West Coast port dispute affecting Idaho farms

An ongoing labor dispute is wreaking havoc on Idaho's agriculture industry and other exporters statewide, according the Idaho Department of Agriculture.

Port disruptions all along the West Coast are the result of a labor contract dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association.

The problems at West Coast ports are numerous, including congestion, slowdowns and terminal closures. All of which are contributing to product delays, lack of available equipment, increased costs and lost sales, the department said in a press release.

"Exports are an essential part of Idaho's economy," said Celia Gould, director of Idaho Department of Agriculture. "And this disruption is a serious problem."

The dispute is hurting Idaho agriculture directly. Any product that is exported from the West Coast, especially containerized cargo, is affected. Industries feeling the most pain include beef, fresh potatoes, apples and pears, cheese and dairy products, hay and processed foods including french fries.

"We have seen a significant negative impact to our business with a reduction of almost 70 percent of our export volume - costing us millions of dollars," wrote Brad McDowell of Agri Beef Co., in a press release. "Unfortunately this loss also means that we have had to cut back our operational hours, impacting our people and their livelihoods."

Globally, McDowell said his customers are questioning the reliability of American suppliers and that has opened the door to international beef competitors.

"We may never fully recover our export business regardless of when this is resolved," he said. "What we spent decades building can be destroyed in weeks. It's not a good situation and will have a serious impact on all ag business."

The Idaho potato industry has suffered from a number of lost loads. Some customers have canceled orders because they can't get the product delivered, the Idaho Potato Commission said.

Some orders have sat at the port for a week and a half only to be brought back to Idaho. The fresh product couldn't then handle a two-week trip on the water without suffering quality problems.

"The slowdowns at the ports are wreaking havoc on previously signed contracts and price negotiations with new and current clients. Container loads have been ordered and paid for, but are not reaching their destinations on time," said Frank Muir, CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission. "Shippers aren't quoting new shipments because the cost of transportation is increasing on a daily basis and there is no assurance they can get a truck within a week or then find container space on a ship within a calculable timeframe."

Symms Fruit Ranch estimates its export sales are down 20 percent so far this year due to the port disruption. Of the products that are being exported, nearly 80 percent have suffered delays due to the work stoppage.

"Many full containers spent a week or two on the docks at a port waiting for vessels to dock. Because of the equipment shortage many loads had to be placed in cold storage in Seattle, Long Beach, San Francisco and others," said Jim Mertz of Symms Fruit Ranch. "Our expenses ranged from $200 to over $1,000 per load depending on the amount of time in storage waiting to be loaded in a container and then placed on a vessel."

The West Coast port issues are affecting Idaho hay exports as well.

"Our global partners can source their products anywhere they wish. If, because of the actions of the unions, they decide the U.S. is not a consistently reliable source they will simply manage that risk by going elsewhere," said Robert Bishop, of the Larsen Hay Terminal. "We hope that does not happen and are working diligently to assure it doesn't happen, but the unions need to realize that they do not operate in a vacuum and once their actions lose a market that market will not return."

Standlee Hay of Eden is facing huge losses.

"We are losing $700,000 a week in sales," said Dusty Standlee, president. "The bigger problem is that we have contracts in place that are at risk of being voided by our customer because we cannot deliver. They will buy from Canada, Australia, Sudan, or Spain."

No part of the state is immune from the disruption.

"The ILWU West Coast slowdown is severely impacting Idaho's agricultural and timber exporters," Port of Lewiston General Manager David Doeringsfeld. "At this point, pea and lentil shippers are finding it extremely difficult to get containers out of Pacific Northwest ports."