A milestone for the Producer Ag, LLC. Sumner County Terminal occurred on September 27 as it shipped out its first full train of grain bound for international markets. The 420,000 bushels of wheat on the BNSF Railway was bound for a CHS export facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. After arriving at the port, the grain was moved from the train to an ocean-going vessel and ultimately will reach Nigeria.
"It is exciting to have delivered upon our "Shared Growth. Shared Success." vision by loading our first shuttle of grain out of the Sumner County Terminal," said Erik Lange, MKC senior vice president and COO. "The facility performed fantastically, allowing farmers to access new markets not directly accessible through the cooperative system before in the area."
With the addition of Sumner County to the existing Canton Terminal, it provides the opportunity for Team Marketing Alliance, MKC’s grain marketing division, to have access to another class 1 railroad that serves different destinations to provide greater value for cooperative members in MKC’s footprint.
“The benefits that come from having our own cooperatively owned terminals are numerous,” said Lance Adams, TMA grain merchandiser. “We have the ability to originate more bushels from outside cooperatives and new producers. We can reach further into the supply chain which allows us to capture more margin for our producers. The ability to timely execute mass quantities of grains when the market wants them, adds to the bottom line of the system.”
Since the addition of the terminals, these assets give MKC and TMA access to markets they did not have prior through relationships developed and refined over the last several years.
For example, MKC and TMA have wheat trains that go to mills in the eastern U.S. and soybean trains that go to processors in Mexico. Additionally, these new relationships allow MKC and TMA to be smarter and more responsive to market conditions because of our expanded footprint.
Members of MKC can now gain greater value through the international impact of their local cooperative system from the broader market access that this additional rail terminal adds. Progressive growth and vision of the MKC and TMA relationship now allow our members to be a part of the global food supply.
