A cattle farmer from Granma province has once again stirred social media with a video on Facebook criticizing the irrational logic of Cuba's agricultural system. He revealed that while the government buys milk from producers at 38 pesos per liter, it sells it to consumers for only 25 pesos, which is less than the production cost.
"It's moving backwards; they pay 38 for milk and sell it for 25. That's backward. Whoever came up with this economy is taking steps in reverse. It can't move forward this way. It benefits neither the people nor us, the producers," declared Andrés Manuel Sosa Ramírez, a farmer from Yara.
The farmer didn't just highlight the reversed pricing; he also pointed out that payments can take almost a year to be processed.
"We lose twice because they pay us annually for the milk. How will they pay it? If it's 25 pesos at a time out of 38, it takes almost a year to gather the money. That's what I call a backward economy," he concluded.
This isn't the first instance where Sosa Ramírez has publicly voiced the injustices he faces. In May 2026, he was fined 60,000 pesos by the National Livestock Control Center (CENCOP) due to an alleged discrepancy in the ages of his animals, a penalty he described as a tool of "submission" against breeders.
Just a month later, in June, he received another fine of 200,000 pesos for allowing his cattle to graze on idle land. This sanction sparked over 13 million views on Facebook and ignited a debate about the regime's agricultural policies.
When the government announced a package of 176 economic measures on June 19, Sosa Ramírez questioned their effectiveness, noting that his fine was not rescinded: "Some of these measures devalue the fine imposed on me, but it wasn't removed. I still have to pay it. Are these new measures real?" he asked, offering to sell two of his best cows to the State for 100,000 pesos each to settle the debt.
The experiences of this farmer from Yara are far from isolated anecdotes; they highlight a structural crisis that has been crippling Cuba's dairy sector for years.
Since 2019, Cuba has lost over 900,000 head of cattle, and by the end of 2024, the national herd barely reached three million, almost 400,000 fewer than the previous year.
Milk production plummeted by 37.6% in January 2025 alone, with the country producing less than 200 million liters annually, far short of the 500 million liters demanded.
Delayed payments are a persistent issue: Havana's collection agency owed producers nearly 200 million pesos, and in Camagüey, 36% of cattle farmers did not deliver a single liter of milk in 2025 due to a lack of incentives.
As a direct consequence of a system that, as Sosa Ramírez describes, has been moving backwards for decades, more than 100,000 Cuban children do not receive milk daily.
Understanding Cuba's Dairy Crisis
What challenges do Cuban farmers face with the current economic system?
Cuban farmers face challenges such as delayed payments for their products, reversed pricing where the government sells products for less than they cost to produce, and hefty fines for issues like grazing on idle lands.
How has Cuba's cattle population been affected in recent years?
Cuba's cattle population has decreased significantly, with over 900,000 head of cattle lost since 2019, bringing the national herd down to about three million by the end of 2024.
What impact has the dairy crisis had on Cuban children?
As a direct result of the dairy crisis, over 100,000 Cuban children do not receive milk daily, highlighting the severity of the issue.