By P.J. Huffstutter, David Shepardson
CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Nearly 200 agriculture organizations on Friday morning urged the White House to address key U.S. agricultural supply chain issues in the face of a potential port strike on the East and Gulf Coasts that could begin on Tuesday.
The groups said the industry is facing “imminent and severe shipping disruptions” from a potential work stoppage, snarled rail lines and historically low river levels backing up grain barge shipments and impacting trade with Mexico, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.
The groups asked the federal government to direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the lower Mississippi River to maintain 12-foot-deep channels, and step in to reopen the movement of grain by rail from the U.S. to Mexico.
They also asked the Transportation Department to consider issuing an emergency hours of service waiver for truck drivers at East and Gulf Coast ports.
The letter, from a wide cross-section of the nation’s food and farm supply chain, said such disruptions are already happening ahead of a potential Oct. 1 strike at ports that handle roughly half of the country’s ocean trade, including consumer staples like coffee, meat and eggs.
On Thursday, employers negotiating a labor contract at U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the union, saying those leaders refuse to resume talks ahead of the threatened strike.
The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) said it filed the complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, due to the repeated refusal of the International Longshoremen’s Association to return to the bargaining table.
The six-year master contract between USMX and the ILA expires on Monday and the two sides appear to be deadlocked on wage issues.
Friday’s missive underscores the growing worry among the nation’s agricultural sector. U.S. farmers are beginning to harvest what is expected to be a record soy and large corn crop, at a time when global supplies are already hefty and prices are hovering near four-year lows.
The letter also comes just two days after some of the same organizations asked the Biden Administration to take action to avert the potential labor strike, in order to prevent damage to U.S. agriculture and the economy.
“These disruptions will have a ripple effect across the entire United States” unless the government takes action, the letter said. The White House did not immediately comment.
Meanwhile, low water conditions on interior rivers have led to barges running aground along a key stretch of the lower Mississippi River and forcing barges to carry lighter loads, just as the busiest U.S. grain export season gets underway.