Washington, D.C. — Today, Farm Action submitted a public comment to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) supporting its proposed rule to repeal a regulation that has long hindered shippers, such as farmers, from effectively challenging poor rail service. The change would give them a realistic path to seek relief when service fails.
For the last four decades, shippers seeking relief have had to prove anticompetitive conduct across the entire rail industry, an extremely high burden of proof that has prevented any shipper from successfully obtaining relief under this rule. The proposed rule would remove that regulatory barrier and restore the public-interest standard that existed prior, giving the STB flexibility to address complaints on a case-by-case basis.
Freight rail is essential to U.S. agriculture. Farmers rely on it to get key supplies like fertilizer and feed, and to ship large quantities of crops such as grain and oilseeds to processors and export markets. Because these products are shipped in bulk and generate thin margins, excessive rail costs or delays can significantly cut into farmers’ earnings.
With farmers already facing rising input costs and fewer choices, the rule would also begin to address the impacts of rail industry consolidation by giving farmers a meaningful way to challenge unreliable or anticompetitive rail service.
“When rail service is unreliable or competition is limited, service delays and elevated freight costs can disrupt planting and harvest cycles, increase input costs, and reduce the prices producers ultimately receive for their crops,” Farm Action wrote in its comment.
“Strengthening intramodal rail competition supports fairer pricing dynamics, broader market access, and improved resilience in rural economies. Policies that reduce structural barriers to competition in rail shipping, therefore, advance broader agricultural policy objectives, including supporting independent producers, enhancing supply chain reliability, and positively affecting farm profitability,” the comment notes.
