Rail Strike Deal: Still a very fluid situation; affecting equipment availability

There is still a lot of work to do in finalizing the rail strike deal.

Even with a tentative deal in place that avoided a rail strike, there is still a lot of work to be done in finalizing it.

It could be a couple of weeks before anyone knows whether freight workers will accept what is on the table now or go on strike. This is despite reassurances coming from the White House that a major economic crisis has been averted. Ag leaders tell DTN it is a fluid situation.

The strike could have made the parts shortage worse, and some farmers report the problem is even worse now than last year. A southeast Missouri farmer says when a tractor goes down, there is usually one on standby. When a combine goes down and parts are not available, there is no idea how long it will take to fix it.

Supply chain issues, labor shortages, and slow delivery times have impacted the industry for more than a year.