GREAT FALLS (AP)
Columbia Grain Inc., has announced plans to expand its grain elevator at Carter to a 110-car shuttle loader, possibly by the time next year’s crop is ready to go to market. “We’ll be hauling wheat as soon as it gets done,” said Vincent Goecke, Columbia Grain vice president in Great Falls. “We’ve got a lot of track to build first as well as conveying equipment and infrastructure on the grain elevator. “We’re hoping the shuttle loader’s completion will coincide with next fall’s harvest,” he said. The agreement follows BNSF Railway’s announcement in 2004 that it would maintain and improve its Great Falls-to-Fort Benton branch line. Early this year, Columbia Grain announced plans to build a 110-car elevator shuttle along the line, but officials weren’t sure if it would be in Fort Benton or Carter. “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Columbia Grain,” said Kevin Kaufman, BNSF group vice president. “The facility will provide the benefits of shuttle train service to even more Montana farmers, and it reinforces our commitment to the Fort Benton line.” Columbia has other shuttle loading facilities in Montana at Harlem, Kasa Point and Rudyard. Trains more than a mile long move around a large circular track at shuttle facilities, with cars passing quickly under grain spouts. The loading is more efficient and BNSF offers the higher speed elevators better rates, which is passed on to grain growers in better prices. Grain growers in Chouteau County and north-central Montana were pleased at Monday’s announcement, although they’d like to see even more shuttle loading facilities built in the area. “I’m obviously very pleased with the announcement of a shuttle site, which has been a long time coming,” said Carter-area farmer Darin Argenbright, president of the Montana Grain Growers Association. “But I think there’s plenty of grain produced in the area 24 million bushels of wheat a year alone in Chouteau County to support two shuttles,” he added. “It’s a good thing any time producers can have competition.”
