From
Process and Operations and Enterprises all the way to Transportation,
Packaging, etc.
By Jim Baer
So you take out a sharp knife and cut up that red-delicious
apple. That piece of fruit tastes great. But likely, you will
never take the time to think about how that apple was grown
safely and kept from airborne diseases. Nor will you think about
how that apple was packaged and ultimately shipped to market.
Who exactly put that safety sticker on the apple, anyway?
There are great companies in America who move a myriad of agricultural
products, whether they are seed-grown crops or livestock to
market successfully. The featured role of agriculture in United
States economy is to make it all happen in both economical and
efficient manners.
The key companies in the industry fall under the acronym the
ABC’s.
That stands for Archer Daniels Midland Co. (Decatur, Ill.);
Bunge Limited (White Plains, NY and St. Louis) and Cargill Grain
Co., Minneapolis, Minn. Another key player was Continental Grain
Co., which originated in Belgium in 1813 and began business
in the U.S. in 1921. Continental Grain sold off its commodity
marketing business to Cargill in 1999 and regrouped as Contico
in New York City. Continental once had a major presence in Chicago
and St. Louis.
Bunge’s North American operation which is headquartered in St.
Louis maintains a series of 70 grain elevators, hugging the
Mississippi River and its tributaries from Minnesota all the
way to the Gulf of Mexico. Bunge North America operates grain
elevators, oilseed processing facilities, edible oil refineries
and packaging plants and corn dry mills in the U.S., Canada
and Mexico. Deb Seidel, communications director for Bunge North
America says the company moved its North American headquarters
to St. Louis in 1990 “To be much nearer to the market and our
customers.”
“Our customers include the American farmer,” she states. Bunge
maintains a commitment to quality and innovation and has lived
up to that commitment since day one.
Bunge was founded in Amsterdam in 1818 and went public in 2001.
The company advertises it is the shortest distance from harvest
to market.
Bunge relies heavily upon river transportation to transport
products to its export facility in Destrehan, La. (outside of
New Orleans). Bunge works closely with other groups with river
interests, lobbying hard for upgrades on the series of locks
and dams to help keeping moving barge traffic along.
“One barge can carry the equivalent of 16 rail cars or 60 trucks
and that is a true value to our environment,” says Seidel.
Not all goods can be transported by barge. Bunge also ships
by rail and truck. One-hundred car freight trains routinely
make stops at Bunge facilities. “Railroads are increasingly
going to these large shuttle trains because they are more efficient,”
says Seidel. “When possible, we are modifying our facilities
to adapt to this trend.”
Bunge claims to be a consistent buyer for the American farmer
and offers a secure and reliable system for the food manufacturers.
Bunge’s access to global markets through its sister company,
Bunge Global Agribusiness benefits growers and customers alike.
For farmers, Bunge opens up new opportunities to reach the growing
world demand for raw commodities, vegetable oils and protein
meal.
Because of integration from origination to food manufacturers,
the company can assure the customer the safety and quality of
products and deliver those products at fair market prices and
on time.
According to Andy Zenor, senior director of Barley and Malt
Purchasing for Anheuser-Busch Inc., “We have long-standing relationships
with more than 3,000 farmers throughout the country who grow
barley, rice and hops for us. These growers are committed to
the same standards we maintain in order to provide us with the
highest-quality ingredients for brewing our beers.”
“Anheuser-Busch purchases close to one half of the malt barley
grown in the United States. We have an extensive network of
storage facilities, both grower and company owned that store
our raw materials. We own our own elevator system which is
a key part in acquisition and storing of materials before they
are shipped to the processing facilities to begin the brewing
process,” says Zenor.
Zenor explains, “Growers deliver malt barley to our elevators
with their own trucks. We then ship this, usually via rail,
to terminal storage and/or then ultimately to a malt plant for
processing. Once processed, the malt is shipped to breweries
via rail.”
Meanwhile Cargill plays a pivotal role in the agricultural food
chain and links areas of supply with areas of demand. The privately-held
company operates Cargill AgHorizons’ grain elevator operations
in East St. Louis.
Tim Claver, Farm Service Group Manager for Cargill AgHorizons
explained how the process works. “AgHorizons is one of 80 business
units within Cargill, collaborating with grain producers to
originate grain, market grain, deliver crop inputs and other
services to help farmers prosper. From a logistic perspective,
our goal is to receive grain from farmers and country elevators
inbound by rail and truck and put that grain primarily on barges
for shipment to the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly 100 percent of our
grain moves in that direction with small exceptions,” explains
Claver.
Claver ticked off the major products shipped by Cargill. “While
we do not typically divulge specific figures on volume, Cargill
AgHorizons business is involved in the daily movement of corn,
soybeans, soft red winter wheat, northern spring wheat, Milo
and special corn and soybeans (non-gmo products).”
Ninety percent of Cargill’s farm product arrives via truck to
the East St. Louis terminal and the remainder via rail. Approximately
97 percent of the stored and processed grain is shipped to export
markets via river barges. Maintaining open channels is critical
to this company as well.
Claver has seen many changes over recent years. “Grain flows
are changing with the growing presence of ethanol plants around
the country. Transportation shortages due to aging fleets have
caused some increased local volatility as well. Of course, natural
disasters such as Hurricane Katrina have some fairly large—short-term
impacts in terms of pricing and the movement of grain,” says
Claver.
Claver agreed the American farmer has a bigger role in the world
economy than ever before. “The role of the farmer is growing
in importance as the world’s population and its appetite for
food continues to grow, as well as promising new applications
such as in the area of renewable fuels.”
Above all, Claver states Cargill will maintain its role in moving
product from the fields to markets to the dinner table.
“Cargill AgHorizons is committed to serving farmer-customers.
Our stated vision is ‘helping farmers prosper,’” he says.
Another key player is Archer Daniels Midland, one of the largest
agricultural processors in the world. Serving as a vital link
between farmers and consumers, ADM takes crops and processes
them to make food ingredients, animal feed ingredients, renewable
fuels and naturally derived alternatives to industrial chemicals.
Founded in 1902 and incorporated in 1923, ADM operates processing
and manufacturing facilities across the U.S. and around the
world. ADM makes a significant contribution to the world’s economy
and quality of life through its distribution facilities and
capabilities. Their partnership with the farming community is
a vital link in the system and they continue creating thousands
of products from produced crops and create markets for these
crops.
CH Robinson, with home offices in Minneapolis, and locations
in 43 cities including Chicago and St. Louis, moves agricultural
products, comprising about 10 percent of their overall business.
The company acts as a third-party non-asset based transportation
provider, according to Mark Peterson, general manager, for transportation.
Being non-asset based, that means “CH Robinson can be flexible
and focus on seeking solutions that work for their customers
and provide a wide range of value-added logistics services,
such as supply chain analysis, consolidation, core carrier program
management and information reporting.” The Minnesota-based company
ships agricultural products via barge, over the road reefers,
hoppers, vans and flatbed trucks and by rail.
There are a myriad ways of getting agricultural products to
market, and the great companies of the Midwest are truly getting
the job done now and well into the future.
