(The Topeka Capital-Journal posted the following article on its website on March 30.)
TOPEKA, Kan. — Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company and Kansas State University announced Monday a long-term partnership to help educate international grain buyers from around the world about the role that rail transportation plays in moving large volumes of U.S. grain for export.
The educational partnership involves significant contributions from both the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co.
The BNSF Foundation has agreed to contribute $250,000 over a five-year period for construction of a transportation exhibit at the new International Grains Program Executive Conference Center now being constructed at Kansas State.
Participating executives of BNSF railroad will deliver the rail transportation portion of the program’s short courses for international grain buyers. For more than a century, BNSF and its predecessor railroads have played important roles serving agriculture throughout the Great Plains by transporting crops to market.
Matthew K. Rose, chairman, president and chief executive officer of BNSF, said this investment of funds and people is a continuation of that historic partnership.
“We have long recognized that the more successful we help our customers become, the more successful our railroad will be,” Rose said. “That’s why this investment makes so much sense for us. Kansas State has established itself as a global leader in training international grain export buyers, and this program is helping to attract those buyers to the farmers, elevators and grain export marketers we serve.”