Mexican Farmers & Agriculture Secretariat Dialogue Resumes Today

ByAlexia Villaseñor and Jessica Xantomila

This article by Alexia Villaseñor and Jessica Xantomila originally appeared in the January 15, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico. The National Front for the Rescue and Defense of the Mexican Countryside will meet this afternoon with authorities from the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) to learn about the progress of the agreements reached last December, including the marketing of food products.

At a press conference, grain producers from Sinaloa, Sonora, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, among others, indicated that dialogue with federal authorities is resuming today after the pause for the holiday season and the removal of highway blockades that lasted several days in different states of the country.

Baltazar Valdez, a producer from the state of Sinaloa, pointed out that there is a serious profitability problem in the countryside, in all activities, “not just agriculture, but also livestock and fishing.”

Therefore, he mentioned that among the points they will address is the issue of grain exports under the USMCA, as this increases imports and puts them at a disadvantage. Currently, there are “10 million tons of grain in the country that cannot be sold” because warehouses and collection centers are full of crops from the previous growing season.

At a press conference, grain producers from Sinaloa, Sonora, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, and Tlaxcala. Photo: Alexia Villaseñor

They will also demand guaranteed prices for corn, beans, wheat, and other foods, as well as loans for crops, since, they believe, financing has been cut off due to the lack of profitability in agriculture.

As a result of the various road blockades last year, 50 investigation files were opened, involving producers and transporters. Therefore, they emphasized that they will include this situation at the dialogue table so that a solution can be found, “our causes are just and that is why we block, we are not criminals.”

Alberto Santiago, a producer from Zacatecas, mentioned that today they will set short, medium, and long-term goals, “because we have to be responsible and we know that there are problems that won’t be solved overnight.”

However, despite being “in a truce” with the authorities to avoid blockades, they have set the remainder of this month as the deadline for significant progress on their demands, otherwise they will not rule out resuming road protests.