Agricultural organizations are closely watching the developments surrounding the proposed merger between the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads. The National Grain and Feed Association has asked the Surface Transportation Board to reject the proposed merger. Mike Seyfert, NGFA President and CEO, said they did a lot of work before coming out against it.
“You know, some folks you mentioned, some came out opposed to it before the press release was even dry, I think, and we cited, at NGFA, that the movement of grain and feed is different, along with the byproducts. So we spent the better part of the last year really taking a deep dive, looking at it with our membership, trying to understand what the impact would be on individual members, what the impact would be on the grain trade and the chain as a whole, and also trying to understand what the impact was going to be across the entire system, because you have different Class One railroads in the U.S., but it is one integrated system.”
This merger would not meet the qualifications required under the STB’s own rules for potential mergers.
“Particularly under the 2001 rules for reviewing mergers that the STB operates under, one of the key provisions is that it must not just maintain, but it actually has to enhance competition in the public good. And as we looked at this, you know, that was the final decision that the majority of membership, the majority of our board members, determined that they did not think that UP and NS had hit that bar at this time, and that’s why we decided to come out opposed. And that had a lot to do with intermodal competition, service assurance plans, dealing with disputes, and what rates were going to look like.”
Seyfert said there’s a long way to go before this potential merger could be approved.
If you’ve worked with STB Chairman Patrick Fuchs at all, Patrick is someone who’s going to do what he thinks is right, and he’s very detailed, data-oriented, and he’s really going to dive into it and take a deep look, and that’s all the members of the STB. And you know, the sense that we’ve gotten all along was that this is not a rubber stamp in that they are looking at and going to take a full review of this and really determine what it looks like.”
The paperwork has to be filed by late May 2027. The STB then has up to 90 days to issue a final decision.