What Is Going On? Union Pacific Railroad Begins Restricting Rail Shipments of Nitrogen Based Fertilizer During Spring Planting Season

The Gateway Pundit ^ | April 18, 2022 | Jim Hoft

[george76]

In early March, Tucker Carlson invited Iowa Corn and soybean farmer Ben Riensche on his top-rated program to discuss the massive inflation we are about to see in food prices here at home.

According to Rienshe, grocery prices may increase up to $1,000 per month due to Russia’s sanctions on fertilizer.

...

“It’s embarrassing how little most people know about fertilizer, what it means, tell us the implications of this sanction?” Carlson asked.

....

Soaring fertilizer prices are likely to spike food prices,” Riensche said. “If you’re upset that gas is up a dollar or two a gallon, wait until your grocery bill is up $1000 a month. And it may not manifest itself in terms of price, it could be quantity as well. Empty shelf syndrome must just be starting.”

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure I heard you correctly. Up $1000 a month?” an incredulous Carlson asked.

“Sure,” Riensche responded. “The price of growing my crops, or the major crops, corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, cotton are up 30 to 40%. They are on my farm. And most of it is fertilizer. Nitrogen prices are up 3 times from the left crop we put in. Phosphorous and potassium have doubled.”

...

That was in March.

Now this…

A leading manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products was informed Union Pacific rail lines were reducing and limiting shipments of fertilizer during the planting season this year.

Who made this decision?

...

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF), a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products, today informed customers it serves by Union Pacific rail lines that railroad-mandated shipping reductions would result in nitrogen fertilizer shipment delays during the spring application season and that it would be unable to accept new rail sales involving Union Pacific for the foreseeable future. The Company understands that it is one of only 30 companies to face these restrictions.

CF Industries ships to customers via Union Pacific rail lines primarily from its Donaldsonville Complex in Louisiana and its Port Neal Complex in Iowa. The rail lines serve key agricultural areas such as Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and California. Products that will be affected include nitrogen fertilizers such as urea and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) as well as diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), an emissions control product required for diesel trucks. CF Industries is the largest producer of urea, UAN and DEF in North America, and its Donaldsonville Complex is the largest single production facility for the products in North America.

...

“The timing of this action by Union Pacific could not come at a worse time for farmers,” said Tony Will, president and chief executive officer, CF Industries Holdings, Inc. “Not only will fertilizer be delayed by these shipping restrictions, but additional fertilizer needed to complete spring applications may be unable to reach farmers at all. By placing this arbitrary restriction on just a handful of shippers, Union Pacific is jeopardizing farmers’ harvests and increasing the cost of food for consumers.”

On Friday, April 8, 2022, Union Pacific informed CF Industries without advance notice that it was mandating certain shippers to reduce the volume of private cars on its railroad effective immediately. The Company was told to reduce its shipments by nearly 20%. CF Industries believes it will still be able to fulfill delivery of product already contracted for rail shipment to Union Pacific destinations, albeit with likely delays. However, because Union Pacific has told the Company that noncompliance will result in the embargo of its facilities by the railroad, CF Industries may not have available shipping capacity to take new rail orders involving Union Pacific rail lines to meet late season demand for fertilizer.

[one guy in new jersey]

Stalinist tactics.

In response to people telling him the things they need the most, Brandon is using that information as a roadmap, meaning, that he is focusing specifically on denying those people those things they themselves say they need the most.

This was done with HCQ/Hydroxychloroquine.

This was done with Ivermectin.

This was done with Monoclonal Antibodies in Florida.

The tactic is satanic but effective for its intended purpose, which is to bring an entire populace to its knees

[Pollard]

https://www.up.com/aboutup/corporate_info/diversity/index.htm

https://www.up.com/media/releases/index.htm

ESG, DEI, LGBTQ+, Ukraine

They’s woke

https://www.up.com/aboutup/community/inside_track/dei-journey-never-ending-210525.htm
https://www.up.com/media/releases/humanresources/index.htm
https://www.up.com/media/releases/environment/index.htm
https://www.up.com/media/releases/community/index.htm
https://up.jobs/search-jobs.html

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

Lance M. Fritz is Union Pacific chairman, president and chief executive officer. He became chairman of the board effective October 1, 2015. Fritz became president and chief executive officer February 5, 2015, when he also was elected to the corporation’s board of directors.

He previously served as president and chief operating officer of Union Pacific Railroad, a position he had held since February 2014, after serving as executive vice president-Operations and vice president-Labor Relations, respectively. He began his Union Pacific career in July 2000 as vice president and general manager-Energy in the company’s Marketing and Sales department.

