How Will American Ag Address The War In Ukraine?

The war in Ukraine took the attention of the House Ag Committee this week, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a passionate plea to American lawmakers by video link. And that presentation impacted the Ag Committee hearing.

“Ukrainian farmers put 50 million metric tons of corn and wheat into the global food supply," said House Ag Committee member, Austin Scott of Georgia. "Trade in the Black Sea is closed. Russia and Belarus, they’re the number two and the number three producer of potash in the world. If our crops inside the United States do not have access to fertilizer, then the yields inside the United States and other major food producers will go down.”

Scott asked Chairman David Scott to hold a hearing on the issue and the potential for widespread hunger and unrest if the void isn’t filled. And the chairman said he will ask colleagues to join him in sending a letter to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack asking that additional tools be made available to help address the humanitarian crisis.

While he appreciates lawmakers trying to be proactive about the Black Sea issue, American Farm Bureau’s Dave Salmonsen said there’s already a toll.

“An awful lot of tonnage that’s still sitting in ports of wheat and corn, sunflower oil that has yet to be shipped, so that’s certainly putting upward pressure on prices. And countries around the world are looking for alternative supplies. You can see that China’s buying a lot of soybeans for now and, I think, for next year, contracting from the U.S.” 

But the bigger question is whether the U.S. and others can fill all the void, a question Salmonsen said can only be answered by how long the war in Ukraine persists, how high input costs rise, and the weather.

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