Seattle Selected for Port Pop-Up to Ease Ag Supply Chain
USDA announced on Friday another ag commodity “pop-up” port will be opening to temporarily house ag containers for shipping.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance is partnering the USDA to bring the Port of Seattle a 49-acre pop-up site that will accept both dry and refrigerated agricultural products for temporary storage.
AgDay reports the Northwest Seaport Alliance saw a nearly 30-percent decline in the export of ag commodities in the last six months of last year, with the ratio of loaded versus empty container exports shifting to predominately empty containers since May of 2021.
A similar pop-up site launched at California's Port of Oakland earlier this month, along with U.S. Department of Transportation partnership with the Port of Savannah in Georgia.
More on the Way
USDA says they will continue to seek opportunities to partner with additional ports or other intermodal container facilities to help American farmers and agricultural producers move their product to market.
“The pandemic revealed vulnerabilities across our supply system and as the economy has made an historic recovery, it has put additional strain on the supply chain,” Vilsack says. “The Biden-Harris Administration is calling out ocean carriers that are taking advantage of the situation to leverage undue profits and are treating U.S. agricultural companies and producers unacceptably.”
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) praised the launch in a news release today, saying the site will help to “deliver relief” to agricultural exporters grappling with supply chain struggles. However, they feel this site is only one leg of the supply chain race.
“We urge the administration to build on today’s great news by expanding further to inland locations.” says Jim Mulhern, NMPF president. “We urge Congress to move forward swiftly with legislative solutions to the supply chain crunch by passing the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and advancing immigration reform to address the growing labor challenges facing our dairy farms and plants.
Bridge the Gap
Adjustments to truck-carrying capacity has been heavily debated as a solution to clogged ports.
White House Ports Czar John Porcari says he has an ongoing discussion with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration about increasing truck carrying capacity, as truck size and weight specifications are established at the state level, with federal oversight.
“This is not just a short-term issue related to the difficulties in exporting right now,” says Porcari. “This is a perennial issue that has be tackled in our infrastructure to accommodate those larger weights.”
Vilsack echoed Porcari saying ports and truck capacity are an “interesting” issue when considering the bipartisan infrastructure bill. He says as bridges and roads are repaired across the U.S., they can be strengthened to handle more weight and offer “greater resilience and efficiency in the long term.”
Read more from AgWeb:
> Will The USDA Pop-Up Site Solve the Clogged Ports Issue?
> John Phipps: It’s Not a Chain, It’s a Web
