(The following story by Marvin Baker appeared on the Minot Daily News website on June 23.)
MINOT, N.D. — Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad is poised to handle harvest on the northern Great Plains, according to the group vice president for agricultural products.
Kevin Kaufman, who was part of a BNSF entourage in Minot Monday to meet with employees and BNSF customers, said the railroad currently has 5,000 grain cars in reserve and will begin shipping them north as soon as the need arises.
“The way people have been talking, North Dakota and Montana are expecting harvest two weeks late,” Kaufman said. “So we don’t need to preposition yet. We don’t see a logistical problem at all.”
Harvest of winter wheat in Kansas and Oklahoma has already gone well and is well ahead of last year’s pace, save for some rain that has slowed harvest a bit in Kansas and caused a few quality issues, according to Kaufman.
Nebraska’s grain is still maturing, but Kaufman is expecting a normal harvest there.
The turning point will be South Dakota, according to Kaufman. He said confidently that BNSF won’t be shipping South Dakota’s harvest to the Gulf Coast like it did last year, which tied up hundreds of cars.
In addition, Kaufman said the flooding in Iowa and Illinois hasn’t hurt day-to-day operations and will have very little if any bearing on what happens in North Dakota this fall.
“The flooding won’t have much impact on us,” Kaufman said. “From a network perspective, yes, because the railroad works like a circulatory system. Sure, it has an effect on the network, but it’s not a huge problem. We’re used to these kinds of issues and this is what railroading is all about.”
As a result, the next harvest need is going to be on the northern Great Plains, which for the most part means North Dakota.
“The foreign buyers will want that quality wheat right away,” Kaufman said. “So that might pose a challenge to get it to the coasts for overseas shipment in a timely manner.”
But there’s another challenge that has begun appearing on the horizon, according to Kaufman. With the rise in fuel prices, the demand for shipping products is sharply on the rise and many of those calls are coming from customers the railroad wouldn’t expect.
“This fuel situation is an interesting phenomenon,” Kaufman said. “Three years ago nobody would have said a short-line shipment was the way to go. But the trains now are so much more fuel efficient, we’re getting calls for short-line pickups.”
He called the potential customers, opportunities that would essentially turn back the clock, since railroads once stopped in every community along its routes before the advent of the unit train.
He added that ethanol plants have become another customer that originally weren’t part of the railroad’s transportation planning.
With the exception of Red Trail Energy in Richardton and Blue Flint Ethanol in Falkirk, most ethanol plants were designed to ship in corn by truck. But with fuel prices going out of control, many plant managers are requesting the corn be hauled in by rail.
BNSF Communications Specialist Suann Lundsberg said one ton of freight can be hauled 436 miles on one gallon of fuel. That makes rail shipments an attractive option since rail rates have fallen below trucking rates.
“Every year, the new locomotives are 15 percent more efficient,” Lundsberg said.
Kaufman said the ride to Towner Monday afternoon was a good opportunity to hear from customers who have told him that BNSF has made steady improvements in its service and public relations.
“We’ve received high marks on how we handled last year’s crop,” Kaufman said. “There was a significant increase last year and markets that wanted that crop now.”
He said the market demanded North Dakota’s grain moved in four to six months and for the most part, that was accomplished. Kaufman said at no time was BNSF more than seven to 10 days behind schedule in shipping.
“We’ve gotten so much better reacting to our customers’ needs and that’s important,” Kaufman said. “In the past, the railroad was not as reactive to the ag sector. There were some bad memories. But we’ve just about overcome that misinformation gap.”
Eric Bartsch is a customer of BNSF. Bartsch, the general manager of United Pulse Trading, is on the BNSF mainline in Williston. His company ships peas from Williams and surrounding counties mostly to West Coast and beyond.
“We’re dependent on the railroad for shipping around the world,” Bartsch said. “That’s the first link in getting our product out. We’ve been shipping in the United States the last nine months and we’re happy with the service. We’re looking at expansion.”