Friday, July 11, 2014

Rail delays have cost Minnesota corn, soybean and wheat farmers nearly $100 million

Rail shipping delays have cost Minnesota corn, soybean and wheat farmers nearly $100 million, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota. Farmers have been forced to store large amounts of grain while waiting out the delays, which are blamed on increased competition from oil and coal shipments, a bumper grain crop, an improved economy that is jacking up the amount of consumer goods and a bad winter.

The study "estimated that the rail delays cost Minnesota corn growers $72 million in lower prices from March to May, an average loss of 30 cents per bushel," Steve Karnowski reports for The Associated Press. The report found that revenue losses are $18.8 million for soybean growers—or 40.5 cents per bushel and $8.5 million for wheat growers—or 41 cents per bushel.

"The report also estimated that the 330 million bushels of corn remaining in on-farm storage bins across Minnesota as of June 1 was worth $122 million less because of rail bottlenecks," Karnowski writes. "It said the remaining 9.2 million bushels of hard red spring wheat stored at farms was worth $1.7 million less. Lower values were less of a problem for soybean growers because there's not much left of the 2013 crop." (Read more)

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