National Bulk Bag Blog

FIBCs are commonly used throughout the agricultural industry for packaging, storing and transporting produce. While FIBCs are a great solution for these applications, there may be another option that many agriculture operations overlook – woven polypropylene, or WPP, bags. 

What are WPP bags? Why should produce operations consider their use over FIBCs? Let’s explore. 

The pandemic’s impact on supply chain has been covered at great length – COVID-19 has significantly impacted the availability of goods and materials across the globe. Consumer goods aren’t the only thing in short supply, though; many employers are also struggling to find quality workers to fill critical roles. The agriculture industry is in the midst of an historic workforce shortage as laborers are difficult to come by, with many produce growers facing serious labor challenges come harvest season. 

2020 was a historically poor year for the potato industry. Record low yields and reduced global production resulted in a significant decrease in the availability of potatoes – the global cold storage stock of potatoes fell from around 1.12 billion pounds to 1.06 pounds. 

As we have expanded our product offering at National Bulk Bag into the agriculture industry, we’ve greatly expanded on the types of topics covered in this blog. A big part of that has been the packaging and/or storage materials that we carry. Almost all products that we sell at NBB are used in bulk transportation and/or storage – that’s simply a fact.

For decades, the agricultural space has made use of baler bags for a wide range of applications. Over the years, baler bags have undergone significant transformation in order to meet the changing needs of those agricultural users. Baler bags are no longer the simple cloth bags they started as. Instead, baler bags are available in many different materials, with many different types of construction.

Each year in March, the United States celebrates National Ag Day. The holiday is organized by the Agriculture Council of America (ACA), which is a nonprofit organization composed of leaders in the agricultural, food and fiber community. ACA dedicates its efforts to increasing the public's awareness of agriculture's role in modern society.

We see barcodes every single day. We see them at the grocery store, we see them at home and on our electronic devices. Industries ranging from food to electronic to small manufacturers use the same system of barcodes to keep their inventories and products organized and easily identifiable. Barcodes are everywhere and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The rising popularity of facilities automation has led to increased efficiency and safety in manufacturing facilities across the globe. To support facilities automation efforts, many businesses have begun to source packaging that offer useful features and technology that help eliminate slowdowns or bottlenecks during the manufacturing or storage process.

Paper window bags are a staple in the agricultural industry. Due to their sturdy paper construction and the window that allows product to be showcased, many retail agricultural operations prefer the paper window bag over any other packaging option.

As a natural part of their operations, many farmers and food processing facilities find themselves with produce or product at the end of their growing or production season that is unsellable due to its size or appearance. Many of these organizations are extremely generous with excess product and choose to donate their overruns or unsellable stock to charities or food shelters.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, global supply chains are in complete disarray – this isn’t news to anyone. In fact, we’ve covered various supply chain issues in recent blog posts, including the increased demand for raw materials, the rising market and demand for resin, and unparalleled lead times across many industries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far reaching impact on many industries, with the bulk bag industry being no exception. In past blog posts, we discussed some of the ways the pandemic has impacted our industry, including disruptions to the supply chain, delayed production and shipment times, and more. Another impact from COVID that often goes overlooked is the shift in purchasing trends across the bulk bag and packaging industries.

In April 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a massive $330 million agricultural grant designed to help agricultural producers and supply chain organizations recover from the pandemic. The funds are part of the USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers program that launched in March. Far from being a simple aid package, the grant has far reaching goals – and potential impact. Understanding these goals and their potential impact on the agricultural industry, as well as our own industry, is important to the grant’s long-term success and your own future operational planning.