TOPEKA, KANSAS, US — Four shippers/receivers involved in grain transportation received funding through the Kansas Rail Service Improvement Program (RSIP) to provide short line rail access.

The largest award of $2.2 million went to Seaboard Energy, which operates a renewable diesel facility in Hugoton, Kansas, US.

Served by the Cimarron Valley Railroad, the project will increase the facility’s capacity for receiving renewable diesel feedstocks such as soybean oil. The facility opened in 2022 and has the capacity to produce 85 million gallons of renewable diesel per year.

Other grain shippers receiving funding included Seaboard Foods, $525,169 for a Hugoton Feed Mill rail expansion; Skyland Grain, $700,000 for expanded local moves on the short line; and Weskan Grain, $700,000 for additional industry loading tracks.

“Short line and regional railroads provide rail access for rural grain producers and reduce overall reliance on trucks,” said the US Department of Agriculture in its Grain Transportation Report. “Rising rail use results in lower emissions and less road congestion and maintenance. However, government funding is often needed to adequately maintain short line tracks.”