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"It is my understanding that the Port of New Orleans is closed.
There is no electricity, and they can't get ships in or out," said
Darrel Good. "This is a major port for U.S. corn and soybean
exports, and the impact, particularly for corn, could be
significant." Although no soybeans can leave the port, this is not
the time of year when exports are the heaviest, Good noted.
"This time of year, about 3-5 million bushels are shipped each
week, but later in the fall, especially as we get to the heart of
the harvest season, the total jumps to 25-30 million bushels each
week," he said.
"From a buyer's standpoint, there are other places to get
soybeans now, with adequate supplies in South America. U.S.
producers will lose a little, but the market will go on."
With corn, however, the impact is immediate and dramatic.
"Corn is the real story in terms of agricultural impact," said
Good. "Upwards of 35 million bushels of corn are exported from the
United States each week, most going out of the Gulf. That trade has
come to a screeching halt. And this will have reverberations all the
way up the river system."
Because there is no place for the corn to go, farmers who are
seeking cash bids for their corn up and down the rivers system that
feeds the Port of New Orleans find themselves with "just awful
prices," said Good. "Cash bids have just collapsed. Nobody wants to
buy corn they can't ship and sell."
Many Illinois corn producers are facing a double whammy.
[to top of second column in this article]
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"The areas in our state that were hardest hit by the drought --
from Peoria on north -- are the same ones that rely heavily upon the
Illinois and Mississippi rivers to sell their corn," said Good.
"Their corn was damaged by a drought, and now their harvest faces
low prices because the shipping system is disrupted."
It is difficult to predict when the Port of New Orleans will
reopen, based on the limited information coming out of the
hurricane-devastated area.
"The port operators may be able to get the electrical system
restored, but the real problem becomes one of traffic. There may
well be a significant amount of damage and debris," Good said. "Some
are saying it could be a month before the port is functioning. It
seems to me that if they could get it going that soon, they'd be
doing pretty well."
Good fears that producers may face a difficult harvest season as
nature's catastrophe plays out in the farm economy.
"The key to restoring service may be getting the levee on the
lake repaired," he said. "Then, they can start pumping out the city
and begin rebuilding."
In the meantime, Illinois and Midwestern producers can basically
only watch and wait, he noted.
[News release from the
University of Illinois College
of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences]
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