Infrastructure

Trump’s Glyphosate Executive Order Frames Food Security As National Security

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 16:12:23 GMT

On Feb. 18, President Trump signed an executive order related to domestic elemental phosphorus and glyphosate production touching on three policy tenets common to the administration: national security, food production and affordability. One connection that wasn’t made: Make America Healthy Again (MAHA), as some MAHA-aligned advocates have been critical of the pervasive use of glyphosate in agricultural production.

The executive order outlines why and how USDA will ensure adequate supplies of elemental phosphates and glyphosate herbicides.

From the executive order: “As the most widely used crop protection tools in United States agriculture, glyphosate-based herbicides are a cornerstone of this Nation’s agricultural productivity and rural economy, allowing United States farmers and ranchers to maintain high yields and low production costs while ensuring that healthy, affordable food options remain within reach for all American families.”

Elemental phosphorus is used in many industrial and defense-related applications and notably is a key ingredient in the process to formulate glyphosate.

Bayer, through its subsidiary Monsanto, is the only domestic producer of glyphosate in the U.S. Bayer mines phosphorus in Soda Springs, Idaho, formulates glyphosate production in Muscatine, Iowa, and finishes the formulation and production in Luling, La. Due to legal liabilities over lawsuits related to allegations of glyphosate leading to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, last year Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said the company may stop producing the herbicide.

Bayer subsidiary Monsanto provided this statement: “President Trump’s executive order reinforces the critical need for U.S. farmers to have access to essential, domestically produced crop protection tools such as glyphosate. We will comply with this order to produce glyphosate and elemental phosphorus.”

Noting the supply chain vulnerability, the executive order mentions the Department of the Interior has designated elemental phosphorus as a scarce material. Every year, 6,000,000 kilograms of elemental phosphorus are imported into the U.S.

Per the president’s executive order, “Consistent with these findings, I find that ensuring robust domestic elemental phosphorus mining and United States-based production of glyphosate-based herbicides is central to American economic and national security. Without immediate Federal action, the United States remains inadequately equipped and vulnerable.”

The order delegates Defense Production Act authorities to the secretary of agriculture to help ensure adequate supplies of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides, including issuing orders and adopting implementing regulations in coordination with defense officials, while avoiding actions that would jeopardize the viability of domestic producers.

Supporters of the MAHA movement have posted on social media reacting negatively to the White House supporting glyphosate production and use in the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., who has been critical of glyphosate, has not commented on the executive order.

While the first MAHA report issued in May 2025 opened up the discussion to criticize pesticide use, including glyphosate, the follow-up action strategy related in September 2025 was more well received by the agricultural industry for how it cited scientific standards for pesticide regulation and use.

Lawsuit Claims Rail Fee Blocks Competition, Cuts Plains Farmers’ Grain Prices

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 20:42:03 GMT

In a lawsuit filed in late January in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, two agribusiness plaintiffs and 13 farmers allege antitrust violations by a Class I railroad, Union Pacific, and a short-line operator, Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad.

Plaintiffs include Weskan Grain and Colorado Pacific Railroad, along with D&L Farms, GP; E&D Farms, GP; D&C Farms, GP; L&E Farms, GP; North Four Farms, GP; Marienthal Grain, LLC; D&A Farms, GP; Hineman Land & Cattle, Inc.; Hineman Ranch, L.L.C.; Circle C Farms, Inc.; Steven Compton; Mark Sanders; and JLD Partnership.

The lawsuit alleges UP and K&O worked together to stifle competition after Colorado Pacific Railroad rehabilitated the Towner Line. Plaintiffs claim the alleged conduct gave the railroads unfair control over westbound grain shipments — affecting the prices farmers receive for grain in Lane, Scott, Wichita, and Greeley Counties in Kansas and Kiowa County, Colo.

Union Pacific provided this statement, noting its view that the matter falls under the Surface Transportation Board’s purview: “Union Pacific denies the allegations of the lawsuit and will present the facts to the court and Surface Transportation Board who handles these issues.”

Will Bramblett, CEO of Weskan Grain, said after Soloviev Group acquired Colorado Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific and K&O put in place what he described as a “paper barrier” that makes interchange across the Kansas-Colorado line uneconomic–reportedly over $500 per car.

“What we’re trying to do is just get a more competitive environment for our local producers — farmers in the area — to be able to ship grain to markets across the U.S. and export markets in a more competitive manner,” Bramblett said.

As an example, he said in eastern Colorado, Weskan has been able to use a 110-car shuttle served by both BNSF and Union Pacific to bring cost savings and basis improvements of 25 to 40 cents.

“We’d just like to see that same thing happen in western Kansas,” he said.

Watco, the parent company of K&O, provided this statement: “We do not comment on litigation matters, but as a matter of course we will defend our commitment to the values that define us through the proper legal channels.”

Farm Journal TV subscribers: Watch the full fireside chat with Stefan Soloviev, chairman of the Soloviev Group, from the 2026 Top Producer Summit.

Lawmakers Raise Concerns Over Ag Shipping Impacts in Proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Merger

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 03:53:51 GMT

Early in February, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., sent a letter to Surface Transportation Board Chairman Patrick Fuchs urging a “rigorous and comprehensive review” of the potential merger between Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). Johnson said 47 House members joined the letter. Here’s a link to the letter dated Feb. 4, 2026.

Johnson said the merger could directly affect agriculture’s ability to move grain to domestic and export markets.

“I want to make sure they take a really good look at this. I’m not saying I’m opposed. What I am saying is this is clearly going to have an impact on how agriculture gets crops to market, particularly to the coast,” he told AgriTalk host Chip Flory.

He said he’s hearing concerns from South Dakota constituents and agricultural stakeholders, noting that agriculture is among the nation’s largest rail shipping customers.

“It’s hard to overstate the impact of rail to agriculture, and the STB is supposed to make sure that this is good for customers and good for the public interest,” Johnson said.

The proposed UP-NS combination would be the largest rail merger ever to come before the STB. It would also be the first considered under the agency’s newer merger review rules and amid heightened scrutiny of market concentration.

“I am pretty distrustful of high degrees of market concentration,” Johnson said. “When you remove a major player from the market… we want to make sure there’s still robust competition.”

The companies’ initial STB application was recently rejected without prejudice, meaning UP and NS can revise and refile, because it was deemed incomplete. The companies have until Feb. 17 to file a letter stating their intent to reapply. Until then, the STB and industry stakeholders are awaiting an updated application.

Surface Transportation Board Rejects Rail Merger App Because It’s ‘Incomplete’

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 14:43:08 GMT

On Friday afternoon, the Surface Transportation Board announced it came to a unanimous decision to reject the merger application filed by Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) because it was incomplete.
By law the board said they must reject the application, which was filed on December 19, and this is done without prejudice—so the applicants can refile an application with the necessary fixes.

From the STB announcement: “Today’s decision is based solely on the incompleteness of the December 19 application and should not be read as an indication of how the Board might ultimately assess any future revised application.”

So what was missing?

Per the board’s decision, the application did not include:

its impact analyses required by 49 C.F.R. § 1180.7(b), specifically inconsistent claims in the application about how the merged railroads would experience growth by diverting traffic from trucks and other rail carriers.
the entire merger agreement required by 49 C.F.R. § 1180.6(a)(7)(ii) with certain documents missing or incomplete.

There are two other business transactions included in the application which have subsequently been rejected.

The acquisition for control of the Peoria and Pekin Union Railway Company was pending the NS/UP transaction, so its related application is rejected.
The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis control application was described as a “minor” transaction, but the Board concludes that that proposed transaction should be classified as a “significant” transaction. It’s therefore rejected.

What are the next steps?

NS/UP have until Feb. 17, 2026 to file a letter informing the board and the public if they’ll be submitting a revised application. The revised application must be submitted by June 22, 2026.

What is the industry reaction?

The full decision is available online with details and letters submitted by other railroads pointing out omissions or questions about the information supplied in the original application.

In a press release, the American Chemistry Council said:

“A transaction of this magnitude must not be rushed. We appreciate the Board’s deliberate, data driven approach and its firm commitment to the STB’s modern merger standards, which make clear that any major rail consolidation just enhance competition—not diminish it. That is the only acceptable bar.
“American industry cannot afford another mega-merger that leaves customers with fewer choices, higher prices, and declining service. ACC remains committed to working with regulators, policymakers, and stakeholders to ensure that any proposed merger serves the public interest as the law demands and protects the nation’s supply chain, economy, and manufacturing competitiveness.”

Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern Merger Enters Review: What It Means for Farmers and Ag Retailers

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 18:54:07 GMT

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have filed their paperwork with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) for a regulatory approval of their proposed merger. This official part of the process comes after the news broke in July the two Class 1 rail companies wanted to pursue a merger creating a transcontinental railroad with 50,000 route miles.

The STB will be the oversight board for the deal and will issue a schedule for the rest of the review process.

What Supporters Say, How Customers Are Reacting

In the application for merger, the companies included 2,000 letters of support from stakeholders.

The Rail Customer Coalition (RCC) has formed with dozens of member organizations across multiple rail customer industries to highlight their concern that competition must remain intact.

As pointed out by the RCC, four companies control 90% of U.S. freight rail traffic, and rail customers face frequent service disruptions while freight rail rates have increased more than 40% (inflation-adjusted) over the past two decades.

What It Means For Agriculture

“Farmers and ag retailers operate on razor-thin margins, so even a small, artificial cost increase can have a big impact,” says RCC member Daren Coppock, president & CEO, Agricultural Retailers Association. “When rail service is dominated by just a few players, they hold the power to set terms that work for them — not for the shippers and customers who depend on rail to move agricultural commodities, fertilizer, ag chemicals, fuel and other essential supplies. That imbalance drives up costs and threatens the reliability of our entire supply chain.”

According to the National Grain and Feed Association, 3.2 million rail cars of grains, oil seeds and other agricultural products move by rail on an annual basis. That adds up to be 10% of all rail shipments. At least 26% of grain has at least one rail movement.

