LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – Longshoremen on the east and Gulf coasts went on strike at midnight Tuesday and it’s already causing headaches for Nebraska exports.

The Nebraska Farm Bureau told 6 News the widespread strike is impacting exports like beef, pork, corn and wheat, and President Mark McHargue said buyers and shippers of some products are giving them a discouraging outlook.

“They’re telling us for every day that this strike goes on, it’s going to push product back a week,” he said. “So, I mean, very quickly you get into, say, a five-day strike — you’re looking at a five-week delay.”

He said it could also put a damper on imports for equipment parts during the beginning of harvest season.

“Our hope is that it’s only a few days,” McHargue said. “(It) would obviously be the least disruptive. This drags on for a couple of weeks, and we have a whole different situation.”

If this strike does last that long, he said products will spoil, leading to losses for investors. You’ll also see prices soar at the grocery store.

By how much?

UNL supply chain management and business analytics professor Dr. Scott Swenseth didn’t want to speculate.

“Even from a historical standpoint, seeing this impact on top of what’s already been a very inflationary period, I don’t know if we’ve experienced — at least in recent times — anything that we could use as a comparison there,” Swenseth said.

As for non-agricultural goods, Swenseth said price hikes would depends on the organization.

“Larger organizations that have seen this coming would have had the ability, potentially, to speed up some of their earlier shipments and may have received some of the things that will help them get through for a while,” he said. “Smaller and mid-sized companies that didn’t have the ability to get it in early or reroute it like some of the larger companies could, may see that impact sooner.”

When it comes transporting these goods, Swenseth told 6 News we’ll probably see shipping delays lasting longer than the strikes themselves.

“They’re going to handle that in different ways, and depending on the size of the company and what they have the ability to reroute. If you have an independent or real small trucking companies that are operating without being part of that larger organization—the independent drivers—if they don’t have a load, they don’t have a load.”

Which means they wouldn’t get paid.

Swenseth said even without the dockworkers strike, Hurricane Helene’s impact on the area is already significant.

The storm struck a Baxter International plant in Marion, N.C., which is a major supplier for intravenous products.

Both Nebraska Medicine and CHI Health said they’re not experiencing any shortages at this time.

CHI said it’s looking to other manufacturers while that Baxter facility gets back online.

Nebraska Medicine said it maintains a four-to-six-week supply of critical medications. It’s expecting to see an impact from the Baxter plant’s closure and is putting plans in place, like conserving IV fluids, and making sure it’s prioritizing patients with the highest needs.

6 News also reached out to Methodist Hospital, which said it’s still working on an answer for this.

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Joe Hudson has operated a Husker-related website since 1995 and joined forces with David Max to form HuskerPedia (later renamed HuskerMax) in 1999. It began as a hobby during his 35 years as a newspaper editor and reporter, a career that included stints at the Lincoln Star, Omaha World-Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer and Denver Post.

In Denver, Joe was chief of the copy desk during his final 16 years at the Post. He is proud to have been involved in Pulitzer Prize-winning projects in both Philadelphia and Denver.

Joe has been a Nebraska football fan since the mid-1960s during his childhood in Omaha. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in journalism and economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1976. He resides a few freeway exits north of Colorado Springs and enjoys bicycling and walking his dogs in his spare time. You can reach him at joeroyhud@outlook.com.

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Nebraska football’s upcoming game against Rutgers has become a surprisingly high-pressure game. Entering the season, I wouldn’t have expected Rutgers to come to Lincoln undefeated, but Greg Schiano has them at 4-0 and playing good football. While the Huskers are currently favored, they’ve struggled to defeat undefeated teams since joining the Big Ten. Nebraska football is just 1-9 against teams with 4+ wins and 0 losses since 2011.

The Huskers got their lone win in 2015 against Michigan State on a dramatic Brandon Reilly tight-rope touchdown catch from Tommy Armstrong. That win was also a rare one-score win for Nebraska football. The 10 percent win rate is in the bottom third of college football, tied with Wake Forest and Minnesota. Clemson has been the king of knocking off unbeaten teams with an impressive 15-4 record, leading college football in total wins and winning percentage since 2011.

Looking back a little further in college football history, Nebraska football trends towards the top of the list. Since 1970, only Alabama, Notre Dame, and Ohio State have knocked off more four-plus-win unbeaten teams. The Huskers’ impressive 25-28 record in the games gives them the 8th-best win percentage over the last 55 years.

Bill Snyder understandably has nightmares about Nebraska. In his legendary career, his Wildcats came into the Nebraska game with no losses and at least four wins seven times. Kansas State only managed to leave the game with a perfect record once. Only one team had a more lopsided record in such games (by win percentage). Oklahoma State had six games against the Huskers with a perfect record. They lost all six.

Nebraska football has struggled this season but still found ways to win four games convincingly. If the Huskers win this week, it’s a reason for celebration, no matter how the game looks. Rutgers is in the top 36 in both scoring defense and scoring offense. The Huskers will have to play well on both sides of the ball. If they do, they will start to reverse another trend that hasn’t been in the Husker’s favor in recent years.

Week 1 Arbitrary Stat of the Week Update: Nebraska football is in sole possession of first place with 16 players with a carry

Week 2 Arbitrary Stat of the Week Update: Nebraska is on a two-week streak outside the top 25. A win versus Rutgers would put them in a good position to return to the Top 25

Week 3 Arbitrary Stat of the Week Update: Dylan Raiola is one of six QBs with a completion percentage of at least 70% and 8+ YPA (minimum 140 attempts)

Week 4 Arbitrary Stat of the Week Update: Nebraska’s offense is the fifth youngest in the country based on the weighted average of passes, carries, and catches