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Trade agreement with China could revive rail shipments for Upper Midwest soybeans

Soybean export activity is expected to pick up in the Upper Midwest with the U.S. and China coming to terms on a trade deal.

Ryan Mackenthun farms near Brownton in central Minnesota and says a lot of soybeans in the region used to get shipped to Asia.

“We have the ability to put it on a rail up to the PNW (Pacific Northwest) rail up north out the state of Washington and to those Asian markets. But the last two years we’ve been in a truck, pretty much been all going by semi, to crush facilities.”

He tells Brownfield the lack of rail business puts a financial strain on many grain elevators that often gets passed to the farmer.

“It’s a labor-intensive activity for a coop to do (because it’s) extra trucks, extra people, extra man hours. So just to have that export market to China coming online hopefully soon will actually be cost-beneficial to farmers at the coop level too.”

Mackenthun grows corn and soybeans and currently serves as vice president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association.