Iowa cows among those on the way to Cuba

A shipment of cattle and bison from the Midwest is making history. Ralph Kaehler is the southeast Minnesota farmer who’s coordinating the shipment, which includes animals from Iowa, to a once-forbidden land. Kaehler says this is the first large shipment of animals to go to Cuba since the embargo. The only other animals that went since 1959 were the ones that were taken to the U.S. food and agribusiness exhibition in September. The animals were loaded Tuesday night and should be arriving in Cuba today (Thursday). Kaehler says it’s a true Midwestern shipment.as the 140 animals are from Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin. He says this could be the beginning of a long-term relationship between Midwestern cattlemen and Cuba. Depending on the market and the available monies in Cuba, he says they plan to purchase more animals. Two more shipments will head to Cuba by this fall. The U.S. government relaxed export restrictions after a hurricane battered Cuba in 2001.