Deal Reached to Send Florida Cattle to Cuba [View All]

[Say_What]

Farmers and other ag folks are sending a message to congress that basically says: 'Play your embargo politics a$$holes, we're going ahead with trade no matter what you do.'

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HAVANA, CUBA (October 1, 2003) -- The agreement of ALIMPORT to purchase 250 head of Florida beef cattle from J.P. Wright & Company, Inc. of Naples, Florida represents the first sale of Florida beef cattle to Cuba in over 40 years.

The details of the deal include the purchase of 80 brangus heifers from the Strickland Ranch of Manatee County, Florida, 80 brafords from the Adams Ranch of Ft. Pierce, Florida, 81 beef masters and 3 bulls from each breed. The cattle will be shipped from a Florida port in the first quarter of 2004, following two earlier shipments by Mr. Wright this past August. During the U.S. Food and Agricultural Fair in Havana last September 2002, Mr. Wright signed a contract to supply 150 head of dairy cattle.

"We are setting the foundation for the resupply of cattle from Florida to Cuba," said J. P. Wright & Company CEO Parke Wright. "Cattle trade between our two nations was a significant part of the Florida economy before the embargo. This exchange opens the door to restored ties between family farms in the U.S. and Cuba. The cattle trade between Florida and Cuba dates back to the 1850s when my ancestors began shipping their cattle from Tampa to Havana."

Wright became the first businessman from Florida to make a sale of cattle to the island since the embargo has been in place. He has been working under a license from the U.S. Treasury Department to develop and market agricultural exports to Cuba since 1999.

http://www.tuckerhall.com/cuba