U.S. Dairy Industry Urges USDA to Re-Issue Container Report & Provide Additional Export Supply Chain Relief

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today sent a letter to the Biden administration recommending specific steps to  provide relief and support to dairy farmers and exporters facing supply chain constraints. 

The letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called for interagency collaboration to enhance capacity at ports, incentivize carriers to load export cargo, and improve transparency throughout the supply chain. 

The lead recommendation called for USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) to restart its Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR). 

“Supply chain challenges have cost U.S. dairy exporters over $1.5 billion last year alone. We thank Secretaries Vilsack and Buttigieg for their advocacy for America’s agriculture exporters in the face of significant supply chain constraints. We are incredibly grateful for the administration’s ongoing efforts and creative solutions, particularly for the development of ‘pop-up’ sites for agricultural exporters to source empty containers,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. 

“The additional recommendations submitted today would provide agricultural exporters much needed insight into container availability and provide avenues to incentivize carriers to load outbound shipments to key dairy markets around the world.”