Silicon Chip Shortage Leads To Food Shortage: Dealers Halt Equipment Shipments To Farmers

This is what happens when we depend in “Just in time” delivery. In this case we look at the semiconductor shortage and I see no easy fix. We are so concerned about energy independence and so we should, but how about other necessary products that make are economy roll? I have seen little reporting and any effort to fix the issue. Semiconductors are what is necessary for our economy to keep going round. It could make a gas shortage look tame. Not only that, it is a feeder into what could prove to be inflation the likes of which we have not seen since Carter. Shortages are everywhere now. Whether it be lumber or now potato chips. Here tis:

Zero Hedge:

The shortage has caused Reynolds Farm Equipment, one of Indiana’s largest John Deere dealers, to inform customers that order times are unknown at the moment because production for specific equipment has been disrupted because of the lack of chips.

“In the U.S., we love our quick-fix solutions, which usually involve federal government bailouts. This time, however, that solution will not work to solve the shortage,” said Hoosier Ag Today. 

Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger has been the latest in a chorus of voices to warn about the ongoing semiconductor shortage that will last for a “couple of years.”

Gelsinger said U.S. dominance in the chip industry had dropped so much that only 12% of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing is made in the U.S., down from 37% about 25 years ago.

“And anybody who looks at supply chain says, ‘That’s a problem.’ This is a big, critical industry and we want more of it on American soil: the jobs that we want in America, the control of our long-term technology future,” he said.

Readers have been briefed on the ongoing semiconductor shortage that may last a “couple of years.” The auto industry has grabbed the spotlight as the hardest-hit industry, with some of the world’s biggest manufacturers restricting production.

According to a new report, the worldwide chip shortage is impacting the agriculture industry that may last for a couple of years and has already impacted the price of potato chips.

Hoosier Ag Today reports, “The biggest factor impacting the ability of US farmers to produce the food we need has nothing to do with the weather, the markets, trade, regulations, or disease. The worldwide shortage of computer chips will impact all aspects of agriculture for the next two years and beyond… farm equipment manufacturers have halted shipments to dealers because they don’t have the chips to put in the equipment… not only have combine, planter, tillage, and tractor sales been impacted, but even ATV supplies are limited. Parts, even non-electric parts, are also in short supply because the manufacturers of those parts use the chips in the manufacturing process. As farmers integrate technology into all aspects of the farming process, these highly sophisticated semiconductors have become the backbone of almost every farming operation.”

Read more at Zero Hedge here.

Not just farm equipment. Here is what is happening in the auto industry.

Chip shortage: Ford trucks piling up at Kentucky Speedway

CARROLLTON, Ky. — The stands have been empty at the Kentucky Speedway for months but its parking lot tells a different story. The lot is packed with thousands of Ford Super Duty Trucks. “We noticed them putting the trucks in there about three to four weeks ago and wondered why,” Pat Roeder said. “As of last week, it’s overwhelming – you can’t believe there’s that many trucks.”

The trucks were made at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant and are ready to be sold, but lack semiconductors. They are the small computer chips that go inside the vehicles. A global shortage due to the pandemic is impacting Ford and all other automakers. The shortage has changed schedules and even shut down the plant in Louisville at times. The lot shows they are still making the Super Duty trucks as they wait for parts.

The best of the swamp today.