The current supply chain crisis would cause “irreparable harm” to agriculture. Leprino Foods President and CEO Mike Durkin told the House Agriculture Committee, “This export crisis may well result in irreparable harm to American agriculture as customers around the world are questioning the U.S. dairy industry’s reliability as a supplier.”
The U.S. Dairy Export Council and National Milk Producers Federation voiced strong support for Durkin’s call for U.S. government action to more effectively tackle the shipping crisis and its effects on dairy farmers and manufacturers. Durkin called on Congress to act on ocean shipping legislation, address critical transport-industry labor shortages, increase port hours of operation, and take other steps to help American agriculture producers reach their foreign markets effectively.
Across the industry, approximately one day’s worth of U.S. milk production each week goes to exports, which results in about $6.5 billion in U.S. dairy products being exported to over 133 countries.
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting and the American Farm Bureau Federation contributed to this report.