Some 80 ag groups are looking to the Biden administration to take action in the west coast port crisis.
The National Milk Producers Federation is among the scores of groups seeking relief to the port congestion crisis.
VP of policy, Jaime Castaneda says that the backups are not only hurting western producers, but dairy farmers across the country.
“That actually is holding up the amount of product that we can export overseas, therefore that actually impacts the price of every single producer in the country,” he explains.
About 70 percent of cargo containers leaving the west coast are empty, which Castaneda says is a record.
The recently-penned letter requests the Biden administration to increase the hours of operation at ports up and down the west coast.
According to Castaneda, “Not just in Long Beach, but Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma. Even the workers are prepared to work longer hours. We just need those gates to remain open.”
She says that in the first half of the year alone, the congestion caused American dairy exports to lose $300 million dollars. Many analysts predict problems well into 2022.
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