“Our industry supplies the tools that help growers protect their crops and stay productive, and we rely on a rail system that works,” says RCC member Terry Kippley, president and CEO, Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology. “Competition in freight rail is essential for predictable service and a resilient supply chain. The STB should take a hard look at this proposal and ensure that this merger supports American agriculture rather than putting new pressure on farmers and the companies that serve them.”

The proposed UP-NS merger would be the largest merger ever considered by the STB.

In reaction to the merger being officially filed for STB review, The Fertilizer Institute gave this statement: “The fertilizer industry relies heavily on rail, and many shippers already operate with limited transportation options, increasing costs and continued service challenges, all with a “take-it-or-leave-it” approach from railroads. Our priority is a rail system that provides reliable service and a balanced relationship between carriers and carload shippers, with accountability for systemic rail service failures and a rate review process that is efficient, timely and economical. While we are still reviewing today’s STB filing, it is difficult to see how any coast-to-coast merger would improve this imbalance or meet the standard set out in the Surface Transportation Board’s merger rules. Today railroads hold all the cards, and larger railroads only give carriers a bigger deck. Now that UP and NS have submitted their merger application, we urge the Board to make the merger’s impact on carload shippers, including fertilizer and agriculture, a priority during the review process. The potential for this merger makes needed rail policy reforms to reset the balance between railroads and carload shippers even more critical.”

Grain Movement Into New Orleans Shifts From Usual Routes This Fall

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 19:47:03 GMT

Year-over-year, Susan Olson says there are few interesting updates comparing how the Mississippi River is being used for grain transport.

Most surprising to her is according to USDA data there was a 3.4 million metric ton increase in grain exports from NOLA in mid-year 2025, however from her firm’s proprietary data, barge movements decreased. This could mean a shift toward rail being used to bring grain to the port for export.

(Action Intel)

Olson founded Action Intel, which uses proprietary data combining AIS signals that come from tow boats, imagery, computer vision tools and more to analyze barge movement and logistics volumes. Since 2023, the company has assembled barges per tow and reported its data.

Trade Flow and Logistics

While September and October usually usher in higher barge volumes due to grain harvest in the Corn Belt, this year did not see as high of a peak for traffic into New Orleans.

“Patterns changed this year. The numbers are lower and aren’t the peak of October last year. It is a little less than 1 million metric tons lower this fall into NOLA,” Olson. “Outbound north from NOLA volume is up 1 million metric tons. Also, notable, we are very slowly increasing trends in liquid tows moving in and out of NOLA.”

(Action Intel)

Increased backhauls is being attributed to another trend emerging this year – longer turn times for dry bulk tows. In 2024, turn times for dry bulks tows averaged 4.8 day but it’s up to 5.6 days in 2025. Olson points out backhauls usually carry fertilizer, metals, minerals, salt, etc.

“We could be seeing a change in the historic trends and a flattening of supply and demand of barges instead of peaks,” she says. “It could be a trend this year and may not persist. But we’ll have to watch the logistical patterns and flows changing.”

To-date in 2025, grain barge freight rates have remained high, averaging 500% to 600% of tariff compared to 400% tariff in 2024. Converted to dollars per ton, the first quarter of 2024 averaged $18.71/ton, and the first quarter of 2025 averaged $25.20/ton.

Delays and wait times also rose with higher barge wait times in 2025 due to lock delays and high water levels. In Cairo, Ill., this year saw an average of 1,000 barges waiting compared to 800 in 2024. The first half of 2025 had high water levels and lock delays, which contributed to the waits, whereas the second has been plagued with lower water levels and the slower turn times.

In September, the Coast Guard issued low water restrictions on barge drafts and configurations, which are still in place on the lower Mississippi River. Earlier this week, the Coast Guard issues an update to deep water tows to leave the St. Louis area, and all vessels to travel at slow speed because of narrow channel width.

For marketing year 2024, corn was 32% of the exports out of New Orleans (5.5 MMT), and in 2025, corn is 48% (7.6 MMT).

“The reduction in exports of soybeans to China has changed what exports overall look like,” Olson says.

Looking at the top 15 destinations for corn exports out of New Orleans, there’s been a dramatic shift.

(Action Intel/USDA)

The Grain Storage Predicament: One-Two Punch of Trade Uncertainty and Big Yields

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 17:34:19 GMT

Basis for corn and soybeans across the Midwest continue to decline as a record harvest is running head on into extraordinarily tight storage capacity.

“Due to the risk of lost export demand, some elevators across the Northern Plains that lack local crush demand may not accept soybeans over fears of not being able to access the export market later,” says Tanner Ehmke, grains and oilseeds economist with CoBank in his latest report. “For elevators reluctant to take delivery and short soybean basis, basis is being set at historically low levels with storage fees set at higher rates.”

While domestic soybean crush build out provides a destination — and improved regional basis — for some of the soybeans, it does not offset the big crop and the missing exports to China.

Additionally, Ehmke points out with stronger corn demand and it being a bit easier to store in piles or bunkers, elevators will be incentivized toward corn over soybeans.

“The challenge for elevators will be prioritizing scarce grain storage,” Ehmke says. “Among the top 12 corn-producing states, the U.S. is facing a 1.4-billion-bushel shortage of upright grain storage this year with elevators relying more on bunkers and emergency storage like ground piles. This year’s shortage stands in stark contrast to last year when those states had a combined 361 million bushels of excess storage.”

The tight storage situation translates to higher storage fees. A trend emerging this harvest is elevators not offering delayed pricing (DP) programs. Ehmke notes some elevators are offering cash-only programs for farmers, or they are offering minimum price contracts and extended price contracts.

“The risk to elevators will be farmers not selling and opting instead for DP programs,” Ehmke says. “Fees on DP programs that are appropriately structured ahead of harvest may encourage farmers to sell. DP programs will need to be well-structured and limited to account for higher risk of carrying unpriced grain in a carry market.”

As Ehmke points out, grain elevators can benefit from buying cheaper basis and capturing wider carries in the futures markets, however the profit opportunities are not without risk.

“Grain merchandisers will benefit from bigger carries for corn, soybeans and wheat that continue to widen, giving elevators ample opportunity to profit on storage,” Ehmke says. “But elevators will need to prioritize scarce storage space. Soybeans will have the highest cost of carry versus corn, wheat or grain sorghum. Storing soybeans indefinitely amid a slow export pace also comes with the risk of quality degradation over time.”

Read more, including details about the infrastructure strain: Grain Logistics Outlook: Record Crop Meets Trade Uncertainty

The Key to Reversing Low River Levels and Shoring Up Critical Infrastructure

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 18:14:20 GMT

Mississippi River levels are low this fall season—for the third year in a row.

“The timing couldn’t be worse,” says Jon Davis, chief meteorologist at Everstream Analytics. “October is a critical month for barge transportation in the Mississippi River Basin. This is especially the case in the agricultural sector as crops are harvested in the Midwest and transported mainly by barge to New Orleans.”

He says this year’s river levels mimic 2024 conditions. Barge restrictions were put in place in September, and currently, the low-water restrictions for southbound vessels on the Lower Mississippi River from the U.S. Coast Guard include:

• Cairo, Ill., to Lake Providence, La., MM 869-483: Drafts no greater than 10'6" and barges no more than six wide.

• Lake Providence, La., to the Gulf of Mexico, MM 483-303: Drafts no greater than 11' and barges no more than six wide.

“August was a very dry month in the Central and Eastern Corn Belt and in the Delta, and in mid- to late August, we began to see that response in the river system overall. That was the time frame we began to watch things very closely,” Davis says. “Based on September being very dry, it looked like the overall decline in river levels was going to continue and we’re going to get into a bit more of a restrictive environment, which would certainly impact logistics on the river system.”

The weather patterns of the past seven weeks accelerated river level issues.

“The combination of recent warmth and long-term dryness has led to this decline in river levels, and if we look at the river levels now compared with the last 10 years, we’re at some of the lowest levels we’ve seen,” Davis adds.

Ohio River at Cairo, Ill. Oct 1, 2025

(USGS)

Mississippi River at Dubuque, Iowa on Oct. 1

(USGS)

Davis says there’s not much recharge for the river in the forecast — and the greatest source for getting levels back up is unfortunately a tropical system, such as a hurricane.

Mississippi River at Memphis, TN on Oct. 1

(USGS)

Mississippi River at New Orleans on Oct. 1

(USGS)

“That’s what helped last year—the storms that developed in October,” he says.

Looking at the forecast, the next seven to 10 days doesn’t show much promise for precipitation along the Mississippi River Valley or the Ohio River Valley, which notably feeds the lower Mississippi. However, the end of October could turn wetter, which might slow the finish of harvest but could recharge the vital artery in our inland waterways.

Farmers Alarmed: U.S. Nearing Agricultural Economic Crisis — Steps to Reverse Course

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 17:42:51 GMT

Nearly half (46%) of U.S. farmers believe we are on the brink of a farm crisis, according to a new survey released by the National Corn Growers Association . And 65% are more concerned now about their farm financials than a year ago.

The economic conditions for many sectors in agriculture have been deteriorating for some time. John Newton, executive leader at Terrain, says this is the third or fourth year for many row crop producers to be facing profitability at break-even or below break-even margins.

(National Corn Growers Association 2025 Survey)

He points to three trade-related examples driving challenges in ag sector profitability:

China is out of the soybean market
Canada hasn’t bought any U.S. wine
The tree nut industry is facing pressures

“The whole farm economy is facing challenges maybe outside of the livestock markets,” he says. “We need an above-all approach to improve the farm economy.”

Newton says cash receipts for crop farms (adjusted for inflation) have declined by $71 billion in the last three years, which is the largest amount of all time.

(National Corn Growers Association 2025 Survey)

What Can Change The Trajectory?

