News Release

BNSF pledges $250,000 to Kansas State University program

MANHATTAN, Kansas, March 29, 2004:

Kansas State University (K-State) and the nation’s leading grain-hauling railroad today announced a long-term partnership to help educate international grain buyers from around the world about the role rail transportation plays in moving large volumes of U.S. grain for export.

The educational partnership involves significant contributions from both the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation and The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF). The BNSF Foundation has agreed to contribute $250,000.00 over a five-year period for construction of a transportation exhibit at the new International Grains Program (IGP) Executive Conference Center now being constructed at Kansas State. Participating executives of BNSF railroad will deliver the rail transportation portion of the program’s short courses for international grain buyers.

For more than a century, BNSF and its predecessor railroads have played important roles serving agriculture throughout the Great Plains by transporting crops to market. Matthew K. Rose, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of BNSF, says this investment of funds and people is a continuation of that historic partnership. "We have long recognized that the more successful we help our customers become, the more successful our railroad will be," said Rose. "That’s why this investment makes so much sense for us. Kansas State has established itself as a global leader in training international grain export buyers, and this program is helping to attract those buyers to the farmers, elevators and grain export marketers we serve." Rose said.

IGP is regarded as a national program receiving support funding from U.S. Wheat Associates, American Soybean Association and U.S. Grains Council; from state wheat associations in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas; and from some of the nation’s leading grain export marketers.

"Construction of the new IGP Conference Center represents the culmination of 25 years of dedicated service to grain producers and overseas commodity marketing organizations in providing technical support to enhance market development," said Brendan Donnelly, head of the Department of Grain Science and Industry at K-State. "The new center will be a showcase for agriculture and an upscale technical training facility. It will allow IGP to host international guests in an environment that reflects well on Kansas, Kansas State University and Great Plains grain producers."

Kansas grain producers are in strong support of BNSF’s partnership with K-State in this effort. David Frey, administrator of the Kansas Wheat Commission said, "The IGP facility on the Kansas State University campus is a natural site to showcase the critical role that BNSF and the rail industry play in our process of marketing grain internationally. BNSF handled record volumes of grain with the huge 2003 harvest. The U.S. grain industry, especially in the interior of the country, is dependent on the efficiency of rail transport, and BNSF makes U.S. grain attractive to overseas buyers."

The new IGP Executive Conference Center, which will serve as the host facility for the export grain buyer short courses, is scheduled to be dedicated on May 1, 2004. The 20,000-square-foot facility will house world-class meeting and instructional facilities, including a grain grading laboratory, a tiered auditorium-style classroom, dining and lounge areas, office work space for the visiting participants and the rail transportation education exhibit.

The BNSF Foundation is the principal philanthropic organization for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation.

BNSF’s subsidiary, The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company, operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with about 32,500 route miles covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. The railway is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, transports the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough coal to generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at www.bnsf.com.

BNSF Headquarters
BNSF Railway Company
2650 Lou Menk Dr. 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000