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Expect agricultural plastics to be more expensive, harder to get

An agricultural plastics manufacturer does not expect the supply chain issues and higher prices to go away any time soon. 

Mark Voss is the vice president of sales for Norflex in Hudson, Wisconsin, where they make film for bale wrap and silage. He says, “It’s been really crazy, and it’s an average of we’re paying 40 cents a pound higher for resin if we can get it.”

Voss tells Brownfield the problems began with the winter storm in Texas that impacted resin production, which put them within a week of shutting down.  For now, Voss says they have been able to acquire resin and other supplies to keep ag film production going, but, “I think prices are still going to go up so I would say order now, but I think a lot of the manufacturers are only going to let people take so much. They’re not going to let them inundate (the market).” Voss says, “This isn’t going to be a toilet paper thing” comparing the problem to the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Voss says so far, there are not a lot of silage bag and bale wrap orders, making him believe farmers expect the supply and price issues to settle down by this summer. He’s not as optimistic. Voss says he expects prices will continue to rise through the third quarter, and that manufacturers might struggle to fulfill some orders or take on new customers.