The news of the federal reserve lowering interest rates one-quarter of a percent is a welcome update.

“We’ve been waiting on this for some time,” Newton says. “The expectation is we need two more yet this year.”

He goes on to say for the average farmer, while this is positive news and increases some ability to take on more credit affordability moving into the spring, it’s not quite enough to change the dynamics of their total financial outlook. As NCGA reports corn margins are at a loss of $161 per acre for new crop in 2025, many farmers will be looking to take short-term debt and roll into long debt to help navigate the tough economic environment.

“The reality is we still have 10-year treasury notes and nearby treasury notes really tightly bundled together. It makes it difficult to restructure any debt for a farmer or find cost savings. What we need to see is more confidence long term in the economy —widening the spread between nearby treasuries and the 10-year treasury. When we have that, it gives lenders the flexibility to work with farmers to restructure debt and create cost savings in doing so,” Newton says.

As a longer-term domestic demand builder, Newton eyes year-round E15 as a potential boost to the corn farmer’s bottom line. NCGA reports for each 1% increase in the blend rate, the range of corn used is 200 to 400 million bu. of corn.

“While it may not do anything to eat into the 2 billion bu. we’ll have in ending stocks for the new crop, in five to six years, you’ll have the infrastructure for the corn we’ll continue to supply,” Newton says.

As for recent actions by Congress, and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins saying financial aid may come as early as this fall to farmers, Newton says those are signs of how lawmakers and the administration are evaluating what they can do and what tools are in the toolbox.

However, he’s quick to point to the limitations they have.

“Of the $31 billion in the American Relief Act, only $14 billion will go out the door. The One Big Beautiful Bill put $66 billion in farm programs and risk management — but not until October 2026,” Newton says. “You have a gap. Even though congress has responded, it’ll take time for that to hit farms across the country.”

Rail Industry Needs Collaboration, Not Consolidation, Says Industry Leader

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 13:14:43 GMT

In mid-July, reports surfaced that Union Pacific was interested in pursuing an acquisition of Norfolk Southern.

“My first reaction was shock,” says Chris Jahn, CEO of American Chemistry Council. “Four of the biggest railroads control 90% of traffic. I was surprised two of the big majors would consolidate and continue down the path that from a shipper standpoint has been borderline disastrous.”

Today, there are six class 1 railroads, but Jahn says the railroad industry used to maintain 23 major providers.

Both Class 1 railroads, the merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern would create what the companies say is the transcontinental railroad across 43 states and 50,000 route miles.

Mike Seyfert, president and CEO of the National Grain and Feed Association (NCFA), released the following statement after the news: “NGFA looks forward to hearing from the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads and learning how they believe the merger will create resilient and reliable efficiencies and incentives in timeliness of service and deliveries – along with fair and reasonable rates to better serve our members. NGFA will also undertake extensive analysis and discussions with our members to determine the impact on cost and competitiveness for American agriculture.”

The Surface Transportation Board (STB), the oversight board for the deal, will proceed with a regulatory review process. While the companies submitted a notice of intent on July 28, 2025, they say they intend to file their merger application on or before Jan. 29, 2026. After that, STB will issue a schedule for the rest of the review process.

“This is the biggest rail merger they’ve ever considered,” Jahn says. “It’s also the first merger under a new rule that sets a higher bar. This merger has to enhance competition, not just preserve it. Going from more railroads to fewer, I don’t see how it will enhance competition going forward.”

Jahn also says President Trump’s executive order announced in April prohibits the creation of any monopolies.

“Regulators should reject this deal, unless it clearly enhances competition and improves service,” Jahn says. “For two decades, we’ve dealt with unprecedented price increases and declines in service. We need to take a step back, and see what can we do to improve service and improve competition. We need more competition, not less, it’s just common sense. STB needs to do its job and protect the U.S. against monopolies.”

According to NGFA, 3.2 million rail cars of grains, oilseeds and other agricultural products move by rail on an annual basis. That adds up to be 10% of all rail shipments. At least 26% of grain has at least one rail movement.

Jahn says by volume and revenue, members of the American Chemistry Council are a top three customer of railroads.

“Nearly three-fourths of our members are captive shippers — they have one choice of railroad and their rates have increased 240% over the last 15 years,” Jahn says. “That’s compared to a 24% increase if you have a choice of railroad. Essentially, already three-fourths of our members have a monopoly.”

The most recently approved rail merger was the 2023 merger of Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern forming the first cross border network.

“That was a completely different situation than what we are talking about today,” Jahn says.

Offering an alternative in how to find efficiencies, Jahn points to the newly announced partnership of BNSF and CSX as a potential road map for how to improve rail service. Those two rail lines focused on offering intermodal services for a coast-to-coast service network.

Eyes On Mississippi River Levels: A Developing Situation

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 21:03:06 GMT

Year-over-year Mississippi River levels at St. Louis and Memphis are currently measuring above last year. But, without significant rain in the forecast and concerns for the volume of water coming from the Ohio River valley into the lower Mississippi, this could elevate levels of concern, particularly in the next few weeks.

“We continue to see evidence that we may once again experience some low water conditions on the lower Mississippi River this fall,” writes Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the soy transportation coalition, in a weekly update. “River levels at St. Louis are approximately 8 higher now than the same date last year. In Memphis, the reading is approximately 4.5 higher. Unfortunately, the trend line continues to decrease.”

What does this mean for grain flow this harvest?

Low levels for the major inland waterway have become a bit of a norm at harvest time.

“For the past three years, we’ve been dealing with low water conditions with three harvests in a row that have somewhat been a nightmare,” says Susan Stroud of No Bull Ag. “It looks like we’re heading into what could potentially be the fourth, but the biggest difference is that right now we’re not nearly as bad as we were before at this point in the past few years where we had major issues.”

Fall into winter is the heaviest time for barge traffic carrying recently harvested crops for export market. Projected high volume crops alongside uncertain trade policies and international markets add to the dynamics instigated by the weather.

“This year is a much different setup than we’re used to seeing in the past,” Stroud says. “We have to first keep in mind that we still have the trade war going on with China, and because of that, we’re here at the end of August getting ready to start the 25/26 marketing year with a record low amount of new crop soybeans with commitments on the books.”

Steenhoek says particularly in soybeans, trade dynamics add a layer of concern on top of infrastructure.

“It is frustrating for the soybean industry given the additional headwinds the industry is facing from anemic export sales — particularly to China,” he says. “One always wants a supply chain to facilitate profitability, not be an obstacle to it. It is particularly important for supply chains to not add insult to injury when export markets are under stress. Low water levels on the Mississippi River may do so as we transition into the fall.”

If water levels dictate draft reductions, barge limits could mean slower and more expensive movement down the inland waterways.

Stroud highlights recent corn trade trends have led to roughly 50% of corn production moving by rail to Pacific Northwest ports and 50% moving down the Mississippi River system to New Orleans.

“We can find, I guess, a little bit of comfort in knowing that some of those [corn] bushels won’t be hitting the river system anyway, and so hopefully any low water issues won’t be impacting corn exports as much,” she says.

With some smaller draft reductions, for example down to 11.6 versus 12, Stroud says the barge industry is monitoring the situation.

“The small draft reductions, are not incredibly prohibitive,” she says. “At this point, it seems like the industry, from a barge perspective, is just on alert, but it’s not like we’ve seen the past few years where we’ve had major challenges.”

Relief in sight?

Steenhoek and Stroud agree it’s important for precipitation to come back into the long range forecast; however, right now there isn’t any widespread rainfall that could bring certainty to river levels.

“If it lingers, it will eventually become a problem, but right now, we want to be cautious in how we move forward from here,” Stroud says. “We like a dry harvest because that’s great for harvest progression. No one wants to be rained on when they’re trying to get beans out of the field. But at the same time, we really don’t have great chances for moisture, in any of the areas that would feed the inland waterway system, or especially the lower Mississippi right now for a few weeks, and so that’s something that we’re going to have to keep an eye on.”

If issues develop, where could the pinch point in the major waterway be?

Stroud is most closely watching river levels at Memphis.

(NWS)

“The Upper Mississippi and the Ohio [River], they come together at Cairo, and then you have Memphis on downstream from that. And so, the biggest challenge there is whatever restrictions you might have in place in Memphis,” she says. “It doesn’t matter if you can load a full draft in St. Louis or in Cincinnati on the Ohio, it’s about the weakest link — the link that has the lowest water condition that would restrict drafts the most.”

(NWS)

Steenhoek says this discussion over river levels may surprise many as the Corn Belt received high levels of rain through July.

“The spigot has mostly been turned off throughout August, particularly in states that feed into the Ohio River,” Steenhoek says. “According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 60% of the water volume on the Mississippi River south of Cairo, Ill., (where the Ohio River merges into the Mississippi River), is provided by the Ohio River. As a result, low water volumes on the Ohio River will often translate to low water volumes on the lower Mississippi River.”

Does domestic demand offset the risks of river levels?

While soybean crush capacity has brought new domestic markets for soybeans, Stroud highlights those processing facilities still end up relying on the river system.

“We’ve had this tremendous increase in soy processing here in the U.S. The thing about that is you have crush plants generally located in the interior of the U.S.; they rely heavily on rail infrastructure,” she says. “A lot of ag doesn’t realize how important rail can be for meal exports, because if you’re crushing a lot of beans and making meal in the middle of Iowa, you don’t have enough local demand, so we have to rely on exports. And in a lot of cases, we see meal cars or meal trains railed into the St. Louis area and then transloaded onto barges and then shipped via the Mississippi for export out of the Gulf.”

She says the U.S. is in its fourth year of record soybean meal export shipments, and the industry can expect those volumes to continue to grow.

Could A Railroad Merger Be Building Steam?

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 21:04:00 GMT

Late last week, the Wall Street Journal cited exclusive yet unnamed reports Union Pacific was pursuing an acquisition of Norfolk Southern.

