{"id":4985,"date":"2026-08-07T17:18:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/?p=4985"},"modified":"2026-08-07T17:34:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:34:31","slug":"the-avocado-situation-in-michoacan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/07\/the-avocado-situation-in-michoacan\/","title":{"rendered":"The Avocado Situation in Michoacan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yesterday I quoted the Associated Press<\/em> on Mexico News Report<\/a>, reporting that U.S. inspectors have suspended inspection operations in the state of Michoacan, the principal source of avocados exported to the United States. (See Avocados and the Problem in Michoacan<\/a> ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States gets 80-90% of its avocados from Mexico, mostly from the state of Michoacan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Avocado farmer in Michoacan. Source: USDA<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last night the Associated Press<\/em> ran another piece on the developing story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some excerpts from that Associated Press<\/em> piece<\/a>: “Mexico began sending 1,500 more troops to the western state of Michoacan on Thursday [August 6th], a day after the U.S. announced the suspension of government operations in that region<\/a> \u2014 including halting avocado inspections required for their export \u2014 because of a non-specific threat to U.S. interests.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If U.S. inspectors don’t inspect the avocados, they can’t be exported. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the increase of security in avocado production areas to spur the resumption of the exports as soon as possible and to prevent any serious impact on Mexico\u2019s economy or U.S. supply.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is bad for the Mexican economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The United States is a major consumer of Mexican avocados: More than 80% of the avocados consumed come from its southern neighbor, amounting to $3.7 billion in sales for Mexico in 2025. But before export, U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors verify the quality on-site to prevent pests from entering the country. Without inspections, imports stop and prices in the U.S. may increase.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These agricultural inspections were suspended on Wednesday <\/strong>[August 5th] for security reasons in Michoacan, the main avocado producer and an area with high cartel activity.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a good combination – avocado production and drug cartels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It\u2019s not the first time the exports have been halted \u2014 a pause in early 2022  on the eve of the Super Bowl lasted a week, though it didn\u2019t impact game day guacamole consumption because those avocados had already been shipped.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the situation: “Numerous cartels operate in Michoacan, which is the main state exporting avocados to the United States and one of just two states authorized to do so. In Michoacan, the cartels produce and traffic drugs and engage in violence and extortion across multiple industries, including the avocado industry where payments to the cartels can impact prices of the fruit.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drug cartels are not just involved in drugs anymore. They are involved in various sectors of the economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Previous pauses on exports were triggered by violence against U.S. inspectors \u2014 in 2024, two USDA employees were assaulted<\/a> and temporarily held by assailants in Michoacan. This time, no specific incident was reported, and Michoacan authorities stated that the suspension was ‘preventive’ due to recent arrests linked to extortion cases.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does anybody grow avocados in the United States? Well, yes… “The California Avocado Commission, which supports the state\u2019s avocado industry, called for stronger monitoring of fruit headed to the U.S. after a pest was reported at a Mexico packinghouse and said cartels shouldn\u2019t be allowed to intervene in the industry.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c ‘The Trump administration is right to protect American personnel and confront the cartels,’ Ken Melban, the commission\u2019s president, said in a statement, adding that ‘cartels cannot be allowed to exploit the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to undercut American growers and destroy domestic production.’ \u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Avocado consumption has soared in the United States in recent decades, and California grows only a fraction of the avocados needed to meet that demand.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only two Mexican states are authorized to export avocados to the United States:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The suspension solely affects avocados grown in Michoacan, but only one other Mexican state, Jalisco,<\/a> is authorized by the USDA to export to the United States since 2022, and its volume is much smaller.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Generally, the situation is resolved within a matter of days because export pauses hurt both Mexico and the U.S. \u2014 and the cartels. In Michoacan, the main producer, the industry employs about 200,000 people. Lengthy pauses could lead to shortages or price increases. And if the avocados aren\u2019t moving, criminals can\u2019t collect their extortion payments.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does the extortion work? Here is one example: “A producer from Michoacan told the AP this week that he pays 1 peso per kilo exported in extortion fees and exports about 90 metric tons a day, which amounts to more than $5,000 in daily payments for him. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When inspections are halted, Mexican authorities typically respond with offers of increased security, as Sheinbaum announced on Thursday. She also suggested that Mexican officials could do the inspections. This option has been considered in the past, but the USDA remained in charge of the verifications, albeit with Mexican security forces accompanying them.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Although the situation generally calms down quickly, producers say that doesn\u2019t mean the extortion stops.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I quoted the Associated Press on Mexico News Report, reporting that U.S. inspectors have suspended inspection operations in the state of Michoacan, the principal source of avocados exported to the United States. (See Avocados and the Problem in Michoacan … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,381],"tags":[153,1036,151,86,492,1041],"class_list":["post-4985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime","category-economy","tag-associated-press","tag-avocados","tag-drug-cartels","tag-michoacan","tag-the-u-s-a","tag-u-s-department-of-agriculture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4985"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4994,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985\/revisions\/4994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}