Agriculture industry braces for impacts of port workers strike

Workers continue to walk the picket line outside the Port of Philadelphia on the third day of the strike of the International Longshoremen Association.

They're striking at 14 major ports along the East Coast.

Philadelphia and Wilmington are known for handling produce and perishable goods. Philadelphia's top imports last year were fruit and meat.

The top exports out of Philadelphia last year were meat, grocery items, and animal feed and hay.

"We're fearing we're just beginning to feel some of the effects," said Richard Wilkins, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Soybean Association.

He spoke with Action News from his harvester, taking a break from harvesting corn at his Delaware farm.

"Some equipment parts that we had on order haven't arrived yet and it's quite possible that they could be sitting in a container that's not able to be unloaded because of the strike."

He says already this year they've had one disruption of exports with the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore. Now he's worried about how long this will last.

"We're shipping our animal protein products into other markets around the globe and most of that is shipped by containers," said Wilkins.

In a statement from the Delaware Farm Bureau, officials say containerized exports - primarily meat, eggs and livestock products - will be disrupted.

"An impact on one sector of agriculture affects the whole industry. If the strike continues, farmers reliant on exports may face an oversupply domestically, risking spoilage and significant financial losses," part of the statement said.

Federal agriculture officials hope the strike is resolved before massive impacts are felt.

"I don't think we'll see significant impacts in the short term. I mean, our hope is the two sides come together that we can get this resolved in a way that will work for agriculture and obviously the dockworkers as well," said USDA Under Secretary Robert Bonnie on Thursday.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture has similar concerns about the export of soybeans and corn, adding that greenhouses and nurseries could be affected as they wait to receive deliveries of bulbs for spring plants, pots and packaging.