This would mean two of the six largest class 1 railroads would be combined to form the first-ever rail service network stretching from coast to coast.

“The question was always, when are we going to get to the time where there’s a lot of energy to pursue a merger from with one of the Western railroads, with one of the Eastern railroads to provide that coast to coast service,” says Mike Steenhoek, executive director for the Soy Transportation Coalition. “And there’s always been kind of a reticence to that, just because there’s has been a lot of mergers and acquisitions within the railroad industry, consolidation, et cetera.”

The current geographic service areas for freight railroads in the U.S. can be broadly described at Union Pacific and BNSF Railway in the western half and Norfolk Southern and CSX in the southern half.

The Surface Transportation Board with its five-member panel would have to approve any acquisition.

Steenhoek also highlights the Department of Justice and Congress/other elected officials would also be involved in any such business transaction and its approval.

“It does show within Union Pacific they think this is a more favorable climate. They’re doing this in year one of a four year administration,” he says. “And so I think there’s some optimism they might get some traction on this. But either way, even if the climate’s favorable, it’s going to take multiple years for this to go through.”

No official comments have been made by either Union Pacific or Norfolk Southern, and it’s worth noting Union Pacific Corporation will release its second quarter 2025 financial and operating results on Thursday, July 24. Northfolk Southern’s next investor report is next Tuesday, July 29.

What could this mean for agriculture?

If this speculation materializes into confirmed news, Steenhoek says shippers will be focused on how any such merger would effect service.

“You’re going to hear a lot of opposition among agricultural shippers because there has been a track record–this is undeniable–that in especially in certain areas, when you see more consolidation within the rail industry, all of a sudden, a shipper, a grain handler, maybe had multiple railroads competing for their business. Now, all of a sudden, there’ll be one,” he says.

Steenhoek says with railroad mergers over time, the agricultural industry has faced upward pressure on rate as well as diminished service.

“Tor someone who advocates for efficient movement of agricultural products, we want transportation providers, including railroads, aggressively competing for our business. That’s good for us,” he says. “And so that’s one of the things that we are going to hear a lot of concern being expressed among grain shippers and handlers about, you’re going to decrease competition and we’ve been down this road before. It’s going to probably result in increased rates, decrease in service.”

The most recent approved railroad merger was in 2023 when Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern merged. The transaction formed the first cross border network connecting Canada, U.S. and Mexico.

Citing 2024 annual reports of Class 1 Railroads (which are defined to have operation revenues of $490 million or more by the Federal Railroad Administration), here’s the ranking:

Union Pacific: $24.3 billion
BNSF Railway: $23.4 billion
CSX Transportation: $14.54 billion
Canadian National Railway: $12.4 billion
Norfolk Southern Railway: $12.1 billion
Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) Railway: $10.4 billion

ADM Nears Completion of Major Investment in St. Louis Grain Facility

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 19:33:23 GMT

ADM St. Louis will soon complete a project doubling the capacity of its rail and barge systems. This is biggest investment ADM regional manager Travis Sayers has seen ADM make in St. Louis.

Announced two years ago, this project aims to help the site stay competitive and continue to supply the demand in the grain market.

“For export markets, with the increase in supply of soybean meal from the soybean crush plants getting built in the United States, we needed to make improvements to our facilities to improve our competitiveness,” he says. “At the same time, it’s the perfect time to improve our rail loadout capabilities.”

Sayers explains ADM St. Louis is unique in its geographic market providing rail for domestic destinations along with the Mississippi River access for New Orleans bound exports.

“We are the only facility here in the St. Louis market that has the ability to load shuttle trains that can hit different markets. We’re on the BNSF railroad, and so talking about corn specifically, we hit the Hereford, Texas, market,” he says. “For other facilities in St. Louis, their only outlet is the river. We have multiple outlets to send corn to keep us competitive and potentially pay better values if that’s what the market is indicating.”

Upgrades for Higher Capacity, Faster Speeds

Since January, the barge loading part of this project has been complete.

“It’s been full speed ahead since then,” Sayers says. “April was the biggest month we’ve had so far on the amount of product we put through. Our goal is to just continue to grow that.”

He explains the site has two loading belts filling two barges at the same time. The improvements came from doubling the capacity of one of those belts, from 30,000 bu. an hour to now 60,000 bu. and hour.

On the outbound rail project, where it previously took the on-site team 20 hours to fill a 110-car train, now it’s projected to only take 12 hours.

“We have a ladder track here at our facility in in St. Louis,” Sayers says. “We added a ladder to our track, so we can hold more cars and move cars more efficiently through the facility. We replaced the locomotive with one that was a little more powerful and a little more efficient for us. And then previously, we could only load one car at a time when we were loading trains. Now we can load two cars at the same time.”

The rail project is expected to be fully complete in six weeks.

Trump Claims Panama Canal Progress With BlackRock Port Deal

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 18:07:58 GMT

Shortly after his inauguration, President Donald Trump said he wanted to have greater control and influence of the Panama Canal, saying: “We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”

On Tuesday, March 4, news came that U.S. firm BlackRock announced a deal to buy most of the $22.8 billion ports’ business of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison. Notably, this includes the Balboa and Cristobal ports at each end of the Panama Canal, and in all control over 43 ports in 23 countries.

Trump says this is a “reclaiming” of the canal by the U.S., but Joe Raul Mulino, Panama’s president, posted on X Wednesday morning saying the U.S. president was “once again lying… The Panama Canal is not in the process of being reclaimed ... the Canal is Panamanian and will continue to be Panamanian!”

Importantly, the Panama Canal has more than 12,000 ships travel through each year, and of those ships 70% are coming from or going to U.S. ports.

CK Hutchison co-managing director Frank Sixt said in a statement, “I would like to stress that the transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports.”

Soy Transportation Coalition executive director Mike Steenhoek says the two ports that are part of the BlackRock deal have been under scrutiny as potential avenues for Chinese influence in the operation of the canal.

“The Panama Canal is owned by the Republic of Panama, by the people of Panama,” he says.

Steenhoek points to coincidental timing relative to the Balboa and Cristobal ports.

“Hutchison got the original concession to operate these two ports in 1997,” he says. “That was the same year that the British turned over Hong Kong to the Chinese.”

He also notes the U.S. takes a serious interest in the infrastructure of the canal and its adjacent areas.

“An important detail of the treaty that turned over the canal to the Panamanians was that the canal must be operated in a neutral fashion in perpetuity, and if that neutrality is ever compromised, the U.S. military is justified in intervening,” Steenhoek says.

In February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama to discuss any Chinese influence over the canal, which included the ports as well as a bridge under construction crossing over the canal. After Rubio’s visit with Mulino, Panama stopped the Chinese bridge, which is part of that country’s Belt and Road strategy to build roads, ports and railways for global market access. The Panama action was condemned by Beijing.

The BlackRock and CK Hutchison transaction must be approved by the government of Panama.

East and Gulf Coast Dockworkers Now on Strike Over Wage Demands, Halting Key U.S. Cargo Shipments

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 12:53:50 GMT

A disruptive strike at ports along the East and Gulf Coasts began today as the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) walked out, affecting 14 port authorities and key cargo shipments. The first strike since 1977, it halts the flow of goods ranging from bananas to beef, pork and poultry, to industrial materials, leading to potential shortages and price hikes.

The ILA is demanding a significant 77% wage increase over six years, while the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) late Monday offered last-ditch effort of a nearly 50% raise over six years, triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans, strengthen health care options, and retain the current contract language around automation and semi-automation. It hoped that offer would lead to resumption of collective bargaining.

The ILA rejected the offer and stated that its wage demands were still not being met. The union said in a statement sent on Monday morning that USMX “continues to block the path toward a settlement on a new Master Contract by refusing ILA’s demands for a fair and decent contract and seems intent on causing a strike at all ports from Maine to Texas.”

The Biden administration is urging both sides to reach an agreement, but federal intervention under the Taft-Hartley Act is unlikely. The Taft-Hartley Act grants a U.S. president the power to suspend a strike for an 80-day “cooling off period” in cases where “national health or safety” are at risk. ILA President Harold Daggett threatened an intentional worker slowdown in moving containers if the Biden administration forces the union workers back to the docks using the Taft-Hartley Act. “You’re better off sitting down and let’s get a contract and let’s move on with this,” he said.

Bargaining for a new six-year contract between dockworkers, represented by the ILA, and shipping companies and operators are represented USMX, started in February 2023. According to a 2020 report by the Waterfront Commission, the regulator that oversees New York Harbor, more than half of the longshoremen based there made $150,000 or more. The ILA is asking for a $5-an-hour raise for each of the six years of the new contract, which means the hourly rate could reach $69 by 2030, a 77% pay increase. The union is also asking for better benefits and opposing the use of automated technologies at ports.

Murky member figure. While the union says there are about 45,000 members covered by the contract, the USMX puts the number of port jobs closer to 25,000, with not enough jobs for all the workers in the union to work every day.

Impacts: For the week ended last Friday, nearly $14 billion in trade arrived at these ports, including New York/New Jersey, Baltimore, Norfolk, Virginia, Savannah, Georgia, Miami, New Orleans and Houston, with $2.7 billion in trade arriving on Friday alone. On average, it takes one week to clear out one day of a port closure. As much as 43% to 49% of total containerized goods entering the U.S are processed through ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast.

A one-week strike would cost the U.S. economy about $2.1 billion according to an estimate Monday from the Anderson Economic Group (AEG), a Michigan research firm with expertise in estimating the cost of strikes and other disruptions. Most of that would be a $1.5 billion loss in value of some of the goods that wouldn’t be delivered on time, such as perishable goods. Transportation companies, including ship lines and ports, would lose $400 million, while striking workers and those who might be temporarily laid off, would lose $200 million in wages. Losses would start to accelerate the longer the strike continued, said Patrick Anderson, the president of AEG. “A strike lasting longer than a week will begin to impact retailers and manufacturers as supply chain movement grinds to a halt.” But he said estimates of $1 billion a day in losses are exaggerated, especially considering the preparations many shippers had made in advance of the strike deadline. To hit those numbers “you’d have to sink the ships… A strike at the port delays trade, but does not destroy it,” he said.

