Agriculture favors raising the coffee floor from 18 to 20 dollars the almud

On August 16, 2026, Primera Hora reports that Agriculture Secretary Irving Rodríguez Torres favors modifying coffee prices, both 100 percent Puerto Rican and imported or semi-roast. The floor the miller pays the farmer has been 18 dollars the almud for years. After meeting with the Millers Association and visiting farms, he said there is a widespread demand to raise it. The public, he added, should not worry about a step from 18 to 20 dollars, because most millers already pay 20, 22, and even 25. What is sought, he said, is to put it on paper. That reading is his.

Puerto Rico consumes some 300,000 quintals a year and harvests some 34,000 at island plants. Agriculture imports the difference. Since the 1960s there has been a tariff: anyone bringing coffee in would pay 200 extra dollars per quintal; Agriculture does not pay that tariff and, for that reason, imports. The semi-roast price, by law, is reviewed by DACO. Irving Rodríguez Torres said he had met several times with Hiram Torres Montalvo. A committee of farmers, millers, roasters, economists, and experts will make a recommendation. Between 2024 and 2025, he said, money was lost on the buy-and-sell. He proposes reviewing more often and exploring an elastic formula.

On August 23, NotiCel covered, at another URL, competitive farmers in 30 of 74 products. On the 24th, Primera Hora covered pickers who say picking does not pay, at a cost of some 20 dollars against the 18-dollar floor. That is another date. This one of the 16th is Agriculture's position on the floor and semi-roast.

There is no DACO decree here and no effective date for the 20 dollars. Irving Rodríguez Torres speaks of justice on paper and of a committee. What remains is the 18, the 20, the 34,000, and the 300,000.

Anyone looking for the challenged Siembra Finca Carmen orders the outlet mentions in the sidebar has the Primera Hora URL at the foot. This is not original reporting.

Source: Primera Hora. https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/notas/agricultura-favorece-modificar-los-precios-del-cafe/