THE COST OF RAIL DELAYS:GRAIN SHIPPERS WANT MORE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD MONITORING OF RAIL.

摘要

Upper Midwest farmers lost about $570 million on sales of soybeans, wheat, and corn last year because of painful rail delays that began with the bumper 2013 harvest and persisted into fall 2014. The snarl-up could lead to closer federal monitoring ofrailroads and impinge on selection of a successor to investor Warren Buffett, the Wizard of Omaha.Growers in Minnesota, Montana, and the Dakotas were hit hard by railcar shortages and missed shipments because they rely heavily on railroads to move their crops. Railroads usually transport 80% or more of grain and oilseeds leaving Montana and North Dakota. In South Dakota, railroads haul 39%; in Minnesota, they haul 35%.