We have been hearing more and more about the increasing congestion at U.S. ports. Dozens of container ships are waiting offshore to unload. Trains and trucks are waiting to unload to ships. It is a bottleneck of epic proportions. Hurricane Ida did nothing to help the situation when we temporarily lost gulf port shipping, and products had to be rerouted elsewhere. Now, after weeks of questions, the Biden Administration is looking at plans to fix the problem, and the USDA is going to get involved.
President Biden announced that the port of Los Angeles would start operating 24/7 to help alleviate the number of ships from China that are waiting to offload. This is the main logjam that is hampering our shipment of farm goods. United States Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced that the USDA is using the powers it possesses to try and leverage more movement at ports.
Another alarming fact is how many of these container ships are heading back to China empty. The American Farm Bureau says that these could be filled with agricultural goods that need to make the trip overseas. Secretary Vilsack says they are working to fix that issue as well.
Further inland, the shipping woes continue through the overland routes along roads and rails. Trucker and warehouse worker shortages are slowing down shipping for the midwestern states as well.
Ag groups have called on the President to fix the supply chain dysfunction and to investigate shipping companies. These companies have blasted back saying they are doing the best that they can.
