By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- Gov. Katie Hobbs said Friday it's critical to Arizona for the federal government to extend a free-trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, touting the economic benefits of agricultural exports.
But the governor also acknowledged that there needs to be a consideration of the water used to grow those crops. And that, she said, includes not just the question of of the volume of water but also who benefits.
All this comes as a deadline approaches for review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Under its terms, all three countries have to decide this year whether to extend the agreement.
Nothing would change immediately. Instead, the issue is whether to extend it until 2042 or let it sunset in 2036.
What makes all this critical is the decisions come at a time when the Trump administration continues to promote the idea of increased tariffs based on the argument that it protects domestic producers of everything from food to finished products.
"Trade is very important to our economy,'' the governor said.
"It is misguided to say that free trade hurts America,'' she said. "So we should be focused on trade policies that continue to put America first, that continue to benefit Americans and Arizonans as well as create a strong competitive North America because that benefits all of us.''
Casa Grade dairy farmer Jim Boyle said the numbers bear that out.
He said in 1994, as the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the predecessor to the USMCA -- was being negotiated, dairy exports nationally totaled $250,000.
"We now export $4 billion,'' Boyle said, a figure that includes cheese and nonfat dry milk.
Paul Brierley, director of the state Department of Agriculture, said the free trade agreement means the state is able to take advantage of its climate.
Consider Canada.
"They have snow on the ground a lot of the year,'' he said, making it difficult for farmers there to produce vegetables during the winter.
"During the summer we've got cantaloupes and tree nuts and dates and all the things that go up there, all,'' Brierley said. "But then we get back from Canada a lot of processed foods, a lot of fresh and frozen pork.''
And all that, he said, benefits Arizona consumers
"We can go to the store now and get anything we want any time of the year,'' he said. "Why can we do that? Because we get it from each other at the time of year that's the right time to produce.''
One thing that is worrying Hobbs is that, even if the administration agrees to extend the USMCA, things may not be the same. That, she said, came from a meeting she had with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
"The indication that we got from that office was that, under a renewed USMCA, they don't see any possibility of not having tariffs,'' she said. "That's concerning for everyone.''
Boyle agreed.
"Tariffs hurt the American farmer,'' he said.
"U.S. farmers are the most productive farmers in the history of the world,'' Boyle said. "We produce more food than the United States can consume.''
And that, in turn, allow U.S. farmers to feed the world.
"Tariffs, essentially, put up barriers to continuing to do that,'' he said.
Hobbs in turn, talked about how productive farmers are in Arizona.
"Our farmers are essential to feeding America,'' the governor said. And she said she hopes that the Bureau of Reclamation considers when making decisions on who has to bear the burden of cutbacks in water from the Colorado River which feeds the Yuma area farms that produce so much of the nation's vegetable supply.
But much of Arizona agriculture is fed by groundwater. And that raises the question of whether it makes sense to grow some water-intensive crops like alfalfa in the desert.
Hobbs acknowledged, there are some uses of groundwater that may not be appropriate.
The governor said that's one reason she canceled the lease of state-owned land by Fondomonte which was growing alfalfa to feed daily cattle in the Middle East
But that has hardly stopped the activities of the company which also is farming on private land. That, in turn, has led to a lawsuit by Attorney General Kris Mayes against Fondomonte, accusing it of creating a "nuisance'' because of the amount of groundwater it is pumping.
The case is still pending in Maricopa County Superior Court.
Hobbs, however, said she doesn't see a need for the state to dictate to farmers what they should grow.
"We've done a lot in Arizona,'' she said. "Our farmers have led the charge in innovating in water conservation practices.''
But there's a related question of whether the state's water situation should mean that Arizona, rather than growing certain crops locally, should depend on getting them from somewhere else. Brierley said that's not up to the state to decide.
"I think economics dictates that,'' he said.
"The farmers are smart business people and they have their input costs, they know their production costs, they know their markets,'' Brierly said.
And if there are limits to water?
"Then I'd say, OK, there's limits to water,'' he said. "But let the farmers decide how can that most productively be used.''
More to the point, Brierley said that the economics support the use of water here.
"There was a study done about how much (Colorado River) water it takes to do $1,000 worth of agricultural output,'' he said.
"In Arizona, it takes 1.2 acre feet,'' Brierley said, about 400,000 gallons, approximately enough to provide water to about four typical homes in Arizona. By contrast, he said, in the Upper Basin states it takes 7.2 acre feet.
Nor does Brierly believes that allowing companies to grow alfalfa here with Arizona groundwater to feed cattle elsewhere amount to subsidizing other states and other countries.
"I don't really see it that way,'' he said.
"It's trade,'' Brierley continued. "They're finding the best market for the product that they're producing.''
Anyway, he said, this isn't a one-way outflow.
"We bring in a lot of stuff,'' Brierley said. "That's bringing in things that are produced with water somewhere else.''
And the director said that, in general, government should stay out of those decisions.
"I'm a free market guy,'' he said. "The free market usually tends to weed out things that don't make sense.''
That free market has produced results for Arizona according to Farmers for Free Trade, a national organization which says it informs the public of the benefits of expanded opportunities for American farmers.
In a fact sheet, it says that Arizona exported $1.1 billion in agricultural exports to Mexico and Canada in 2025. That is led by $461 million in vegetables and melons and $171 million in fruits and tree nuts.
That, however, is a two-way street. Data prepared by the Arizona Commerce Authority for 2024 -- the most recent year available -- shows Arizona imported nearly $2.1 billion in melons and vegetables and $487 million in fruits and tree nuts.
Brierley said that just goes to show the seasonal nature of agriculture, where Arizona can export things like melons when they are in season here and then import them when it makes more sense to grow them elsewhere.
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