What I learned in Mexico
18 July 2024, Mexico: I’ve just returned from my eighth trip to Mexico in two years since the New Zealand border re-opened.
I’ve traveled to many of Mexico’s rich agriculture regions, from Sinoloa to Chiapas near the Guatemalan border, where we work with Bayer’s vegetable seed production team, and to Jalisco to spend time with NatureSweet.
But, on this most recent trip, I returned to Jalisco to meet with the management of Agricola Don Memo, which grows tomatoes in 32 hectares of mid-tech greenhouse production.
It’s a three-hour drive from Guadalajara into a beautiful but obscure valley. And together with Luis Pablo Calvo, former VP of Production for Naturesweet and Neal Okarter, Investment Manager at BASF Venture Capital, we continued off the beaten track in our Jeep 4WD to our destination: a well-built and managed farming operation led by General Manager Gerardo Mendoza and head grower, Jean Marie.
The next morning, we drove to Planasa, an international berry breeder.
An overnight storm had recently flooded the farm, and we walked through thick mud. But the mud hardened surprisingly quickly as the day warmed and the sun appeared. Here, we walked more than 50 hectares of their strawberry nursery facility and learned from the head of crop health, Carlos Cruz. Carlos oversees a team of 120 across three production sites totaling more than 150 hectares.
My overall impression from visiting all these growers was that Mexico’s protected cropping farmers are constantly improving. They are eager to explore how data and digital agronomy can enable them to do so.
Mexico has a vast geography of differing terrain and microclimates. Many of these areas provide natural advantages to Mexican fresh produce companies, and protected cropping is a superpower here, too.
The increasing frequency of weather and climate events, along with optimising water utilisation, are great challenges that they are prepared to work hard to meet. Labour, which can represent up to 60% of any grower’s costs, is also a great challenge, as it is increasing labour scarcity. They must walk a line of providing housing, medical, and food incomes to their workers while remaining profitable.
Mexico remains a beautiful country with a rich recent and ancient history. While social, economic, and political challenges pervade, everyone in the agricultural sector gets on with advancing their industry and innovating.
I love being here, and I enjoy every meeting. It’s a country with a bright future.
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