As we head into Thanksgiving, Vermilion County farmers will by and large not have to spend the holiday in their combines. As Tom Fricke from the Farm Bureau points out, there have been a few exceptions where farmers could not completely finish the harvest until just days ago, but not too many.
AUDIO: There could be some isolated patches. Some guys that have had breakdown issues with their combines may be a little delayed in finishing up; because as with all aspects of the economy, some supply chain issues have crept in there.
It was a very solid corn and soybean harvest overall. The next step, of course, is getting all the grain shipped to its final location. A lot of farmers had to wait for elevator space to open up. And now, with barge traffic still slowed down, and that other “800 pound gorilla” that’s out there; what happens next has a lot of people on edge.
AUDIO: We’re just got to be able to move it around. The river levels haven’t really started to come back too much yet. And then this potential rail strike that’s still looming out there could really have an impact on transportation issues across the country.
Final decisions from a couple railroad workers unions are due in December. And even after that, Congress could step in and keep the railroads operating.
