Kansas Senator Jerry Moran is urging the nation’s railroads and their unions to resolve their labor dispute and avoid a strike that he said would be catastrophic to the agriculture industry.

Speaking on the Senate floor this week, Moran said Kansas farmers use the rail system to move their crops around the country and to ports where they can be shipped around the world.  He said the corn, soybean and grain sorghum harvests are underway in Kansas, and farmers are bringing grain from other parts of the country to feed their livestock.

Moran said a labor strike would disrupt the stability of agriculture markets and could be catastrophic to the global food supply at a time when hunger is rampant around the world.   He said the Association of American Railroads found that a nationwide rail shutdown could idle more than 7,000 trains and cause a loss of over $2 billion a day in missed economic output.

Moran said he has been in contact with railroad leaders on the situation, and if an agreement is not reached, he will use opportunities as a member of the Senate for Congressional intervention to shield the impact of a rail shutdown across the nation.

Freight rail companies and unions have a deadline of midnight Thursday night to reach an agreement and avoid a strike.