U.S. Rail Strike Averted for a Second Time

Last week at the annual Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) meeting in San Diego, CA, the possible strike by railroad workers was on a lot of minds. In fact, during his association and marketplace update presentation, ARA CEO/President Daren Coppock encouraged attendees to send texts to their representatives in Congress to intervene in the matter.

“We are quickly coming up on the date when fertilizer shipments will stop in anticipation of a possible strike,” said Coppock. “Don’t wait until the last minute – act now to ask Congress to step in! The stakes are too high not to!”

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As if on cue later that morning, word broke that the House of Representatives had voted to prevent a rail workers strike from taking place this month. Within another day, the Senate had also passed its own resolution keeping the strike from happening. President Joe Biden then signed the legislation, which imposed the government-brokered agreement from September upon the four railroad worker unions that had originally rejected it.

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Naturally, the agricultural industry was pleased with all that took place on December 1. “There was an industrywide sigh of relief today after both Congressional chambers voted in favor of implementing the September Tentative Agreements,” said Corey Rosenbusch, President/CEO at The Fertilizer Institute. “Rail is critical to the movement of fertilizer year-round. Averting embargoes and production delays were crucial to not only ensuring we’re able to provide the fertilizers our nation’s farmers need, but also avoiding additional disruptions to a global market already constrained by geopolitical events and volatile energy prices.”

With rail now settled, which part of the transportation chain are you most worried about going into 2023?

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Tom Haag, President at the National Corn Growers Association, agreed. “We are extremely relieved that Congress took action to head off a strike that would have had serious consequences for America’s farmers, who are grappling with an increase in input costs and barge rates due to severe drought conditions on the Mississippi River,” said Haag. “Today’s actions are an excellent example of Congress working together to get things done on behalf of the American people.”

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