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MOLINE, Ill. — More than 10,000 Deere & Co. workers went on strike Oct. 13, the first major walkout at the agricultural machinery giant in more than three decades.

American agriculture is on track for one of its best years this century as soaring exports to China boost corn, soybean and wheat prices.

A crack in a bridge over the Mississippi River has stranded more than 700 barges, cutting off the biggest route for U.S. agricultural exports when the critical waterway is at its busiest.

A worsening shortage of truck drivers is raising concerns among California farmers that, unless a solution emerges soon, there might not be enough hauling capacity to bring this year’s harvest to market.

Deere & Co. lifted its earnings guidance above analyst estimates, with elevated crop prices and an improving farm economy signaling a record windfall for the biggest maker of agricultural machinery.

The trucking industry is central to the country’s agriculture sector as trucks transport a significant majority of agricultural freight by tonnage, according to a report published this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Tractor giant Deere & Co. plans to expand in Australia and New Zealand, with its one-time chief economist leading the charge.

Deere & Co., the largest maker of agricultural machinery, increased its sales outlook for the year as farm equipment demand remained resilient despite an “uncertain” market due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The head of the U.S.’ busiest port said China is on track to buy less than one-third of the American agricultural products it promised to purchase in 2020, the first year of a trade pact between the world’s biggest economies.

Disruptions to the food supply chain brought on by the coronavirus pandemic extend to farmers and their products, according to Andrew Novakovic, a professor of agricultural economics at Cornell University.