Mexican Corn Crisis Persists: Farmers Threaten More Protests
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Producers in the Bajío region report they have at least 1.5 million tons of corn unsold, while in Zacatecas, 80% of bean producers cannot sell their harvest.

This article by Alexia Villaseñor originally appeared in the January 19, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

The marketing of basic grains continues to be one of the main problems facing agricultural producers, despite negotiations held in recent months with the federal government, producers from Bajío and Zacatecas pointed out, who expressed their concern about the need to resort to loans and leave properties as collateral in order to be able to plant and harvest the next agricultural cycle.

Corn producers in the Bajío region – Jalisco, Michoacán and Guanajuato – indicated that they have at least one and a half million tons of the grain that they cannot sell, because the warehouses and collection centers are saturated and the companies have not presented purchase offers.

Pavel Guerrero, a producer from Jalisco, emphasized that they have had to resort to the livestock sector; however, he explained that “they don’t buy domestic corn so easily, since they can import as much as they want at a low price.”

He explained that some farmers have made deals with livestock producers, although at prices lower than those paid by the flour and tortilla industry, which is 5,200 pesos per ton. “It has been sold for as little as 5,050 pesos per ton. What the producers want is to sell the grain; they are desperate,” he stated.

Regarding the government support of 950 pesos per ton sold in this region, he pointed out that, although the operating rules do not include marketing to the livestock sector, they are confident that they will not have difficulties receiving the incentives.

Meanwhile, Fernando Galván, a bean producer in Zacatecas, called for the warehouses to be emptied, since in this situation producers are forced to resort to middlemen, who buy the grain from them at eight pesos per kilo and not at 27.

He reported that 400,000 tons of this legume were harvested in this state, but the government will only purchase 80,000 tons. “The rest will be left at the mercy of middlemen. So, almost 80 percent of the producers are being left without the opportunity to sell their food,” he warned.

New Protests

Guerrero announced that grain producers from various states are forming new groups to seek solutions to the marketing problem, including Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and the State of Mexico.

“We’ve already spoken with the government and with industry leaders; we’ve looked for ways to recover some of our investment, and there’s still no response to this urgent problem,” Becerra lamented. For this reason, they did not rule out further protests and road blockades to demand short-term solutions.

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