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Former Ag Secretary says port closures shined a light on delicate supply chain

A former U.S. Ag Secretary says last week’s work stoppage at East and Gulf Coast ports are a reminder of how delicate the supply chain is for the ag industry.

Mike Johanns tells Brownfield…

“It’s not just the farmer that’s out there on the tractor. It’s the person who’s picking up that product and shipping that product and maybe packaging that product and processing and delivering and unloading the ships and on and on and on,” he says.

Johanns says he’s happy a temporary resolution was reached.

“We just need to make sure that all pieces of that are functioning or agriculture suffers. Agriculture is always the first to suffer when you have those kinds of problems.”

Brownfield interviewed Johanns this week during the Henry C. Gardiner Global Food Systems Conference at Kansas State University.