Posted on 09/08/2005 4:01:50 AM PDT by infocats
CHICAGO, Sept. 7 - Two weeks from the beginning of harvest season, there is a mounting sense of alarm over a potential financial blow to American farming. Farmers in the breadbasket states rely on barges to carry their corn, soybeans and wheat down the Mississippi River, but cannot be certain that the Port of New Orleans, a crucial link to export markets that was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, will reopen anytime soon.
In the gulf states, the storm left farmers reeling from numerous other problems, including a lack of electricity to restore chicken and dairy plants to service, and a shortage of diesel fuel needed for trucks to save dying cattle stranded on the breached levees.
For all of them, it is a race against time....................................................
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
A lot can change in those 2 weeks. Not everything is taken to the gulf.
You mean food doesn't grow on supermarket shelves and meat counters? Just wait till we start paying the heating and eating costs of this disaster. It will really hurt the economy in the next couple of quarters.
What evidence do we have that the port, truly, was badly damaged, AND that we don't know when it will re-open? Port structures are massively strong. Supporting infrastructure, power and labor may be the issue. Just curious.
e.g.,
"badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, will reopen anytime soon."
JSYK ... I won't read the NYT copy.
No bias here!
From the NYT article:
"In all, the hurricane will cause an estimated $2 billion in damage to farmers nationwide, according to an early analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation. The estimate includes $1 billion in direct losses, as well as $500 million in higher fuel and energy prices."
Of course, I don't know these answers directly because I'm in Albany, NY...but you might want to check New Orleans Blog for updated local information.
The NYT "caring" about agriculture usually indicates a first shot at attempting to stoke consumer fears, but it's darned neighborly to see them so concerned. One day on a combine or a barge deck out here would have those lavender elitists screaming for the coast with a new resolve to see everyone between the Berkshires and the Sierras resettled to oblivion.
NYTs really sucks bump
LOL you are so right. Let 'em have one day of cleaning the dairy barn after the hay got wet ... Or pulling the honey wagon ... Or repairing the PTO ... Or even lifting bales into the loft.
You bet. ;-)
Here's another source the Wheelhouse Report that might shed some additional light on the current port situation.
Things could be worse. Much Worse. The midwest has been suffering thru a drought this summer and corn yields will be below normal. This will result in fewer barges needed.
Even with the Gulf Terminals open for business in good times, occasionally it is necessary, for grain elevators in little country towns, to store grain on the ground once all their bins are full.
Agriculture will adapt.
Of far greater concern is the shortage to diesel fuel necessary to harvest the crop.
There again goes the media, planting the seeds of panic, with a subsequent increase in food prices. Is there anything else they want to increase the prices on?
If they set the stage for increases then it will give whoever an excuse to raise prices and we'll get a "See, we told you so", just like gas prices jump when someone in the Mideast burps.
For all intents and purposes, the port of New Orleans has been shut down for almost two weeks, with navigation being allowed in the past few days. The majority of the export elevators are in St. Charles Parish northward, which has not been affected with the flooding that occurred in Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes.
What is actually occurring from the midwest farmer's viewpoint is that the availability of barges to load has decreased dramatically (barges waiting to unload in New Orleans now), which is making what few that are available much more costly. For example (supply and demand), what may normally cost $9 per ton to ship in the normal harvest season is projected to cost $27 per ton. This will cause farmers to hold product until they have a better margin of return (which is normal). The only ones paying the penalty will be those that require selling to fund operations.
One of the main drawbacks in getting things back to normal in New Orleans deals with the available work force. Power and utilities can be restored, but if your workers are no longer in the area you won't be able to operate.
Saw first combine yesterday taking a field of soy beans down an hour south of Chicago. Seems very early. Everything is so dry
I am a farmer. To my knowledge, most of the grain shipped by barge down the Mississippi is #2 corn for export.
Food grade corn is primarily moved by semis to the processors here in the midwest.
There are some cargo containers of IP grain moved, but it isn't the majority.
The soybeans matured early in Illinois because of the drought. I'd be interested to hear any yield reports you might have.
http://futures.fxstreet.com/Futures/content/100130/content.asp?menu=commodities
http://www.grainnet.com/info/articles.html?type=ec&ID=27581
The farmers where we are didn't sound thrilled early August but maybe it will not be as bad as they thought?
I think Illinois' biggest worry is their corn yields. The August rain really helped to fill out those soybean pods.
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