McClatchy visits with Joe Mencer, an Arkansas rice farmer eager to begin exporting his crop to Cuba, if the terms of the U.S.'s trade embargo would allow it.

Total time from Mencer’s rice fields to Havana would be about a week – less than 1,000 miles down the Mississippi and across the Gulf of Mexico.

These days, however, Cuba’s rice generally comes from Vietnam – some 11,000 shipping miles, and six weeks, away.

“I’m 55 years old. This is my 34th rice crop,” Mencer said as he looked from atop the levee toward the Mississippi. “I keep hoping I’ll be able to sell some of it to Cuba before I retire.”

Right now, the chance of that happening is uncertain, despite the Obama administration’s opening to Cuba.

The article mentions that U.S. Sen. John Boozman and Gov. Asa Hutchinson, both Republicans, are in support of President Obama when it comes to the issue of opening up to Cuba. That's because of the clear benefits to Arkansas agriculture that access to the Cuban market would entail.

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Read More: http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2015/09/12/arkansas-rice-farmer-urges-us-to-lift-cuba-trade-restrictions