10/08/07 Idaho rail woes

Since railroad deregulation in the early 1980's Idaho has two class one railroads serving the state; Burlington Northern Santa Fe in the north, Union Pacific in the south. That lack of rain competition has been a problem for Idaho growers and shippers who need transportation options to get their crops exported. Travis Jones is the executive director of the Idaho Grain Producers Association. JONES "If you don't have reliable access to that or if you're priced out of the market for reasons beyond your control or your able yourself to affect as a shipper then you get nowhere and you effectively become less competitive globally and therefore it affects everyone down the line from the shipper to the elevator to the producer." Jones says IPGA past president Wayne Hurst testified in Washington late last month on the need of the Surface Transportation Board to carry out its mission. JONES "They're either not allowing cases to be heard or its prohibitive for shippers for instance to even bring a case to them in the first place because of the cost of it." It's also a safe bet that railroad issues will be on the agenda when grain producers meet in Boise at the end of this month. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott