 30% and rice production 20% in the last cycle.

“During the cycle of conferences of Well-being Programs, held in the National Palace, the secretary, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, affirmed that Agriculture and the producers guarantee food self-sufficiency with sovereignty with results, since this year not even a ton of milk will be imported into dust,” said the agency.

Milk powder

Imports of powdered milk from Mexico grew 14.8% in the first quarter of 2020, to 190.2 million dollars, according to data from Banco de México (Banxico).

Mexico ranked 2019 as the second largest importer of powdered milk in the world, second only to China.

Virtually all the powdered milk (99.8%) that Mexico buys from abroad is native to the United States, with marginal quantities from Canada and Germany.

Other products

The Guarantee Prices program, aimed at small and medium producers of basic grains and milk, has paid the ton of corn at 5,610 pesos, plus 150 pesos per ton for transportation, to farm workers with a land extension of five hectares of storm , from whom up to 20 tons of grain are purchased per farmer.

In beans, support is provided to the peasantry owner of up to 30 hectares of storm or five of irrigation, which deliver their crops in 589 collection centers and receive 14,500 pesos per ton, with a maximum purchase of 15 tons per producer.

Since May 20, bean grain has been delivered, as a loan in kind, in the states of San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Durango and Chihuahua, to producers affected by the drought.

Regarding the collection of milk, Segalmex pays 8.20 pesos per liter to small producers with up to 35 cows and to medium producers who own up to 100 head of cattle at a rate of 25 liters per cow.

Regarding support for food sovereignty, he assured that Guarantee Prices operates in favor of producers of rice, bread wheat and crystalline wheat, as well as corn farmers from Sinaloa, Sonora and Tamaulipas.

For these grains, physical storage is not carried out, only the difference between what the market offers and the stimulus price proposed by the agency is paid, which is 6,120 per ton for rice, 5,790 per ton for wheat and 4,150 per ton for corn from Sinaloa, Sonora and Tamaulipas.