After the party, Mexican agave farmers face tequila hangover

An agave producer checks a plantation, raw material for tequila production. The growing export of tequila sparked a fever for planting agave in Mexico, a frenzy that plummeted the prices of the raw material, but not those of the sought-after spirit. — Photo: ULISES RUIZ/AFP

From George Clooney to LeBron James, American celebrities have cashed in on tequila's soaring popularity. But in Mexico, producers of the agave plant used to make the country's most famous liquor are nursing a nasty hangover.

Instead of bringing a long period of prosperity for farmers of the spiky succulent, the tequila boom has created a supply glut that sent agave prices slumping.