Protests by Mexican farmers over grains prices shut down Sinaloa airport

Operations at the airport were first suspended on Tuesday afternoon and remained paused on Wednesday, pending the arrival of officials to talk with farmers, according to airport's Twitter account. Producers have urged President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to guarantee prices for corn, wheat and sorghum, saying government intervention is vital to counter a steep drop in international grains prices.

Flights at an international airport in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa were suspended Wednesday as protests by farmers demanding guaranteed prices for grains ramped up a standoff with the government.

Farmers in at least 20 states kicked off demonstrations on Tuesday, blocking traffic on highways and toll booths and occupying government offices, as well as the airport in Sinaloa state capital Culiacan. Operations at the airport were first suspended on Tuesday afternoon and remained paused on Wednesday, pending the arrival of officials to talk with farmers, according to airport's Twitter account.

Producers have urged President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to guarantee prices for corn, wheat and sorghum, saying government intervention is vital to counter a steep drop in international grains prices. Farmers sent him a public letter last week asking for the price of corn to be set at 7,000 pesos ($402.90) per ton, wheat at 8,000 pesos ($460.45) per ton and sorghum at 6,500 pesos ($374.12) per ton to help keep them afloat as production costs rise.

Saying they had received no response, a large group of farmers marched to Culiacan airport and blocked the doors in videos shared on social media. In other videos, farmers entered government offices and tipped grain from bags onto the floor.

National guard troops and police were deployed to some of the protests, video showed. A spokesperson for the federal government did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Agriculture Ministry did not have a comment.

International grains futures contracts dipped in the last year. The Chicago Board of Trade's most-active corn contract earlier this month was down about 19.5% from this time last year. Wheat was also about 43% lower in the same period.