With NAFTA renegotiation talks underway this week, there’s a lot at stake for farmers and ranchers in California.
Canada is the second-biggest export market for California agricultural products, and Mexico is the fifth. In 2015, California farmers and ranchers exported about $4.5 billion worth of goods to the two countries.
Kevin Kester, a fifth-generation California rancher, says NAFTA has been good for business.
“I get more per pound because of the overall demand generated by trade agreements overseas like NAFTA,” he says.
Kester doesn’t want U.S. trade representatives messing that up as they push for better deals — and he’s in a position to help ensure they don’t. Kester represents the beef industry on the committee that advises the U.S. government on agricultural trade policy.