Farm Director KC Sheperd recently had the chance to visit with the President and CEO of the American Grain and Feed Association, Mike Seyfert. Sheperd and Seyfert talk about grain transport and more.
The National Grain and Feed Association is a trade association of grain elevators, feed and feed ingredient manufacturers, grain and oilseed processors, exporters, and livestock poultry integrators.
“From when it leaves the farm until it gets to your gas tank or your kitchen table, it probably was handled by one of our members or traders in some way,” Seyfert said.
Seyfert also gave a transportation update and said things are looking better than they were a year ago. While rail and trucking seem to be doing better, Seyfert said overall freight is down, as well as ag exports.
“On the waterways, obviously, we have got low water on the Mississippi,” Seyfert said. “I think we are in a little better spot on that than we were last year as well. I think we are a little bit up on the water levels now.”
One thing Seyfert said the American Grain and Feed Association is watching closely is the proposal on the Pacific Northwest to potentially take out dams on the Lower Snake River.
“That is the third-largest grain export corridor in the world, and so that is obviously something we are watching very closely because it is the PNW, but about 30 percent of our ag exports go out through the PNW as well, so if we lose those dams, that has a huge impact back to the interior of the country also,” Seyfert said.
Drought has also had a profound impact on transportation, Seyfert said, particularly in the central and southern plains.
“I know we had some shuttle cars of corn, in particular, going some very interesting directions last year kind of into some drought areas that we normally do not have them going,” Seyfert said.
Looking into 2024, Seyfert said he is hopeful that he might see some turn in the exports.
“Brazil has been a big competitor, and we have had some competitive disadvantages there,” Seyfert said.
Seyfert said there are some drought concerns in Brazil, which may have some potential impacts on the U.S.
“Relations seem to be cooling a little bit with China, and I think that is obviously good moving forward,” Seyfert said.
In the next farm bill, Seyfert said he wants to see a focus on the conservation side.
“We really want to focus on those working lands and keeping land in production,” Seyfert said.
