We are not the only ones feeling the long-term side-effects of the coronavirus. The ports are suffering from an equally painful blockage which is perpetuating the ag community’s financial disruption.

There are many factors contributing to the disruption in the supply chain: Increase of online consumer spending; ports becoming overwhelmed by boost in imports; and significant unloading delays at the ports.

According to a research magazine published by the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics at the University of California, before Covid-19, California ports performance ranked near the bottom when compared to the global port performance, and “after May 2021, the delays increased substantially, with the average container ship waiting for more than nine days before unloading.”

The Covid-related boost in imports resulted in increased demand for empty shipping containers, and subsequently freight rates rose so fast that more and more containers were being shipped back empty.  This meant that outbound cargo from California was impacted due to a shortage of containers for loading, creating lost export opportunities for California farmers.

The supply chain logjam has majorly reduced agricultural exports produced in California, and resulted in California tree nut producers losin about $520 million in foreign sales.

“We are having to reframe the way we conduct business moving forward with our almond orchard,” said a local farmer in the Bakersfield area. “We have to cut cost wherever we can and preserve the market.”

Here at Golden Valley Farm Supply, we will do our best to get you what you need. We understand the difficulties we are facing globally with the supply chain, and we are figuring out ways and thinking outside the box to help our growers and farm labor contractors get what they need.