The U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass legislation Wednesday averting a nationwide rail strike.

The bill to impose a tentative contract deal for rail workers across the country passed with a 290-137 vote.

The tentative agreement was brokered by the Biden administration with the rail labor unions and the railroads in September.

The bill now heads to the Senate for approval before being signed by President Biden. Without Senate approval, rail workers are set to begin a nationwide strike on Dec. 9.

Without a deal in place, rail services would start winding down the week before that deadline.

“Farmers not only rely on trains to transport food and feed, they also rely on rails to bring important supplies like fertilizer to the farm. A shutdown or slowdown would have devastating consequences to our national and global food security,” American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall said.

The U.S. economy relies on freight railroads to carry about 30% of the nation’s cargo, including large quantities of food, fuel and chemicals that cannot be transported in other ways.

The impact of a strike on the country’s economy would be staggering—$2 billion a day, devastating the economy, the Association of American Railroads noted.

AFBF and more than 200 agriculture-related organizations that are a part of the Agricultural Transportation Working Group sent a letter to Capitol Hill urging lawmakers to act quickly.

“A strike or lockout combined with existing challenges in the rail system, at our ports, with trucking and with record-low water levels on the Mississippi River impacting numerous barge shipments would have harmful consequences for the agricultural and broader U.S. economies,” the groups wrote in the letter.

Concerned about the looming strike threat, farmers and ranchers from across the country have sent thousands of messages to Congress, asking lawmakers to be prepared to take action if the rail contract was not approved.

See AFBF’s Action Alert to send a message to your lawmakers.