LANCASTER, Pennsylvania — Chris Herr, the executive vice president of PennAg, a Pennsylvania agriculture trade association, said the announcement on Tuesday morning that U.S. dockworkers are striking will have an immediate and devastating impact on farmers everywhere across the country.
“It has the potential to disrupt U.S. grains as well as several other commodity exports at the very time American farmers are looking to sell bumper harvests,” Herr said of the strike in a state whose economy runs on agribusiness.
Herr is right about the importance of agriculture for the Pennsylvania economy. The commonwealth depends on the dairy, produce, and livestock that is grown and produced here. The latest data from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture indicate that agriculture contributes $132.5 billion to the state’s economy, annually supporting nearly 600,000 jobs that pay almost $33 billion.
Herr said a port strike could halt shipments across the globe. “This is happening just as harvest season gets underway. It not only hurts the ability for the farmer to drive a profit, but it also really disrupts the supply chain,” he said.