By Robert Pore
robert.pore@theindependent.com

Back in 2005, Heineman and a Nebraska trade delegation enjoyed a more than four-hour meeting with Castro during a state trade mission there.

Heineman said the meeting with Castro was unscheduled and came together on quick notice.

During their meeting, the then-79-year-old Cuban leader talked to the Nebraska delegation about a variety of topics and shared with them the Cuban perspective.

Heineman said Castro was very well aware of who the individual members of the trade delegation were and knew about Heineman's military background.

"I took advantage of the opportunity when I had the chance to speak to indicate that, because of that background, I knew that a successful army and a successful organization had to feed its people well," he said.

Heineman suggested to Castro that his country consider an exclusive contract to purchase all its agricultural products from Nebraska.

He said Castro smiled at his suggestion.

"I also suggested that if they were to do something like that, maybe the contract could go from $17 million to $30 million or $35 million," he said.

In all, Heineman has made four trade trips to Cuba, including his latest one last November, when he visited the 25th annual Havana International Trade Fair and inked another $10 million agriculture sale with the island nation.

With that latest contract, Nebraska has sold more than $70 million in agricultural products since the state's export relationship was established in 2005.

After last November's trade trip to Cuba, Heineman said he appreciated the positive reception Nebraska agricultural products had received in Cuba.

"The early results of this trip are evidence of the continuing and expanding relationship we enjoy with Cuban officials," he said.

Heineman said Nebraska has been rewarded for "our diligence" in maintaining a strong export relationship with Cuba.

"Our success here is due in large part to the hard work and preparation of our Nebraska companies and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture," Heineman said.

In 2006, Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy led a trade mission to Cuba that resulted in a $30 million agreement for Cuba to purchase Nebraska food products.

Getting a foothold in Cuba has helped Nebraska get a early trade relation established.

An economist for Texas A&M said a change in Cuba's leadership won't have immediate economic effects on Cuban export trade. Last year, U.S. agricultural exports set a record with more than $442 million in sales.

"What's significant is that the new record is 11 percent above the previous record in 2004 and nearly one-third above the amount exported in agricultural products in 2006," said Dr. Parr Rosson, AgriLife Extension economist and director of the Center for North American Studies at Texas A&M University.

One of the contributing factors for the new record in U.S. exports, Rosson said, was a weak dollar offsetting high prices.

"From what we've seen in the last few years, while tourism is off a little bit, more than 2 million visitors in 2007 visited Cuba, with most coming from Canada, England and Mexico," he said. "That's increasing demand for value-added products."

Rosson said Cubans are becoming more aware of improving diets, and are consuming more animal proteins such as frozen broilers.

"Animal proteins are more important in their diets than say five years ago," he said.

Nebraska has sold beef to Cuba as a result of its trade missions there.

Bulk commodities continue to represent a large portion of exports, Rosson said. Those include corn ($109 million exported from the U.S. in 2007) and wheat ($70 million).

The fourth quarter of 2007 was the largest for U.S. exports to Cuba, coming in at $148 million, leading to the big increase in agricultural exports for the year.

"Another thing we noticed last year was soybeans and related products had picked up quite a bit," Rosson said. "Those were valued at $114 million and represent not just animal feed, but soybean oil and others converted into proteins and used for human consumption."