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Your Next Read: Expect Significant Impact on Pork and Beef Industries if East and Gulf Ports Strike

Port Employers Exchange New Contract Offers with Longshore Union in Bid to Avert Strike

Port Employers Exchange New Contract Offers with Longshore Union in Bid to Avert Strike

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 01:31:42 GMT

Port employers said they have exchanged new contract offers with the International Longshoremen’s Association, just hours before a strike deadline takes effect that would shut down container handling at East and Gulf Coast ports.

“In the last 24 hours, the United States Maritime Alliance and ILA have traded counter offers related to wages,” the employers said in a statement posted to their website. “The USMX increased our offer and has also requested an extension of the current Master Contract, now that both sides have moved off their previous positions. We are hopeful that this could allow us to fully resume collective bargaining around the other outstanding issues — to reach an agreement.”

The group of terminal operators and ocean container lines said their new offer would increase wages by nearly 50%, triple employer contributions to union retirement plans, strengthen health care options, and retain the current language around automation and semi-automation. No further details were disclosed.

The ILA earlier rejected the employers’ offer, but with negotiations said that the union has lowered slightly its demand for a 77% wage increase over six years of the master contract, and that the USMX has increased their initial offer.

Your Next Read: Chances of a Strike at East Coast and West Coast Ports are Growing; Here’s How it Could Impact Farmers

As a Potential Strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast Ports Looms, Here's What You Need to Know

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 18:26:16 GMT

Supply chain issues continue to raise concerns, and it’s now a possible strike along East Coast and Gulf Coast ports that could cause disruptions in the weeks and months ahead.

The contract between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) is set to expire on Sept. 30. Negotiations between the two parties have stalled, raising concerns about a possible strike starting Oct. 1.

The main points of contention are wage increases and limits on port automation. Negotiations broke down in July after the ILA learned that APM Terminals and Maersk were using automated technology to process trucks without union labor.

43% of U.S. Imports at Risk

A strike would affect East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, which handle 43% of U.S. imports. It could disrupt $3.7 billion worth of trade per day. The strike would impact retailers, manufacturers, and farmers by delaying shipments and potentially shutting down production lines.

Many companies have been redirecting shipments to West Coast ports. Some businesses have brought in products earlier to frontload the peak shipping season. Air freight is being considered as an alternative for time-sensitive or high-value goods.

Outlook:
As of mid-September, the two sides appear far apart in negotiations. The ILA has voted unanimously to support a strike if their demands are not met. There are calls for both parties to return to the negotiating table to avoid disruption.

The parties could resume negotiations and potentially extend the current contract. President Biden could use his influence to encourage negotiations or appoint a federal mediator. As a last resort, the President could invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to implement an 80-day cooling-off period.

Your Next Read: Lower Mississippi River Levels to Remain Low Post-Francine

Fallout from Francine: Hurricane Wreaks Havoc on Barge Traffic and Shutters Key Ports

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 20:03:08 GMT

Farmers in the southern U.S. rushed to harvest key crops like cotton and rice ahead of Hurricane Francine’s arrival.

Francine made landfall Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans, before weakening to Category 1. A state of emergency is in effect for Louisiana and Mississippi. New Orleans is under a shelter-in-place order after evacuation windows closed.

Impacts:
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said that as of Sept. 11, personnel were evacuated from 171 production platforms in the Gulf, 46% of the 371 manned platforms in operation there. People have been evacuated from three non-dynamically positioned (DP) rigs, equivalent to 60% of the five rigs of that type operating, with a total of four DP rigs have been moved out of the path of the storm, 20% of the 20 DP rigs operating in the Gulf. BSEE estimates that approximately 38.56% of the current oil production and 48.77% of the current natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in.

Barge traffic has also been interrupted, with Mike Steenhoek of the Soy Transportation Coalition noting that barge companies are not sending barge flotillas into the region until the storm has moved on.

USDA reported that as of Sept. 8, 72% of cotton bolls were open in Louisiana, 69% in Mississippi, 83% in Arkansas, 46% in Alabama, and 44% in Georgia, leaving those fields susceptible to damage from heavy rains and wind.

The toughest harvest rush for a rice 🌾 farmer, is going full throttle before a hurricane. Overwhelming emotional, fueled with adrenaline rushes, pushing the limits, and trying to be perfect at an unsustainable pace. I hope all is safe, 🙏
— Scott Matthews (@SMatthewsfarms) September 12, 2024

Several port locations have also been shuttered with Port Fourchon, Louisiana, closed to vessel traffic along with ports of New Orleans, Plaquemines, Cameron, Lake Charles and Houma.

Flood Warnings and Destructive Winds

As the storm’s center moved north through Louisiana, officials warned of potential tornadoes and dangerous storm surge. Francine is expected to continue into Mississippi Thursday, with flood warnings extending to Florida. Francine brought hurricane-force winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surge to coastal Louisiana.

New Orleans reported wind gusts of 78 mph as the eyewall passed through. This marks Louisiana’s first hurricane landfall since the devastating Hurricane Ida in 2021.

Fertilizer Concerns Come Into Focus With Canadian Rail Strike

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 17:52:44 GMT

Starting Aug. 22, 10,000 Canadian rail workers went on a labor strike. Brought on after negotiations failed with two major railroads–Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City—the strike only directly effects Canadian employees, however with Canadian rail being a major part of the North American supply chain, especially in agriculture, concerns are being elevated.

Reporting from Canada, Shaun Haney said, “The problem is that for weeks leading up to August 22, the railways have cut shipping flow on some products to not strand crews or products in the geographically-challenging expanse that is Canada. A strike is not just about the loss of the strike days; you must account for the economic impacts of the weeks leading into decision day and then the time required to get back to full capacity after the strike is over.”

And he highlights how even with full capacity restored, even one week of such a strike could add up to 14 weeks until the system is completely back to being optimized.

Canadian Government Steps In
By Thursday afternoon, Canadian Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced the railroads must enter contract arbitration with the labor union. This is positive movement as trains could start moving as soon as the dispute enters arbitration. As reported by the Toronto Star, MacKinnon is using federal code that can have the Canada Industrial Relations Board impose final, binding arbitration.

In reaction to the governmental action, The Fertilizer Institute provided the following state: “TFI applauds the Canadian government’s efforts to take action to get the rail system moving again as quickly as possible. The economies of Canada and the United States are closely intertwined, and a dependable and reliable rail network is necessary to support the cross-border fertilizer supply chain and facilitate the movement of critical agricultural inputs on both sides of the border. We also thank US government officials for their engagement with both the industry and their counterparts in Canada. TFI looks forward to continuing to work with policymakers on strengthening supply chains and domestic fertilizer supply and production.”

Fertilizer In Focus
Notably, the U.S. imports more than 80% of its potash tonnage from Canada.

“We are disappointed that the parties involved in this dispute have failed to prevent what has become another significant disruption to vital supply chains serving the agricultural industry,” says Mark Thompson, chief commercial officer for Nutrien. “Nutrien depends on Canadian rail to provide the crop inputs that growers around the world need to support global food security. We are already feeling the impacts of work stoppages on our industry and urge all parties involved to come to a resolution and prevent further damage.”

Echoing the dependence of the ag supply chain on Canadian rail, TFI president and CEO Corey Rosenbusch said, “Rail transport is the backbone of North America’s supply chain, and fertilizer and agriculture are among the most dependent on rail service. The interconnected and time-specific nature of agriculture means that even short-term disruptions to one segment have wide-ranging implications, affecting everything from grocery store prices to international trade.”

The strike adds another layer of concern for ag retailers. With farmers assessing their fertilizer costs and needs this fall, this supply chain concern could add stress to an already elevated issue.

“My fear is that with higher interest rates, fall fertilizer prices and application won’t be as popular with farmers,” says Mark Stutsman, COO of Stutsman, a three-location Iowa-based ag retailer. “If this comes true on a large scale, all it will do is push the workload to the spring, which creates logistical and workload chaos.”

The Agricultural Retailers Association launched a grassroots letter writing campaign hours after the rail stoppage. Anyone can take action with ARA at www.aradc.org/take-action.

“The agricultural community will feel an immediate hit to supply chains due to the rail strike because the fertilizer, livestock and other ag input companies rely on these railroad operators for timely deliveries,” says ARA Senior Vice President of Public Policy & Counsel Richard Gupton. “In fact, many ARA member facilities have no other transportation options to continue to move products through the supply chain, which could limit crop yields during the harvest.”

Infrastructure Woes To Watch: Potholes Plague Global Ag Trade

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 16:53:47 GMT

It seems like the world trade routes are riddled with more potholes than a Minnesota highway come springtime. Getting goods and materials from point A to point B has been anything but smooth sailing, and it continues to be a serious thorn in the side of the U.S. agricultural economy.

Recently, at Farm Journal’s Top Producer Summit , attendees were briefed on one of the larger logistical potholes to appear. Eric Snodgrass, Nutrien’s principal atmospheric scientist, pointed the finger at a particularly strong El Niño pattern leading to one of the driest years on record in Panama—home to the modern-day engineering wonder known as the Panama Canal.

Limited Capacity

In 2023, USDA and the Panama Canal Authority reported 91% of U.S. sorghum exports, 29% of U.S. soybean exports and 18% of U.S. corn exports used the Panama Canal.
The persistent drought in Central America could profoundly effect those exports. The man-made Gatun Lake, which holds the water supply necessary for the Panama Canal to operate, was at its lowest level ever in January 2024. By early March, only 24 ships of any size were allowed to traverse through the canal daily, a reduction from the previous capacity of 35 ships to 40 ships.

