Chicago-area short line begins to transload special corn for California rancher
4/30/2024
By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
The Rochelle Intermodal Transload Center (RITC) south of Chicago is home to a new customer.
Thoren Farms recently began transloading Regenified corn at the Rochelle, Illinois, facility. Located in Stockton, Illinois, Thoren Farms is the first certified Regenified farm in the state to use the RITC.
Regenerative farming or agriculture involves measured improvements to soil health and calls for such efforts as planting crops using no-till to minimize soil disturbances; decreasing the use of fertilizers and pesticides; moving cattle and other pastured animals through smaller sections to allow grazed-upon land to recover more quickly; and planting trees, shrubs and grasses to promote biodiversity on farms.
Regenified Ltd. certifies companies that adopt certain regenerative measures to farm corn.
Thoren Farms’ Regenified corn is trucked to the RITC, transloaded and then railed to California, where it’s distributed as turkey feed. City of Rochelle RailroadThe RITC — which opened last year — is located 80 miles from Chicago at the intersections of Interstates 88 and 39. The facility was developed via a collaboration between the city, Greater Rochelle Economic Development Corp. and Burlington Junction Railway (BJRY).
Situated near BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad mainlines, the RITC can accommodate 60 rail cars on two tracks and handle a variety of commodities, including dry and liquid bulk products, dimensional and oversize loads, machinery and metals.
The center is served by the City of Rochelle Railroad (CIR), which is operated by BJRY. Owned by the city of Rochelle, CIR manages 12 miles of track, three interchange rail yards and two transloading yards.
Diestel Family Ranch from Sonora, California, collaborated with Regenified Ltd. to source 740 tons of certified Regenified corn from the RITC. The corn will be railed to California, where it will be distributed for use as turkey feed, said Jason Anderson, Rochelle’s economic development director, in an email.
“The RITC will be the location where Regenified products along with all other types of agricultural products will be transloaded for shipping, by rail, across the country,” he said.
Diestel Family Ranch is committed to sourcing all its feed from regeneratively certified farms across the United States.
On April 22, officials from the city, BJRY, Regenified Ltd., Diestel Family Ranch and Thoren Farms gathered at the RITC to inaugurate the transloading of the locally grown Regenified corn.
More business is expected over time at the facility. The RITC is designed to handle just about anything that needs to move by rail, said Burlington Junction Railway Marketing Manager Kevin Mershon in a press release.
Located in Sonora, California, Diestel Family Ranch is sourcing 740 tons of Regenified corn from the Rochelle transload facility. City of Rochelle Railroad“Being located in the center of the corn and soybean fields here in the Midwest, we can move the food supply to feed the world, right from here in Rochelle,” he said.
In addition, the facility will have more to offer soon. In summer, the city and CIR plan to introduce intermodal services at the RITC.
“Details on that are still being finalized,” Anderson said.
The addition of intermodal services will act as a giant economic development engine, attracting industries that are seeking alternative ways to control rising freight transportation costs, he believes.
