Removed from most of the nation's population centers, transportation is usually not viewed as an advantage for producing farm commodities in the Northern Plains.However,
there are indeed transportation assets available that may help farmers in Minnesota and the surrounding region leverage contracts for producing higher-value, identity-preserved products in the future.
Transportation
assets include the interstate highway and railroad systems and the Port of Duluth-Superior.
The region's highway and railroad grid are among the most competitive in the nation, says Kim Vachal, transportation
economist with the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute.
"We can get to the market quickly," she says.
The region also has good intermodal transportation loading facilities, which could handle
smaller containerized shipments of high-value products. Minneapolis is the main hub for container transfers from the highway to the rail. But a Burlington Northern facility in Dilworth, MN could be utilized if
demand for containerized or intermodal shipping rises dramatically. The Canadian Pacific Railroad also operates a container facility in Thief River Falls, MN.
Though the elevators at the Port of Duluth-Superior are
designed to handle large cargoes of bulk commodities, they can handle smaller shipments, too.
Smaller-sized ocean vessels are already calling
on the Port. The prospects are there as well for the traditional large vessel to handle identity preserved grains split between several cargo compartments. Freight cost will remain a key
factor and using larger vessels is key to being competitive, says Ron Johnson, Duluth Seaway Port Authority trade development director.
"We see the possibility of oversees brokers
ordering identity-preserved grains in large quantities and dividing it up among customers. If there's money to be made, terminal elevators will figure a way to handle the
smaller and the larger identity preserved bulk cargoes," he says.
Being able to deliver products to the market quickly and efficiently will be important in the future as farmers compete for higher-value,
identity-preserved markets, says Art Brandli, a Warroad, MN, farmer and chairman of FarmConnect, a new farmer-owned alliance being organized in Minnesota.
Structured as a cooperative, FarmCon-nect intends to improve the profitability of its members by identifying, creating, and meeting agricultural market needs through the development of strategic relationships with
processors and end users.
"We think that Minnesota has the highways, rail lines and ports to be a leader in the future," he says. More information about FarmConnect may be found online at