Panama Canal Addresses Water Shortages

To add insult to injury, many larger vessels have had to reduce the amount of cargo carried to navigate shallower canal water levels. As the costs and the uncertainty of even getting a ship through the Panama Canal grew, prominent shipping companies responded by rerouting their vessels half a world away through the Suez Canal.

Plan B Nightmare

Turns out, the Suez Canal wasn’t a good plan either. Instead of Mother Nature disrupting trade, terrorists attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea have presented problems. Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been attacking ships in the region since November to force Israel to end its offensive in the Gaza Strip against Hamas. By mid-March, more than 40 vessels had been attacked, and three seafarers had been killed.

The effect on shipping in the Red Sea has been larger than the drought in Panama. In the first two months of 2024, Suez Canal transits dropped by 50% from the previous year. The only good way to currently go from the Port of New Orleans to a port in Tokyo is around the Cape of Good Hope. It’s also the longest way as the route: 15,637 nautical miles and 54 days on average. The Red Sea route shortens the trip to 14,401 nautical miles and 50 days. Using the Panama Canal, the same ship could leave the Port of New Orleans and travel 9,141 nautical miles to be in Tokyo in just 32 days.

Economic Implications

Since the pandemic, ocean freight shipping costs have increased 350%. A February report from the United Nations said consumers will feel the effect within a year.
Higher shipping costs and disrupted supply chains lead to one thing: inflation. If something doesn’t break for the better soon, then the ship may have already sailed on this year’s anticipated interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. At the very least, such action will likely be further down the road and less than anticipated.

Regardless if such chaos is the new normal, we need to spend less time blaming scapegoats and more time dealing with reality. If it is not a pandemic, climate change or terrorists at sea, then something equally disruptive is bound to occur.

Three Takeaways

First, politicians might want to spend less time fretting about the CO2 being released into the atmosphere from boats having to take the long way to and from China. Instead, working with other countries to find a better “plan B” for routing global goods and services would be more helpful. Expanding the Panama Canal “land bridge”—a rail line and highway that runs parallel to the canal—might be a good start. If freight is offloaded on one side of Panama and shipped to a port on the other side, it would still be faster.
Second, it is time to invest in the technology and infrastructure to get American goods to port quicker and more economically. In 2021, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the condition of our country’s inland waterways a D+ rating. They cited infrastructure investment needs, especially along the Mississippi River. Meanwhile, U.S. roads ranked worse with a D rating.

Finally, it might be time for some good ole Teddy Roosevelt gunboat diplomacy. It is embarrassing the largest shipping companies with the largest ships in the world are running scared because of an unruly band of third-world terrorists. It is time to take control of the seas.

Another Pothole

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any harder—it just did. In breaking news, out of nowhere in Baltimore, Maryland a huge container ship lost power while exiting port and struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse. Completely clearing the bridge wreckage will take months, thus limiting overall port traffic.

Will The Collapse Of The Baltimore Key Bridge Impact Agriculture?

In terms of its total effect, this latest incident is a much smaller pothole, but still significant. Baltimore is the ninth-busiest port in the national for international cargo. But for America’s heartland it will be felt as a bigger bump in the road as the port is closer to the Midwest than any other East Coast port. Additionally, it is a port that handles a significant amount imported light trucks, construction and agricultural equipment.

Buckle up. Food’s journey is never done until the product’s on someone’s plate.

Will Electric Vehicles Actually Drive Down Prices at the Pump?

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 21:38:37 GMT

High inflation seems to have a withdrawal time. Even though the trend has been down for about a year, it still ranks as a top problem in the minds of many Americans. I think some of this is forgetting that even if inflation is slowing, overall prices don’t go down, they just go up more slowly.

Some prices, notably energy and food do both rise and fall, but the overall cost of living rarely drops. Right now, gasoline and eggs dominate our thinking about inflation. They are things we buy frequently, keeping them in our mind.

The good news gasoline is about where it was before the Ukraine war exploded the energy markets. There is a longer-term issue, however. We have likely passed peak gasoline consumption, and while you might think that would lower prices, oil companies are way ahead of us.

To be fair, when you see gasoline production virtually stopped growing in 2007 and predictions of slowly declining consumption from the EIA, there is little incentive to refine more. This is not about EV’s either.

Less than 1% of cars on the road are electric. It’s caused by improved mileage from more efficient engines. As older cars are replaced, the fleet mileage curve is locked into an uptrend. There are signs that vehicle miles driven may have plateaued as well.

These developments are not news to the oil industry, and it’s one reason no new refineries will likely ever be built in the US. In fact, to keep existing refineries running at capacity, US refiners have relied upon exports to replace fading domestic demand. It is good business for gasoline refiners to manage production to match demand forecasts. Older, smaller refineries are simply being shut down, reducing future refining capacity, and providing little idle capacity for demand surprises.

The bottom line for consumers as EVs become more popular , reduced gas demand likely will not lower prices as refiners constrict supply. In fact, supplies will probably decrease slightly faster than demand, keeping prices high. Any small mismatch between supply and demand could cause considerable price volatility.

This dispels one misconception I had – that EV’s would lower gasoline prices. They will eventually, but refiners are prepared. Strong gasoline prices will aid the economics of electrification as well as turnover to more efficient conventional vehicles.

11 Key Takeaways From Biden's State Of The Union Address

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 19:58:42 GMT

President Joe Biden delivered a defiant argument for a second term in his State of the Union speech Thursday night. Biden fired multiple broadsides at Trump without ever mentioning him by name.

From the economy to Biden’s thoughts on infrastructure, the border and climate, there were several key takeaways from Biden’s State of the Union address. He led his address with Ukraine, Jan. 6, abortion and the state of the U.S. economy.

Ukraine. Biden accused “my predecessor” of “bowing down” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying it is “outrageous, it is dangerous and it is unacceptable.” Biden called for funding Ukraine in its war against Russia. Biden warned that Russia’s aggression would “not stop at Ukraine.”
The U.S. will build a pier on the Gaza coast to receive humanitarian aid, including food. “Tonight, I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters,” Biden said. “No U.S. boots will be on the ground. This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.” Biden added, “But Israel must also do its part. Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the crossfire. …Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip.” The Biden administration has said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t doing enough to allow the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. Biden stressed the need for a temporary cease-fire and called for hostages to be released.
Shrinkflation. Called on Congress to pass a bill sponsored by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) to stop “shrinkflation” in food packages. “Too many corporations raise their prices to pad their profits charging you more and more for less and less. That’s why we’re cracking down on corporations that engage in price gouging or deceptive pricing from food to health care to housing,” Biden said. “In fact, snack companies think you won’t notice when they charge you just as much for the same size bag but with fewer chips in it,” he added.
High-speed affordable internet. Biden said his policies are “providing affordable high-speed internet for every American no matter where you live. Urban, suburban, and rural communities — in red states and blue states. Record investments in tribal communities.”
Farm sector. Biden said: “Because of my investments, family farms are better able to stay in the family and children and grandchildren won’t have to leave home to make a living. It’s transformative.” He added, “Because of my investments in the family farm led by my secretary of Agriculture who knows more about this than anybody I know, we’re better able to stay on those farms so their children and grandchildren won’t have to leave home, leave home to make a living. It’s transformative.”
Border. Biden said he “will not demonize immigrants saying they ‘poison the blood of our country’ as he said in his own words,” referencing his “predecessor” without naming Donald Trump. Biden continued, “Unlike my predecessor, on my first day in office I introduced a comprehensive plan to fix our immigration system, secure the border, and provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and so much more… We can fight about the border, or we can fix it. I’m ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now!” Biden rebuked Republicans for opposing a bipartisan border agreement in the Senate. Trump has opposed the measure, calling it a “gift” to Democrats in an election year. Biden called on Republicans to work with him. “We can fight about fixing the border, or we can fix it,” he said. Biden has been weighing executive action on immigration, but has yet to make such a move.
Climate. Biden said, “We are also making history by confronting the climate crisis, not denying it… I’m taking the most significant action on climate ever in the history of the world. I am cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030,” he said.
Infrastructure. Biden knocked Republicans for touting the flood of cash that has been funneled into their districts from bills that they opposed, such as the infrastructure law. “If any of you don’t want that money in your district, just let me know,” Biden said.
China. Biden said, “Our trade deficit with China is down to the lowest point in over a decade. We’re standing up against China’s unfair economic practices. We want competition with China, but not conflict.”
Manufacturing. “Where is it written that we can’t be the manufacturing capital of the world? We are. We will. Instead of importing foreign products and exporting American jobs, we’re exporting American products and creating American jobs - right here in America where they belong. And thanks to our CHIPS and Science Act, the United States is investing more in research and development than ever before. It takes time, but the American people are beginning to feel it.”
Taxes. Biden said he wants to raise the minimum tax for multinational corporations to 21%, as well as lift the corporate tax rate to 28% from the current 21%. The president also hopes to:

Stop letting corporations get tax deductions for all employee salaries over $1 million (the current rule applies only to C-suite pay) and make it harder for companies to write off executives’ private jet travel.
Raise the tax on corporate stock buybacks from 1% to 4% to encourage companies to spend more of their revenue on salaries and improving productivity.
Make billionaires pay a minimum of 25% income tax.

Bottom line:

Biden’s SOTU address was clearly his effort to begin the national presidential re-election campaign. He directly referenced his age at times. “I’ve been told I’m too old,” he said as he concluded his speech. “Whether young or old, I’ve always known what endures… The issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are,” he said. “It’s how old are our ideas.”

Reaction:

As with most things related to our nation’s capital, responses primarily fell across political lines. Biden proponents and much of the media characterized the speech as “feisty.” The speech amounted to a general election preview, referring to former President Donald Trump 13 times only as “my predecessor.” Biden opponents thought his address was “angry” with no real message of bipartisanship. Trump responded to the speech in real time on his Truth Social site, defending himself and blasting Biden for what he said “may be the Angriest, Least Compassionate, and Worst State of the Union Speech ever made.”

