West Coast Ports

Ongoing supply chain challenges that have plagued the U.S. economy can be traced back to stay-at-home orders put in place at the start of the pandemic. Dr. Roger Cryan, Chief Economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, said consumers clogged supply lanes with purchases of goods rather than services ...

Last month, Washington representative Dr. Kim Schrier met with the Biden Administration’s Port Envoy Jon Porcari to find out what can be done to alleviate the bottleneck at west coast ports. Schrier said the port issue first came to her attention when central Washington hay farmers expressed frustration with the inability to get their commodity shipped overseas. Now ...

Delays in the shipping industry have a direct impact to the bottom line of farmers and ranchers nationwide. American Farm Bureau Federation Associate Economist Danny Munch says the issue started when consumer purchasing habits changed. “During COVID, we kind of saw this switch in consumer purchasing behavior from buying services, going out, to a lot of goods purchasing, so e-commerce. Now, ... Re

The White House and USDA are trying to ease shipping container shortages and other pandemic-related supply chain bottlenecks that are squeezing consumers, producers, and retailers and driving up prices. Last week, President Biden announced that the Port of Los Angeles will start operating 24/7 to help clear bottlenecks that extend between China to the U ...

Container shipping rates are showing signs of easing, at least temporarily. On the Shanghai-to-Los Angeles trade route, the rate for a 40-foot container fell nearly $1,000 last week to $11,173, an 8.2% drop from the prior week. Ocean freight, however, remains more expensive than it was pre-pandemic, and air cargo rates remain elevated ...

The National Milk Producers Federation, alongside nearly 80 other associations in the industry, are looking to the Biden administration to take action to mitigate what many are calling a crisis at the west coast ports. NMPF Vice President of Policy, Jaime Castaneda, said the backups are not hurting only western producers, but dairy farmers across the county. ...

Disruptions continue at U.S. ports. Some of those issues are related to supply chain disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Others are related to natural disasters such as recent tropical storm and hurricane activity. "With the special envoy that President Biden has set up to examine the circumstance and situation at the ports," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack noted ...

Outside of rebounding from the pandemic, what are the biggest issues facing the Northwest potato industry? Chris Voigt, executive Director of the Washington state Potato Commission said issues at the west coast ports is the most pressing concern right ...

According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation, while beef exports opened 2021 lower than figures reported a year earlier, the decrease was marginal. USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom noted beef exports totaled 105,000 metric tons in January, down 2% from a year ago, while value slipped three percent to $653 million ...

Agriculture groups across the country are sounding the alarm of port congestion and container shortages at the west coast ports. Travis Arp, senior director of export services at U.S. Meat Export Federation, said like most other industries, the ports have been hit hard by the pandemic and COVID restriction ...