We’ve got this: BNSF ready to support agricultural producers for successful harvest
By SUSAN GREEN
Staff Writer
BNSF’s longstanding partnership with America’s farmers is central to our heritage. It’s a commitment we take very seriously and have for more than 170 years. That’s why we move more agricultural products than any other railroad.
Because our tracks connect the Heartland to the Pacific Northwest to ports and beyond, we can more efficiently move agricultural products, like soybeans, corn and other grains, to both domestic and global markets.
“Year-round and especially as we get ready for harvest, our highly dynamic team collaborates with customers to plan and position our resources,” said Group Vice President of Agriculture and Energy Products Angela Caddell. “This year, we want U.S. farmers and agricultural producers to know that come harvest, we’ve got this!”
About 80 percent of BNSF’s grain volume is moved by our shuttle program, which is designed for speed and efficiency. Shuttle trains are made up of 110-plus dedicated cars that go between one origin, like a grain co-op, to a destination, like a port, without rerouting. Shuttles are loaded and unloaded within a shorter time. Today, we have 395 U.S. shuttle locations (274 origins and 121 destinations), in addition to 41 in Mexico.
For the upcoming harvest, BNSF is monitoring the expected crop yield, which is anticipated to be significant. According to the USDA, total U.S. production of corn, wheat, and soybeans is expected to increase by 8 percent year over year in 2025-26. This would be the second-largest increase in crop production in the past nine years.
To be ready, we’ve built up our crew base to have sufficient train crews to fulfill demand. We’ve also prepared our equipment, including locomotives and grain cars, to meet the harvest needs. Because we know weather can have an impact, we’ve also hardened our network to be more resilient.
Here’s a look at some of our ramp-up-to-harvest plans:
We have the people
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We have continued to bolster our crew base and have added approximately 1,500 new train crew members this year through new hire classes and transitioning from other positions.
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We will continue to supplement with temporary transfers to create more crew capacity in key regions.
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Our team devotes substantial time communicating with customers to understand their needs, and we maintain a dedicated grain desk within our Network Operations Center to coordinate grain movements.
We have the equipment
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BNSF has 4,500 active road locomotives in its fleet with 600 more on standby, including 150 new, alternating-current, fully winterized high-horsepower locomotives.
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We’re pre-positioning locomotives and shuttle sets in key locations.
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All grain cars, including those in shuttle service, are planned to be out of storage and active by Oct. 1 to fulfill our harvest program.
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We’ve acquired 1,100 new high-efficiency hoppers that are arriving now through the end of the year, bringing our high-efficiency fleet to around 50 percent of our total grain fleet.
We have the infrastructure
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In 2025 alone, we committed $3.8 billion in capital investments and we’re wrapping up expansion and maintenance projects as we go into fall harvest.
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Over the last five years, we invested more than $4.5 billion in our Northern Corridor, which spans from the Pacific Northwest to Chicago.
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Our winter action plans have been reviewed and refined, while we’ve hardened our network for extreme weather, including finishing yearly scheduled capital maintenance before the grain season kicks off.
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With the extreme cold across the northern portion of our railroad and its effects on our trains’ brake pipe pressures, we utilize distributed power with locomotives placed throughout the train as additional sources of air. In addition, we recently worked with the FRA to obtain a waiver related to a train’s brake-pipe air flow tolerances while safely utilizing distributive power. This positive change now eliminates numerous unnecessary mainline stopping events, benefiting our train operations.
We take our partnership with producers seriously and understand agriculture’s critical importance to the economy. We expect a robust harvest, and whatever challenges come our way, rest assured – we’ve got this!