The Electric Farm: Rick Rottinghaus Plots A Future Beyond Gasoline And Diesel

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 21:13:10 GMT

An impact wrench rattles another bolt home as Rick Rottinghaus reaches for the next part in this year’s planter upgrades. Time is running out before wheels need to be turning on his family’s Waterloo, Iowa, farm.

“One of my brothers asked the other day, ‘Can’t we get a new piece of equipment without you getting the torch and the welder out?’” he laughs.

The tinkering trait is one Rottinghaus comes by honestly.

“My grandad had the first diesel farm tractor in Black Hawk County and was one of the first to raise soybeans,” Rottinghaus says. “Dad was an inventor, a builder and modified all kinds of things. He ultimately ended up with nine U.S. patents before passing away at age 91.”

This is why folks who know him, aren’t surprised to see Rottinghaus driving an electric car.

“I hook a trailer up to it, and I’ve used it to go get tractor parts in Minnesota; I pulled a tile stringer trailer from Adair, Iowa, to home; I’ve hauled a lawnmower and even picked up lumber,” Rottinghaus says. “Last spring, a raccoon wrecked the fan blade on our sprayer, and I had to drive to Indianapolis to get a new one. I put 900 miles on the car in one day.”

At home, he charges it with the help of a 2-year-old solar array rated at 94 kWh producing 130,000 kWh per year. He feeds power into the grid and in turn the electric company credits that power back.

THE ELECTRIC ECONOMY

Rottinghaus is riding a swelling tide threatening to crash across the globe. The “electric” economy is ready to roll into town this decade as battery technology improves, renewable power generation expands and automakers buy in to a future powered by something other than gasoline and diesel.

“The energy economy is going to transition because the economics of it make it not just reasonable but necessary,” explains former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter.

One of 12 kids, Ritter grew up on wheat farm near Aurora, Colo., and is the founder and director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University. He’s shocked how fast the energy sector is moving from coal toward renewables and natural gas as technology improves.

“It’s coming, [the decarbonized, renewable, electric energy economy],” Ritter says. “There’s a business case, and that’s why farmers should pay attention; Not because a bunch of progressives in San Francisco are telling you it has to come or for the sake of the environment. It’s the business case. Look at what happened to the coal industry. People didn’t pay attention — use that as a cautionary tale.”

For the first time in 2022, electricity generated from renewable sources has surpassed coal. The International Energy Agency reports renewable energy capacity will be able to meet 35% of global power generation by 2025. In the U.S., the Energy Information Administration predicts solar power will make up more than half of the new electricity capacity this year.

“People do view solar as a trade-off because it’s actually taking land out of production, but in Colorado, we’re trying to explore new possibilities around agrivoltaics, or finding ways to utilize solar that’s compatible with agriculture,” Ritter says.

PUT ELECTRIC TO WORK

Rho Motion tracks electric vehicle (EV) sales and says more than 4 million were sold in the first half of 2022, up 60% from a year ago. Congress is investing heavily in infrastructure, with $7.5 billion earmarked to support building more EV charging stations.

Back at the farm, Rottinghaus admits infrastructure is the limiting factor.

“If you hook up a trailer, your range is cut by 25% to 50%,” he says. “A supercharger can give you 70% of your range in 20 minutes, but with the slower chargers, you plug in for an hour and only get 20 extra miles.”

He knows other farmers who tried electric pickups and walked away after becoming frustrated.

“We’re still going to be using gas and diesel engines for years,” Rottinghaus says. “I just think it’s something to add to the toolbox.”

Through the years he’s pulled out other tools, including an on-farm wind turbine. His family had to flee their home when the turbine’s brakes failed during a high-wind event, and it caught fire. That experience taught him technology is always evolving and to look for upgrades and new paths.

BUILDING A BETTER BATTERY

A key area where improvements are needed is battery technology. For now, limitations are holding the ag customer’s foot off the EV accelerator.

For two decades, Larry Curtiss has been studying and working on batteries. He believes his latest research at the Argonne National Laboratory in collaboration with Mohammad Asadi at the Illinois Institute of Technology could hold the key to an electric future by land and by air.

“This type of energy density could be used in planes that fly within the continental United States,” he says.

Essentially, Asadi, Curtiss and their partners have created a solid-state, lithium-based battery capable of pushing EVs from the 250-mile range to 1,000 miles. By eliminating the liquid electrolyte, there’s also no risk of the fires that have been an issue.

“A concern with the current battery technology is it uses some metals that are hard to get, such as cobalt, which is only available in some African countries,” Curtiss says. “Our batteries don’t use cobalt, and the materials are generally easy to find except for lithium.”

That should get easier as new mines come online, such as Thacker Pass currently preparing to open in Nevada (despite legal challenges) and new projects in California’s Imperial Valley, which has some of the largest lithium deposits in the world.

“Once we are able to scale this up to a larger size battery pack, it can change the conversation for electric power, especially for aviation, long-haul trucking or even farm equipment,” Curtiss says.

He expects it will take a few years to engineer and scale the battery up in size but is hopeful it can be ready faster than the previous 15-year timeline current lithium-ion technology required to make its way to automobiles.

UNLIMITED OPTIONS

While Rottinghaus is comfortable plugging in his car, he can picture a similar future for his farm equipment.

“In my mind, instead of pulling a fuel trailer to the field, you’d pull a transformer trailer and plug into the grid,” he says. “Then, you park your combines and tractors there to charge overnight.”

That convenience, combined with so much less maintenance, paints a bright future on the farm, Rottinghaus says.

Ritter says that will impact the economics of EV equipment eventually.

“Thinking about ways to decrease maintenance costs by using electric motors in major farm equipment is going to be part of improving the economic margin for farmers,” he says. “There will be big capital outlays in the beginning, but over time, less maintenance costs will make a big difference.”

As the industry waits for the technology and infrastructure to paint a clearer picture of the future, Rottinghaus is focusing on today and planting his 50th crop this spring.

“I like being on the cutting edge,” Rottinghaus admits. “I just prefer to get there after most of the bloodletting is done.”

Electric Farm Equipment

A flood of new lithium-ion powered equipment is making its way to dealer lots. Just in the past year Case, Caterpillar, Doosan Bobcat, John Deere, Komatsu, Yanmar and Volvo have released prototypes or plans for industrial-sized electric equipment.

Monarch Tractor is already trying to establish a toe hold. Its MK-V tractors have been used in California wineries since 2020. The fully electric, autonomous tractors feature 10 hours of runtime, 70 peak horsepower, 40 hp continuous, and twice the torque of a comparable conventional tractor.

“Electric tractors offer farmers significant reductions in fuel costs over the life of the machine when compared with a diesel-powered tractor of the same capacity,“ says CEO and co-founder Praveen Penmetsa.

Monarch also offers a battery swap cart to keep the tractor running and uses 90% fewer moving parts as a comparable diesel unit.

CNH Industrial has been collaborating with Monarch. In December 2022, it announced an electric tractor prototype, which will ultimately be a Case IH branded model.

”There’s a power density as it relates to technology where it doesn’t work on a 555-hp tractor with today’s technology, but it certainly has a use case with the duty cycle needed up to 50, 70, or 80 hp,” says Kurt Coffey, vice president of Case IH North America.

“I’m not going to say electrification doesn’t have a place in agriculture, but right now, just from a pure physics perspective, not at the high-power levels,“ echoes John Deere’s chief technology officer Jahmy Hindman.

Deere’s findings, he says, also show electrification could be a solution for units of 100 hp and under. “In relatively light duty cycles, lithium-ion chemistry batteries can work,” he says. “As you get into higher power levels? The answer is no.”

Read more about electric farm equipment .

More Than $653 Million to be Invested to Improve 41 Ports

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 17:10:44 GMT

More than 2.3 billion short tons of domestic and international U.S. commerce moves by water. In an effort to help grow capacity and increase efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports and inland river ports, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration is funding 41 projects worth more than $653 million under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP). The improvement projects, part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, are focused on strengthening supply chain reliability, creating workforce development opportunities, speeding up the movement of goods, and improving the safety, reliability and resilience of ports.

Here’s a list of the 41 port projects:

ALASKA

1. 40-Acre Deep Water Port Development, Wrangell ($421,000)
2. Construction of a New Small Boat Harbor, Yakutat ($8,963,522)
3. Cape Blossom Port Planning Project, Cape Blossom ($2,455,485)
4. Arctic Deep Draft Port Utility Services, Nome ($11,250,000)
5. Jakolof Bay Dock Replacement Project, Seldovia ($2,376,646)
6. Metlakatla Port Improvements Project, Annette Island ($3,384,439)
7. Dock Infrastructure Replacement in Cold Bay ($43,376,746)

ARKANSAS

8. River Valley Slackwater Harbor Project, Fort Smith ($15,096,000)

CALIFORNIA

9. North Harbor Transportation System Improvement Project, Long Beach ($52,633,331)
10. Redwood Marine Terminal and Baywide Master Plan Project, Eureka ($8,672,986)
11. Port of Hueneme Parking Structure Planning Project, Oxnard ($2,000,000)
12. National City Marine Terminal Berth Rehabilitation & Electrification Project, San Diego ($11,250,000)

CONNECTICUT

13. New London Ferry/Cargo Terminal Dolphin Replacement Project, New London ($1,600,000)

DELAWARE

14. Edgemoor Container Terminal -- Container Yard Project, Wilmington ($50,000,000)

FLORIDA

15. Port Panama City East Terminal Phase Two Expansion Project, Panama City ($11,250,000)

HAWAII

16. Kawaihae Harbor Improvements, Kawaihae Harbor ($23,460,000)

IOWA

17. Port of Blencoe Infrastructure Development Project, Blencoe ($10,262,240)

ILLINOIS

18. Shawneetown Regional Port Revitalization Project, Shawneetown ($10,120,000)

KENTUCKY

19. Conveyor Upgrade and Replacement Project, Hickman ($3,295,879)

MASSACHUSSETTS

20. Leonard’s Wharf Reconstruction & Extension Project, New Bedford ($24,404,000)

MARYLAND

21. Baltimore County Offshore Wind Manufacturing Hub, Baltimore ($47,392,500)

MAINE

22. Portland IMT Reefer Yard Modernization Project, Portland ($14,240,000)

MINNESOTA

23. Bulkhead Rehabilitation and Grain Barge Mooring Replacement Project, Red Wing ($1,989,246)
24. Wabasha Barge Terminal Project, Wabasha ($2,545,297)

