Farmers, not truckers
John Schlageck
Saturday, February 16, 2008
The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) recently announced its intention to regulate the first leg of transportation of a commodity as interstate (between states) commerce. The KCC believes that grain on its way to the elevator, from the producer’s field, will one day wind up in Missouri, New Jersey or China.
For years, the standard operating procedure has been an exemption for agriculture from government regulations during this first leg of the journey. This initial step has been defined as intrastate commerce (within a state) and agricultural transportation has been free from most regulation.
Farmers farm to produce food and truckers transport products. Farmers produce crops and livestock and haul them to market so people in this country and around the world can eat. That’s what they’ve always done.
There’s a big difference between a farmer hauling his own grain down the road a few miles to his country elevator and a trucking company transporting appliances across several states. For-profit truckers have the capital and manpower to handle these chores, farmers don’t.
This country became a global power because of its infrastructure and its ability to transport crops, livestock, automobiles and other goods fast and efficiently. Exporting our crops to other parts of the world will do us no good if this nation can’t get the grain off the farm, out of the field and ultimately onto the barges and planes for shipment around the world.
The recent KCC designation creates a host of problems and headaches for Kansas producers. Sedgwick County grain producer Dennis Gruenbacher farms approximately 1,600 acres. He hauls all of his grain no farther than 30 miles from his farm.
“We rarely operate our trucks more than a couple months out of the year,” Gruenbacher says. “The rest of the time our vehicles sit in the shed.”
Gruenbacher says he can’t afford to pay the additional insurance, taxes, fees and licenses that an over-the-road trucker would. The extra time to make sure annual inspection medical cards and United States DOT numbers would also be difficult to do during the busy, harvest season.
Washington County crop producer Gary Benteman, grows wheat, corn, milo and soybeans on 550-acre farm. He helps his brother who farms an additional 1,500 acres. Benteman is worried about how the new interpretation will affect his farm.
Farmers believe their trucks are a necessity to move the grain from the field to market. They make sure their vehicles are safe, serviced regularly and should be subject to a completely different set of rules than professional drivers who operate rigs every week of the year.
“We don’t over-the-road truck and we don’t feel that we should have to comply with the same rules they do.” Benteman says. “We’d just like to see the KCC back off and leave things the way they were.”
Benteman and his brother have three tractor-trailer rigs. Some of the crops are transported approximately 12 miles to the local elevator. Other crops are hauled directly from the harvest field to the grain terminal in Concordia. The brothers corn is trucked to the feed yard in Minneapolis.
Competing with professional truckers is not an alternative for most Kansas crop and livestock producers. Hiring over-the-road truckers is also not an attractive option.
“When you try to hire a professional trucker, they’re always busy,” Benteman says. “They’re never available when you need them.”
Sen. Mark Taddiken (Clifton) explains producers aren’t the only ones worried.
“I’m very concerned that the KCC, a state entity, that’s supposed to be helping folks, seem more directed towards enforcing laws that just don’t make sense” he said. “I think we’re making progress, and I think it is due directly to the involvement of the Kansas Farm Bureau.”
KFB has taken the lead while opening dialogue with the KCC, legislative leaders and the congressional delegation trying to find a solution. Farmer/rancher members of Farm Bureau in Kansas would like to maintain the status quo when it comes to a farmer hauling his grain in Kansas. The goal is clarification of trucking laws and regulations while defining a clear distinction between a farmer and an over-the-road trucker.
Kansas agriculture, and agriculture across this nation, has its work cut out for it on this transportation issue. Farmers will rapidly lose their competitive edge if they are subjected to overzealous regulation.