STB directs UP to deliver trains to Foster Farms

The Surface Transportation Board late last week ordered Union Pacific Railroad to deliver certain trains of feed corn from the Midwest to Foster Poultry Farms’ facilities in Traver, Trulock and Delhi, California.

The board ordered the deliveries on a schedule provided by UP as part of a status report due today.

STB issued its decision on Dec. 30, 2022, in response to Foster Farms’ request for an emergency service order directing UP to make a priority of delivering unit trains of corn to the company’s facilities. In its petition, Foster Farms asserted an emergency order was necessary because of the "substantial, measurable deterioration of rail service” by UP to the three California facilities starting in October 2022. The corn is needed to feed cattle and chickens.

"The lack of sufficient deliveries of unit trains in October and November resulted in feed stocks dwindling to critically low levels," and inventory continued to dwindle in December, Foster Farms stated in its filing. The company supplemented the UP deliveries from corn shipped by BNSF Railway Co. and transloaded onto trucks.

The corn is needed specifically to feed chickens, which are more susceptible to starvation, Foster Farms stated in the filing.

In its reply to the petition, UP asked the board to deny the petition and asserted that the current crisis is mainly due to extreme weather affecting many rail shippers. UP stated five loaded trains destined for the Foster Farms facilities were slated for delivery between Dec. 31, 2022, and Jan. 3.

The board ordered UP to deliver those five trains on the schedule the railroad provided and give daily updates on the trains' locations.

Foster Farms' petition was the second time in less than a year that it asked the STB to address UP-related service issues.