2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2020 BUSINESS & AG LIFE Union Pacifi c closes big shipping center that handled Malheur County onions Wallula facility shutdown raises questions about shipping options By Les Zaitz Mallheur Enterprise via AP StoryShare VALE — Union Pacifi c Railroad on Friday shut down its specialty rail ship- ping facility in Wallula, Washington, that has been a key resource for Malheur County onion producers. The closure could have implications for plans for the Treasure Valley Reload Center, a local shipping project planned for Nyssa. Malheur County offi cials had justifi ed the center by saying onion producers could save nearly $2 mil- lion a year in shipping costs by dropping their use of the Cold Connect service in Wallula. The Nyssa reload center, however, is at least two years away from coming on line. That means the 4,000 truckloads of onions that go from the Treasure Valley area to the Wash- ington site will have to be shipped another way. Local producers have long com- plained that Union Pacif- ic’s local service had been unreliable because special- ized rail cars were in short supply. The onion industry already is taking a bat- tering because of the pan- demic as the market has eroded for the large onions grown locally favored by the restaurant and food ser- vice industries. Union Pacifi c offi cials confi rmed the Wallula shut- down in an email Saturday to the Malheur Enterprise. “With COVID-19 impacting volume and truck prices, it is no longer sustainable to continue Union Pacifi c photo Union Pacifi c is shutting down this massive warehouse and shipping center in Wallula, Washington, reducing how Malheur County growers got their onions to market. operations,” wrote Kristen South, Union Pacifi c senior director of corporate communications. She said employees were notifi ed Friday that the clo- sure is permanent. She said the railroad wouldn’t pro- vide any additional infor- mation about its decision or how many employees are losing their jobs. “Customers also were notifi ed that Friday was the last day we accepted inbound orders,” Smith said. “Our intention is to deliver on all product in transit, until it meets its fi nal destination. A reduced staff will tem- porarily remain in posi- tion to execute these fi nal commitments.” Customers were noti- fi ed by email Friday from two Union Pacifi c vice presidents. “The decision to shut down this segment did not come easily,” wrote Kari Kirchhoefer and Brad Thrasher, the vice presi- dents. “We understand that this may cause hardship to your supply chain.” The massive Wash- ington complex featured two miles of track to handle specialized trains that could get fruit and pro- duce to eastern markets in just days. Union Pacifi c bought the Wallula site, which is southeast of the Tri-Cities, in January 2017 as well as sites in Delano, California, and Rotterdam, New York. Movement of onions out of the Treasure Valley has been the motivation for the Nyssa center. The area ships about 490,000 tons of onions, primarily to mar- kets in the east. The Legislature in 2017 gave the Oregon Trans- portation Department $26 million to fund the Nyssa center. The project has fallen behind schedule, but county offi cials say Union Pacifi c has agreed to serve the new Nyssa project and Americold, another bil- lion-dollar national com- pany, is negotiating to manage Treasure Valley Reload Center. Construc- OCA recommends changes to reporting EO Media Group SALEM — The Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso- ciation reported its board of directors voted to sup- port a concept called “30/14” to require a min- imum 30% of each packer processing plant’s weekly volume of beef slaughter to come as a result of pur- chases made on the open market, defi ned under a Negotiated Purchase Agreement. “Four of the largest packing companies in the United States, Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill and National Beef, have owned more than 80% of the packing capabilities in our country,” the asso- ciation stated in a news release. “This monop- olistic percentage has gained and continues to gain unprecedented con- trol of cash markets, fl ow tion isn’t expected to start on land just north of down- town Nyssa until next year. Malheur County offi - cials won access to the state money by convincing the agency that there was a strong market for a new shipping center and that it would operate profi tably. Making that case relied heavily on the Wallula site. The county said in its October 2017 submission to the state that 86% percent of onions shipped out of the Treasure Valley by truck. The business for Nyssa would come from taking all the onion business away from Wallula. The projections, the county said in its submis- sion, “assumes that the entire volume of ‘new’ onion shipments is shifted from Wallula.” That assumption was the foundation for two fi nan- cial claims by the county. By making that shift, local onion producers would save about $1.8 million by not trucking onions to Wallula. The county also presented calculations there would be a “public benefi t” of about $1 million from a Nyssa operation – from reduced wear on highways, fewer truck-involved crashes and fewer injuries. of cattle, and the retail beef pricing structures.” The beef processor has been enjoying higher and higher profi ts, according to the OCA, while the rest of the cattle industry hurts for revenue and has no opportunity for leverage. “This has led to wild market volatility,” the association continued. The OCA wrote a letter to U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture offi - cials recommending 30/14 to encourage fair, com- petitive and transparent markets. The Livestock Manda- tory Reporting Program is due for legislative reautho- rization Sept. 30. To learn more about the association’s recom- mendations for market changes, read the letter at www.orcattle.com. 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