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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Friday, March 07, 2025
Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman plans to leave next year, Martin Bates has a new role at Dairy Farmers of America, and Brittany Jablonsky is returning to the National Farmers Union.
Chairs of four Senate committees are calling on the Biden administration to quickly implement new exemptions from SNAP work requirements for veterans, people who are homeless, and young adults who are aging out of the foster care system.
The shipping delays that plagued railroad networks last year have improved amid increases in staffing, though Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is calling for more action from the Surface Transportation Board to address what he calls “inadequate” and “unreliable” service from railroad companies.
The Surface Transportation Board has approved the $31 billion merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, creating the first railroad to provide single-line service stretching from Canada to Mexico.
The Surface Transportation Board has finalized a rule adding two procedures for resolving small-scale rate disputes to its toolbox: a voluntary arbitration program and a new measure known as a final offer rate review.
The nation’s largest railroads, aided by low summer demand and intense recruiting initiatives, have made progress in shrinking the formidable freight backlogs that congested their lines this spring. But 62,000 engineers and conductors could once again throw the rail system into disarray if they go on strike Friday.
The four largest U.S. railroads are optimistic about their plans to recruit more workers headed into the fall harvest, but Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman has expressed concern about how ready the railroads are.
The Surface Transportation Board has notified the major railroads that it expects them on Thursday to outline their plans for moving this fall’s grain harvest to market.
