Heartland Co-op Building Grain Shuttle Facility on UP Network
“We appreciate Heartland Co-op investing in our railroad for the long term,” said UP General Director, Marketing and Sales Ryan Raess. “This enables us to support the growing market in south-central Iowa and strengthen our grain origination base.”
Several UP teams are collaborating on this project to ensure Heartland Co-op can begin shipping from the new site as soon as possible, including Operating, Marketing and Sales, Service Design, Network Economic and Industrial Development, Real Estate, and Public Projects.
According to UP, the grain elevator is expected to be operational by late 2025 or early 2026.
“Heartland Co-op is a great customer and partner with Union Pacific,” said UP Manager, Marketing and Sales Emily Peters. “We’re looking forward to continuing to grow together.”
“We’re excited to develop this project alongside Union Pacific,” said Heartland Co-op CEO and General Manager Tom Hauschel. “Union Pacific’s trust in our ability to create a state-of-the-art facility and be a strong long-term partner is greatly appreciated.”
Looking ahead to the 2024 grain season, UP says it spends months planning and preparing for the harvest, which is expected to produce a large crop this year. The team tracks global commodity markets, meets frequently with customers to gauge market demand and harvest outlooks, and makes annual adjustments for supply-and-demand variables driven by weather, growing conditions, government policies and world grain production.
“We’re having frequent conversations with our customers and internal stakeholders to deliver a strong service product for the 2024 harvest,” Raess said.
According to the Class I, UP transports about 1.3 billion bushels of grain annually, with exports accounting for 30% to 40% of those shipments. The railroad serves most of the U.S. major grain markets, connecting the Midwest and Western production areas to export terminals in the Pacific Northwest and Gulf Coast, as well as Mexico. UP also serves significant domestic markets, including grain processors, animal feeders and ethanol producers in the Midwest and West.
