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ASA says tentative rail agreement brings relief to farmers

An American Soybean Association director says farmers are relieved a railroad strike was averted with harvest just getting underway.

Josh Gackle of North Dakota tells Brownfield a rail strike would have negatively impacted the agricultural supply chain. “It’s never a good time for a work stoppage on the rail system, but it couldn’t be a worse time than this if it had happened,” he said. “Just with us coming into harvest and the amount of product that needs to move on a daily basis.”

Gackle says ASA has been engaged on the issue for several days. “It’s good news that a tentative agreement has been reached,” he said. “Hopefully, that ratification moves forward over the next several weeks and we don’t see any of those disruptions.”

President Biden on Thursday said the tentative agreement includes a 24 percent wage increase for rail employees, as well as unpaid time off for medical care.