Agribusiness giant Cargill has leased the grain elevator at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge in Port Allen for decades, and some farmers hope another company will get a chance to run the facility that handles a quarter of the Louisiana’s grain. Many say Cargill doesn’t pay fair market value for their crops, which influences prices throughout the state.
In 1998, Cargill merged with Continental Grain, which owned two grain elevators in Reserve and Gramercy. Pointe Coupee farmer George Lacour says Cargill has underutilized the Port Allen facility since the merger. Cargill has no incentive to treat Port Allen as a major export house; if they did so, they would be competing with their own sites downriver, Lacour believes.
“Let’s look for another company to come in and operate this facility so it will give a competitive export house bid,” which would be worth about $1 a bushel more to farmers, he says. A company that was actually trying to compete with Cargill might bring in more tax money for the state and business for the port.
“The Farm Bureau does not want to lose Cargill,” says Randy Brian, a port commissioner appointed by the Bureau. “They’re just asking that Cargill work with the farmers a little better than they do.”
Commissioner Donald Schexnayder says Cargill used to keep the grain elevator open 12 or even 24 hours during peak times, but in recent years have begun closing at 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. He says he isn’t sure whether the Continental merger is the reason for the shorter hours. “There’s no excuse for an elevator to fill up during harvest. They should have someplace where farmers can deliver to,” he says.
Port Executive Director Jay Hardman, while acknowledging the farmers’ concerns, says the port can’t control a tenant’s business model, regardless of who the tenant is. “I’m open to any and all suggestions on this one,” Hardman says.
The elevator handles 25% of the state’s grain crop, port spokeswoman Karen St. Cyr says. Cargill’s lease comes up for renewal in October 2010. The port commission wants to begin discussions early so the best possible lease can be negotiated with input from all stakeholders, she says. A discussion of the issues surrounding the elevator, originally planned for this week, has been postponed until the port commission’s April meeting.—David Jacobs