Before joining Union Pacific, Fritz worked for Fiskars Inc., Cooper Industries and General Electric. He is a graduate of Bucknell University and earned a master’s degree in management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Fritz serves as a member of the board of directors of Parker-Hannifin Corporation. He is chair of the Business Roundtable trade and international committee, a member of the board of directors for the Association of American Railroads, the Business Council and the Georgia Institute of Technology president’s advisory board.

Fritz is deeply involved with organizations in his local community. He is a member of the board of directors for Nebraska Medicine and Omaha Zoological Society. He serves on the STRATCOM consultation committee and is the Omaha Business Ethics Alliance trustee chair.

Fritz and his wife, Julie, have two children and are committed to helping women and children at risk in the Omaha community.

---

In 2010, The Washington Post characterized the group as President Barack Obama's "closest ally in the business community."[15]

BRT board members include, in 2021, chair Doug McMillon of Walmart, president and CEO, former White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, Mary Barra of General Motors, Tim Cook of Apple, and Chuck Robbins of Cisco.[3][4][5][6][7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Roundtable#BRT_Board_of_directors

Big on "stakeholder capitalism", a la, WEF. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Roundtable

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=stakeholder+capitalism+WEF

[old curmudgeon]

Regardless of rail car shortages, etc., shipments related to food supplies should be prioritized.

We can wait for our lumber, flake board or new car but we can not wait for food.

Food, coal and oil should be at the top of the list.

[Jan_Sobieski]

Virtually ALL the famines of the 20th Century were man-made! Get ready to tighten your belt. The New World Order is cutting your food

[jjotto]

Buffett does not own UP. UP gets confused with BNSF, which I believe Buffet does control.

[woodbutcher1963]

That has always been the case. Perishables, grains and energy supplies always get precedent over commodity building materials.

Plus, the railroads prefer that type of movement. What I mean is that an entire train will be made up of oil or coal cars. That train will start at the coal mine and go directly to the power plant or to Tacoma for export to Asia. It never stops other than to change crews.

Lumber, plywood, osb and other commodities are like the milk run for the railroads. They pick up three cars here, two there and six at another origin. They then consolidate that into a train of 100 cars going to Chicago or Dallas.

Moving that one train of 100 oil cars all going to a refinery is a much more efficient use of the locomotives and crews.

[Clay Moore]

If you look at the train cars rolling by some times, pay attention to the car numbers painted on the side. It will be 3 or 4 letters followed by numbers. If the letters end in “X” the car is privately owned. Seems most I see locally are privately owned.

[Abathar]

So? Remember - those rails are Federal property they ride on, this being a midterm election year anything that will hurt prices is verboten by the people calling the shots right now.

The Feds do have a huge say in how and what goes around by rail, they find out this was intentionally caused would mean that everyone else could find that out too, and that would be huge in political capital losses if they even seemed to be complicit in it happening or allowing it to.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I’m guessing not, especially if UP is union-run. It could be that some leftist union leaders on the railroad, for example, could be getting messages from the WH to get management to restrict the fertilizer shipments to create a mild famine. Union threatens to strike unless management meets the demands. Since the railroad needs to make money by continuing to ship other things, management complies. Just my hypothetical, which could actually be a spoiler.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I’m guessing not, especially if UP is union-run. It could be that some leftist union leaders on the railroad, for example, could be getting messages from the WH to get management to restrict the fertilizer shipments to create a mild famine. Union threatens to strike unless management meets the demands. Since the railroad needs to make money by continuing to ship other things, management complies. Just my hypothetical, which could actually be a spoiler.

[Sequoyah101]

An entire article about reduced rail shipments and not a SINGLE word or line as to WHY?

Why?

[meatloaf]

The key word is “private” car. That means the UP is restricting moving laden rail cars it doesn’t own.

UP seems to have changed how they manage. They have a huge number of engines parked.

[Chode]

just another manufactured crisis...

[george76]

Thanks

[Wuli]

This is the beginning of the story and most reports are leaving it out, making it look like the actions of Union Pacific are merely capricious and intentionally trying to hurt farming, which does not seem to be the case:

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/union-pacific-to-begin-metering-traffic-if-shippers-dont-reduce-car-inventory/

[Wuli]

see my post #35

[Wuli]

see my post #35

[Wuli]

see my post #35

[Wuli]

see my post #35

[ConservativeInPA]

People who live near Amish farmers are truly fortunate.

Yes. I always sort of like the sweet smell of manure being spread on fields by the Amish. Hopefully, their roadside stand and farmer's market prices do not increase too much this summer.