Farmers extend blockades in seven states demanding better prices for corn

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican farmers agreed Tuesday to extend road blockades they have maintained for two days in at least seven states demanding better prices for corn after rejecting a government proposal aimed at ending the protest.

The blockades have affected numerous people who remain trapped in long lines of vehicles at different points across the country.

The possibility of the protest being called off faded after the producers did not accept the proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture to set a "floor price" of 6,050 pesos per ton of white corn for farmers in the states of Guanajuato, Jalisco and Michoacán, where some of the main agricultural industries and regions of Mexico are concentrated.

"We are not demanding crumbs, we are demanding what is fair. It is an economic, social, and productive necessity that we are demanding," stated Moisés Arredondo Sandoval, one of the protesters' representatives, objecting to the government's proposal. He indicated that corn producers will continue to press for a minimum price of 7,200 pesos per ton of corn "so they can continue planting."

Arredondo Sandoval told local radio station Radio Fórmula that Mexican producers are facing a complex economic situation due to low international corn prices, adding that U.S. farmers have managed to overcome the drop because the government subsidizes their diesel.

The agricultural leader considered the offer from President Claudia Sheinbaum's government a "mockery" and asserted that "it does nothing" to address the economic difficulties of the producers.

In defending the proposal, the Agriculture Secretariat said in a statement Tuesday that the "floor price" of 6,050 pesos per ton of white corn for Michoacán, Guanajuato, and Jalisco is "25% higher than the price at which industries could buy imported corn in the same consumption zone."

The government also offered loans to producers as part of the state program "Harvesting Sovereignty" with an interest rate of 8.5% and the support of insurance coverage in the spring-summer 2025 season in Michoacán, Guanajuato and Jalisco.

Amid tensions with farmers, President Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that her government is keeping the lines of communication open with producers.

The Ministry of Communication and Transportation reported in a statement on Tuesday that blockades remain in place at more than a dozen road points in the states of Guanajuato, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos and Tlaxcala.

Local media report that on Monday there were blockades and demonstrations in at least 17 of the country's 32 states.