The boards of directors for the U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers met last week in Kansas City. Supply chain issues were one of many topics during the meetings. One of the keynote speakers, Esther George, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said, “Supplier delivery times have slowed dramatically, not only for manufacturers but also for service providers,” “That’s due in large part as shipping times from Asia to the West Coast have doubled, and transit costs have skyrocketed.”
Daniel Whitley, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator, was another speaker. He talked about the long and successful public-private partnership between “cooperator” organizations like USW and FAS. He also noted the significant expected increase in U.S. agricultural exports for 2021-2022 to more than $175 billion in value, which includes an estimated $7 billion in U.S. wheat exports.
Greg Borossay from the Port of San Diego previewed some expansion plans that will introduce bulk freight loading capacity, including for grains. There’s also a project in the works to create a barge service between San Diego and marine ports in central and northern California, along with Oregon and Washington state.
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting and the American Farm Bureau Federation contributed to this report.