News of the Day April 23, 2026
Analysts Say Rail Merger Could Cut Shipping Costs, Ease Delays for Farmers

Agriculture economists and transportation analysts say a proposed $85 billion merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern could lower shipping costs and ease long-standing bottlenecks for American farmers.

The Surface Transportation Board, which oversees railroad mergers, rejected the companies’ initial application as incomplete. The railroads plan to refile by the end of April.

Industry analysts say the merger would connect two rail systems that operate in different parts of the country rather than eliminate competition.

Paul Prentice, a former chief macro-economist for the United States Department of Agriculture, said the deal combines two complementary networks.

“This is not really a merger of competitors,” Prentice said. “It is a merger of cooperators – a merger between a western railroad and an eastern railroad.”

Prentice said the split between eastern and western rail networks has created delays and higher costs, especially for agricultural shipments.

Farm and food products make up about 20% of total rail tonnage, according to the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. Roughly half of all U.S. grain moves by rail. About 80% of wheat bound for export is shipped by rail.

Shipments moving across the country often switch railroads at interchange points such as Chicago. Those transfers add days and increase costs. A combined system would allow single-line service from coast to coast, proponents say.

“Farmers will have better choices of what ports to take product to,” Prentice said. “They’ll have easy access to not just Baltimore and the East Coast, but the Gulf Coast, the Pacific Northwest, and the Great Lakes. It just brings more efficiencies and more choices.”

“The data is just very clear,” Prentice said. “What appeared to be a potentially dangerous concentration of power turned out not to be the case.”