The United States and Mexico are among the world’s largest corn producers, ranking first and sixth respectively, and both are expanding production. A USDA report says there are fundamental differences that belie the geographic proximity of the North American neighbors. In the United States, corn is yellow and used primarily as livestock feed, while in Mexico, corn is white and used in making tortillas and other corn-based foods for human consumption.
White corn accounts for 90 percent of Mexican production and only 1 percent of U.S. output. Mexico is the No. 1 market for U.S. corn exports, buying a quarter of all exports, and 93 percent of it is yellow corn. “A small but expanding yellow corn sector has emerged” in Mexico, “and the country has become a more consistent and larger exporter of white corn,” said the report by the Economic Research Service on the “corn economies” of the two nations. Mexico exports an average of 1.4 million tonnes of white corn a year. About 37,000 tonnes go to U.S. buyers.
In the years ahead, rising incomes in Mexico are expected to add more meat and poultry to the average diet, which could mean greater demand for U.S.-grown corn as well as an incentive for Mexico to grow more yellow corn, said the USDA. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador “is implementing new agricultural programs that focus on small- and medium-scale producers of corn and other commodities.” The new administration is also interested in greater food sovereignty.