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Supply chain woes unevenly impacting ag goods
An ag economist says supply chain woes are impacting certain ag goods more than others.
CoBank Knowledge Exchange Director Rob Fox tells Brownfield while shipping delays and costs have gone up across the board, prices have jumped the most for…
“Chemicals, primarily herbicides, pesticides, some fertilizers that we import,” he said. “And then, on the outbound side, cotton, dairy, frozen meat.”
Fox said trucking costs have risen 50 percent in the last year because of trucker shortages and shipping costs have been the largest contributor to rising ag input costs. He says shipping delays have also lost the U.S. business for time sensitive goods like dairy.
“If we can’t get the trucks, we can’t find a place in the yard to put a container to get on a boat, there’re delays,” Fox said. “Foreign customers are going to be looking for other options rather than U.S.”
CoBank’s recent quarterly report says supply chain issues and inflated shipping costs will likely persist well into 2022.
