(OPINION) The nation’s supply of food could take a hit if railroad workers go on strike, driving up prices at the grocery store and limiting U.S. grain exports to countries facing famine.
As soon as next week, 115,000 freight rail workers could walk out if they cannot reach a new contract with railroads, potentially shutting down the national rail network that transports 20 percent of all grain shipments. While unions say they want to avert a strike, and Congress has the power to block it, the U.S. food sector is rattled by the prospect of a national railroad shutdown in the middle of peak harvest season.
Even a short-lived interruption “would create a devastating ripple effect” on the nation’s fragile supply chains, said Lee Sanders, senior vice president of government relations and public affairs at the American Bakers Association.
“Rail-dependent facilities would be unable to receive materials and ingredients, and millions of Americans a day would be unable to receive the baked goods they rely on to feed themselves, their families, and communities,” she said.
A railroad shutdown in mid-September would quickly overwhelm grain storage facilities, leaving farmers with few options to store their crops and boosting the chance of spoilage. Many grain processors would shut down, raising the price of bread and other common items, while farmers would be saddled with huge crop quantities and lower commodity prices.
“It’s kind of a double whammy when you hit both the beginning and the end of the supply chain,” said Max Fisher, chief economist at the National Grain and Feed Association.
Freight railroads also carry roughly half of fertilizer, and farmers can’t afford delays, according to a Wednesday letter to congressional leaders from The Fertilizer Institute.
“If farmers do not receive fertilizer, it results in lower crop yields, higher food prices, and more inflation for consumers,” Corey Rosenbusch, the group’s CEO, told lawmakers.
Soaring food costs — which agricultural groups blame partially on existing railroad disruptions — have hit American families particularly hard. Grocery prices rose 13.1 percent over the last year ending in July, the largest annual increase in more than four decades, according to Labor Department data.
There typically isn’t a backup plan for crops that are transported by rail, particularly when the trucking industry is already struggling to keep pace with demand. The same goes for coal, crude oil, steel, lumber, car parts, and other items frequently loaded onto freight trains. (The Hill)
