OHIO — President Joe Biden called for Congress to accept an agreement immediately to help stop a railroad strike. The railroad union and Biden came to an agreement in September, but Congress has yet to pass it.

If there is a railroad strikem it will “devastate” the economy, Biden said. It also will harm the agricultural industry.

What You Need To Know

  • Congress is planning to accept the railroad agreement to avert a strike

  • A strike could severely impact the economy

  • The agriculture industry would be impacted in multiple ways if a strike happens

  • The decision will be made Dec. 9 
​Ty Higgins is the spokesperson for Ohio Farm Bureau and he expressed his concerns of a potential strike. 

“If we have this rail strike, it would completely come to a screeching halt, no pun intended. That would mean that products wouldn’t get from point A to point B, from the farm to the field or from the farm to the plate. It means that farmers aren’t going to get the products they need to make 2023 work,” he said.

Higgins explained the railroad system is crucial for the agriculture industry.

“It is vital to agriculture to keep the rail system moving at 100% especially right after a good harvest we had here in Ohio,” he said.

The Association of American Railroads estimated a railroad strike would cost the economy $2 billion per day. Higgins expressed the Ohio Farm Bureau is working with Congress and the railroad unions to help prevent a strike.

“We have 70,000 members in Ohio and hundreds of thousands members across that country that are gonna be reaching out to legislatures and letting them know just how it important it is to keep the rail system going,” he said.

Food prices, gas prices and the supply chain could all be affected if there is a railroad strike. The decision will be made Dec. 9.