MISSOURI

25. La Grange Multimodal Port Enhancement Project, La Grange ($11,091,844)

MISSISSIPPI

26. Port of Rosedale Multi-Modal Expansion Project Phase I, Rosedale ($8,742,816)

NORTH CAROLINA

27. North Gate Relocation and Access Optimization, Wilmington ($10,950,805)

NEW JERSEY

28. Reconstruction of Berth PN-308 at Port Newark, Newark ($32,000,000)
29. Wind Port at Paulsboro – Phase 2, Paulsboro ($20,494,025)

NEW YORK

30. Port of Ogdensburg Terminal Expansion Project, Ogdensburg ($5,107,649)

OREGON

31. Ko’Kwel Wharf Improvements Project, North Bend ($7,729,650)
32. Pier 2 West Rehabilitation Project, Astoria ($25,315,758)
33. Operational Capacity Improvements at the Port of Newport, Newport ($3,444,100)

RHODE ISLAND

34. Stern Off-Load Ramp Construction Project, North Kingstown ($3,880,000)

TEXAS

35. Cedar Port Infrastructure Development Project, Baytown ($10,893,901)
36. Velasco Terminal Sustainable Expansion Project, Freeport ($15,958,380)
37. West Basin Bulkhead Project, Bay City ($9,922,475)

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

38. Reconstruction and Modernization of the Wilfred “Bomba” Allick Terminal, St. Croix ($22,400,000)

VIRGINIA

39. Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port, Norfolk ($39,265,000)

WASHINGTON

40. Port of Tacoma Husky Terminal Expansion Part One Tacoma ($54,233,330)

WISCONSIN

41. Agricultural Maritime Export Facility – Phase 2, Milwaukee ($9,276,352)

U.S. Soybean Farmers Make Major Investments in Mississippi River and Port Infrastructure

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 16:32:50 GMT

Major infrastructure investments are being made on the Mississippi River and at the ports to keep farmers competitive in the export market.

U.S. soybean farmers have led efforts to improve infrastructure by funding research on lock and dam upgrades, as well as dredging on the Mississippi River.

“USB has put up the money for the research to do all this dredging since the farmers actually are willing to put money forward,” says Garrett Marsh, United Soybean Board director and Louisiana farmer. “It kind of encouraged the Corps to step up their timeline, I guess.”

Mike Steenhoek, executive director for the Soy Transportation Coalition, adds: “The United Soybean Board invested $2 million to help underwrite part of the cost of deepening this lower stretch of the Mississippi River from a minimum of 45' of water depth to 50'.”

He says that deeper depth allows another 500,000 bu. of soybeans to be loaded for export.

“You can put more freight and, in our case, soybeans per vessel, from about 2.4 million bushels of soybeans to 2.9 million bushels of soybeans,” he says.

That helps lower freight rates and adds to the value of the soybeans exported, according to Marsh. “With our $2 million investment, I think they’re getting a return of 13¢ a bushel because they can put more freight on a ship.”

That adds up to a big annual benefit for soybean farmers, Steenhoek says.

“What our research calculated was that farmers would benefit from this cost savings because our supply chain is more efficient due to the deepening of the channel, which will result in farmers receiving $461 million of additional value annually,” he says.

The dredging project is only two-thirds done, but is already returning benefits, says Micah Cormier with the Port of South Louisiana. “Last year, we actually saw a net increase in tonnage for our port for the first time in six years.”

Steenhoek adds: “We have a 50' or greater channel from the Gulf of Mexico to about river mile 170, and eventually that will extend to river mile 232, and then the project will be completed.”

USB also funded research to help with the modernization of locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River. Marsh says, “In lock and dam 25, we’re helping with a lot of research to try to redo it because a lot of our locks and dams are deteriorating.”

Steenhoek adds: “We’ve actually offered $1 million to the Army Corps of Engineers for one particular lock and dam improvement project north of St. Louis.”

The port of South Louisiana has also underwritten some needed improvements. Cormier says, “I’m sitting on the global plex dock, and there’s a crane that’s sitting right behind me. These are brand new cranes within the last year; they’ve tripled the value that has been able to move in a much more efficient manner.”

Port of South Louisiana Top Export Port for U.S. Grain Even with Historic Drought

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 16:10:16 GMT

The port of South Louisiana is the No. 1 export port for grain by volume in the U.S., so it’s important for U.S. farmers getting their product to export markets.

This vital area is a key link for moving grain down the Mississippi River from the main production areas of the U.S., and the port of South Louisiana handles product from 31 states.

Micah Cormier, with the Port of South Louisiana, says, “Of our 100 million tons of grain every year, 60% of the nation’s grain comes and is exported right here at the port of South Louisiana to over 90 countries throughout the world.”

Garrett Marsh, United Soybean Board director and a Louisiana farmer, says the port is critical for U.S. soybean farmers.

“55% of our nation’s soybean crop comes out of this Mississippi gulf region, and I think 89% of that comes out of this river,” he says.

The efficiency of this key grain infrastructure outlet helps to keep barge freight rates lower according to Mike Steenhoek, executive director for the Soy Transportation Coalition. “And that journey, because it’s by barge is very economical. It’s very reliable. And so, it’s really one of those secrets to our success.”

The end result is stronger grain prices for farmers Steenhoek says.

“When your supply chain becomes better or worse, those benefits or those costs get passed on to the farmer in the form of basis,” he adds.

The efficiency of the port of South Louisiana is also a key to keeping U.S. farmers competitive globally.

“There are other countries that that can produce the bushels, but they can’t get it to market as efficiently as we can,” Marsh says.

That competitive edge has been threatened the past two years with historically low water levels on the inland waterway system tied to the drought.

“Barge companies are having to resort to light loading their barges or reducing the number of barges that they attach to form one single unit,” Steenhoek explains. “On an individual barge [it could be] 20%, 25% even 30% reduction in the actual capacity that you’re transporting down the river.”

That has lowered overall export volumes for soybeans at the New Orleans port during their peak export season this fall.

“The last I saw was somewhere around 18% from the last quarter of soybeans down,” Cormier says, “and much of that has to do with the drought.”

Yet, despite this historical hiccup, Steenhoek says this export area barely missed a beat getting grain out and inputs back up the river.

“Even in the midst of low water conditions, very unfavorable conditions for transporting by barge, you still saw last year 55% of soybean exports leave from this area of the country, which is really a testimony to how profound this area is for us,” he says.

As a result, farmers are making major investments to keep this infrastructure efficient and effective for the future.

A Shift in the U.S. Soybean Market Brings New Opportunities for Meal Exports in Pacific Northwest

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 15:53:42 GMT

An exciting change is taking place in the soybean industry that will mean new markets for U.S. farmers. The U.S. currently exports between 55% to 60% of the total soybean crop each year on a volume basis, but now the industry is seeing a shift due to expanding soybean processing capacity.

The Pacific Northwest Port of Grays Harbor in Aberdeen, Wash., is an important infrastructure link for U.S. farmers getting their product to markets in southeast Asia. Grays Harbor focuses primarily on soybean meal brought in via rail from crush facilities in the northwest Corn Belt.

“We’re the largest soybean meal exporter on the west coast,” says Gary Nelson, executive director at the port. “We found a niche that works for us.”

The meal is loaded on ships destined for export customers in Southeast Asia, according to Mac Marshall, vice president of market intelligence, United Soybean Board.

“The Philippines is our No. 1 overseas export destination,” Marshall says, “but there are, of course, a number of other countries in that region, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, where there’s strong demand for soybean meal to support domestic animal agriculture and aquaculture.”

The port will play an even more vital role in the near future as the soybean export market sees a shift due to expanding soybean processing capacity, Marshall adds.

“If you look at all the company announcements that are public today, we’re looking at roughly a 30% expansion, maybe a shade higher than that, in the U.S.,” he says.

Those companies are seeing growing demand for biofuels, such as renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, made from soybean oil.

“We’re going to have a lot more meal available for export as a result of that expanded crushing capacity,” Marshall says.

To prepare for that transition, soybean farmers are working with the port and Midwest soy processor AGP to make needed infrastructure improvements, including a new meal loadout facility.

“AGP approached us about two years ago with the idea the demand for oil is going to create a surplus of soybean meal,” Nelson says. “We started talking about planning for increasing our ability to export soybean meal out of the Port of Grays Harbor.”

Soybean producers in the northwest Corn Belt and nationally have also invested in these improvements because they realize the importance of infrastructure.

“For farmers to really capitalize on this and get the biggest value in return possible for their crop each year that requires efficiency of transportation and debottlenecking,” Marshall says. “That means we have to have efficient and higher capacity ports for unloading meal, putting it on the ships and getting it into export channels.”

There’s also a push by the soybean industry and AGP to expand sales in existing markets and develop new homes for soybean meal, according to Belinda Burrier, a farmer from Maryland and director on the United Soybean Board.

“USB, USSEC and WISHH, we’re all working together,” Burrier says. “It’s a great partnership. We’re building new markets and expanding the existing market so we can find a place for all of our soymeal to go.”

“AGP is also trying to stir up business,” Nelson adds. “We’ve shipped to all those places in Southeast Asia before, but they’re also working on developing their market as well.”

Burrier says market expansion and infrastructure improvements are important for her bottom line to improve basis and the cash prices she receives for her soybeans.