(The following story by Troy Krause appeared on the Redwood Falls Gazette website on January 29.)
REDWOOD FALLS, Minn. — By the time it’s all over, the Delhi branch of Meadowland Cooperative will be about 350,000 bushels lower than when it started Thursday morning.
Unloading corn is what an elevator is supposed to do, but having the chance to haul that grain via the rail is not something an elevator along the Minnesota Prairie Line was used for.
“There was quite a spell when none of our grain was sent by rail,” said Don Beadell, branch manager at the Delhi elevator.
That’s changed over the past couple of years, as efforts to rehabilitate the rail line that runs from Hanley Falls to Norwood have made the 94-miler line a viable option.
Over the next few weeks, more than 100 carloads of corn will leave Delhi on a passage west, where it could be exported to places across the Pacific.
Up to this point, grain hauled along the Minnesota Prairie Line, including 25 carloads taken from Delhi last fall, had been heading east to the Mississippi River or east and then north into Canada.
Mark Wegner, senior vice-president and general manager of Minnesota Prairie Line, a subsidiary of Twin City & Western Railroad and the operator of the rail line, said the reason the grain can be shipped west is that the rail line has connected with another rail line, the Burlington, Northern Santa Fe, to have its grain hauled to points west.
“Actually, we have almost reached an agreement with them (BNSF,)” said Wegner. “I think that agreement should be complete by April.”
For now, Wegner said, the grain will first have to travel east to connect with BNSF until the final agreement is reached and the rail is further improved at the Hanley Falls end.
What that means is the rail line has added leverage to send its grain in either direction based on wherever is offering a better price.
Beadell said whenever you haul out larger loads at one time, such as the 350,000 bushels that will leave Delhi, the price will be better.
Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Authority, which is the owner of the line, has argued that having rail lines operational again will be better not only for elevators and others that could potentially have spurs along the line, but for Minnesota’s roads, as it would mean less truck traffic on the highways. Each rail car holds the equivalent of almost four semi-loads of grain.
The news of the 100-plus rail cars was presented to the MVRRA Board by Wegner during its organizational meeting Wednesday in Redwood Falls. It is the kind of news the board has been waiting for, as it provides the light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel. The line is now not just functional, but is being accepted as an alternative mode of transportation.
Bruce Pinske, the shippers representative on the board, reported more than $700,000 had been saved by shippers using the rail. Of that amount, more than $500,000 went back into the hands of farmers and those involved in the cooperatives.
“The shippers are in support of the line and are determined to make it go,” reported Pinske.
The shippers are also in support of a feasibility study MVRRA is going to conduct based on a grant it is receiving to see just how much economic development potential there is along the rail, especially in those areas where the rail runs through, or is in close proximity to a community.
The grant for $39,000 required a $13,000 match. Some of the communities and counties along the rail have agreed to help with that match, while others have not.
A request for $750 from the City of Redwood Falls was rejected by the city council.
The rail authority is moving forward with its rehabilitation of a line that many had left for dead. Now more and more are getting on board and recognizing just how valuable this can be for the whole area.