The Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) will be holding its 30th Annual Meeting from June 12 to 15 in Tacoma, Washington, where the NWSA is headquartered. The meeting will be the largest gathering of agriculture and forest products transportation professionals and their forwarders to discuss the challenges and issues facing the industry.

We caught up with Peter Friedmann, executive director of the AgTC, who shared his thoughts about the significance of the Pacific Northwest to the agriculture transportation industry and what to keep our eyes on in 2018.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA): The Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) teams up with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to host several workshops across the country every year? What is the objective of these workshops?

Peter Friedmann (PF): Each of our Ag Shipper Workshops provides a means in which agriculture, forest products and other commodities exporters can be competitive in the global marketplace. At our Pacific Northwest Workshop, we’ll have 100 exporters from a wide range of agricultural products like hay, apples, cotton and lumber. Every one of them fights with foreign producers for market share in countries like Japan, China and Korea.

NWSA: Why is market share important?

PF: It’s important because there is nothing that we produce in this country for global export that cannot be sourced somewhere else in the world. So the hay that comes from Washington state can also come from Australia, Canada, Argentina and other countries. For example, the hay produced in Washington state currently goes to Japan, Korea and China. But if our prices are too high; if we can’t deliver it affordably and dependably; if our transportation network isn’t efficient; if our ports aren’t functioning efficiently, then those consumers in Asia will say, “If we can’t get it affordably and dependably from the U.S. farmers, then we’ll go to other countries that source the same products.” So it’s a very competitive global market. Often times, the differentiating factor is how efficient our transportation network is, and if port authorities are not operating efficiently, then it kills the sale.

NWSA: What is the significance of the Pacific Northwest to the agriculture transportation industry?

PF: The Pacific Northwest is one of the powerhouses for production of agriculture and forest products that are exported globally. Probably per capita, the Pacific Northwest is the strongest in the world in terms of volumes of exports. The AgTC was essentially founded in the Pacific Northwest, as well as California’s Central Valley, where so much of the global production of agriculture is based. In California, you have products like wine, grapes, cotton, citrus and rice. In Oregon and Washington, you have hay, apples, potatoes, fresh fruits, onions, lumber and logs. Those are all the entities that formed the AgTC 30 years ago.

NWSA: What do we need to consider for the future of trade?

PF: I think the future of trade – particularly for exports out of the Pacific Northwest – is more dependent on the high value of the dollar, which has become a major impediment to U.S. exports, making our products more expensive overseas. We also need to consider the weak markets in China with slower economy. Those factors probably have greater impact on our trade  competitiveness than anything else. But right behind it is sort of the inefficiency of many of our ports in the U.S., relative to ports elsewhere. There is a reason cargo has migrated to Prince Rupert. It wasn’t because it’s such a pretty city. It’s only because people got better transportation efficiency going through there. So for that reason, the AgTC is always trying to work with every U.S. West Coast port, including The Northwest Seaport Alliance, to improve efficiency.

NWSA: What should the agricultural exporters pay attention to in 2018?

PF: At our recent Ag Shipper Workshops in Boise and Minneapolis where NWSA was a sponsor, we discussed two primary challenges facing exporters in 2018. Further consolidation of the ocean carriers, from 18 to 10 this year, and larger ships mean that ports and terminals will need to adapt their practices to handle these concentrated volumes and avoid congestion. Trucking will be the most challenging of all components of the supply chain here in the U.S. Dealing with the driver shortage, hours of service requirements and enforcement through electronic logging devices and requirements to invest in new trucks to meet emissions requirements will all have large impact on exporters.