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Montana ag leaders press for new rail service
State agricultural leaders continue to press Canadian Pacific Railway to open a new route for shipping Montana grain to port, but a meeting between the two sides ended without a commitment from railroad officials.
Associated Press The Billings Gazette
"I’m learning that railroads don’t move very fast," state Agriculture Director Ralph Peck said Friday. "But I think they’re very open to continued discussion."
Earlier this year, state leaders broached Canadian Pacific with the idea of opening new shipping routes for export markets through West Coast ports. The goal was to express interest in finding a rail competitor that could help lower shipping rates.
On Thursday, a 13-member delegation including state agency leaders and commodity group officials met for several hours in Calgary with officials from Canadian Pacific to reiterate Montana’s position that it is "open for business," Peck said.
No commitments were made beyond continuing talks.
"I think it’s a long-term thing but we made some progress," said Earl Bricker, a farmer from Moore, in central Montana, who participated in the meeting. "I think the CP is interested in maybe giving Burlington Northern some competition."
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway now is the state’s primary rail shipper. It moves most of the more than 100 million bushels of grain sent each year from Montana to the West Coast, the Agriculture Department says.
"Trying to find some alternative to BNSF for the majority of our grain has been kind of a lifelong quest for most farmers in Montana," said Jim Christianson, executive vice president of the Montana Wheat & Barley Committee. "The price of wheat in Montana, year in and out, is probably 50 cents lower than it should be because the railroad can charge what they want."
Several issues still need to be addressed, including how grain from Montana could be loaded onto the Canadian Pacific line.
Grain would have to be trucked to the border and there would have to be a loading facility where Montana grain also is kept separate from Canadian grain, Peck said.
"If we can put that together with some pretty progressive freight rates, I think we will have another competitor for rail service," he said.
Canadian Pacific officials asked for more information on the amount of grain now moved by barge, rail and truck, Peck said.
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Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
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