Midwest floods disrupt livestock feed supplies for California farms
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"With multiple washouts and high water on BNSF main lines in the area, several subdivisions remain out of service," BNSF said in a service advisory to its customers on Monday. A BNSF map showed closures on lines in and around
"Normal train flows are not likely to resume for an extended period," the BNSF advisory said. "Customers should expect continued delays on shipments scheduled to move through the area."
BNSF's service announcements indicated that an average of 154 trains -- about 10 percent of all trains on its system -- were held last week, an increase of almost 45 percent from the
"We have this every year, but it's worse now than ever because
Creswick, whose customers include dairy farmers in the central
"At a time when dairymen need all the production they can get because milk prices are so low, they can't get the feed they need," he added. Instead, they have to find something else to feed their cows. "It's a game of substitution and it's not going to be as good as it needs to be."
"I don't recall anything like this before," said Heuring, who's worked in the feed business for decades.
Heuring said Penny Newman typically gets eight "shuttle trains" of at least 110 rail cars carrying feed commodities each month. "We burn through these trains in nine days," he said. "When there are big disruptions that close certain gateways ... it gets mucked up."
Creswick said he believes that while the railroads are experiencing closures, "we've had rail delays for about six months" that have disrupted feed supplies. Creswick said that because the major railroads have orders for more trains than they have locomotives to pull them, shipments that generate more money for the railroads are given a higher priority while lower-value shipments like feed supplies sit and wait.
"There's a lot of flooding along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers that just give them more excuses; they can say, 'It's Mother Nature's fault,'" Creswick said.
Heuring, however, discounted the high-value/low-value shipping theory. "Prior to 1997, we used to receive corn into the state and it was all by single carloads," he said. "As the industry matured, the railroads said, 'Let's get more efficient.' They began running shuttle trains, a contiguous train of 110 cars or more all with one commodity."
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