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D.C. (NewsDakota.com) .S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp announced a final deal on an acceptable shipping rate between Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and Red River Valley & Western (RRV&W), enabling about 400 farmers in southeastern North Dakota to more easily transport their crops via rail at a lower cost.

During the 15 months of negotiations, Heitkamp pressed BNSF and RRV&W to come to terms on an agreement, bringing leaders from both sides to the table on multiple occasions to find a productive path forward that supports North Dakota’s farmers.

The agreement will allow James Valley Grain (JVG) to build a new grain elevator in Verona. The new shuttle-loading facility will fill the void of a facility that shut down in Verona in 2009, which created a major need for grain services in nearby communities.

The new facility will offer more resources for North Dakota farmers, create good-paying jobs in the area, enable growers to effectively market their crops, and make sure high volumes of crops reach sale destinations throughout the country and the world.

The facility will have a storage capacity of 3 million bushels of grain and will be able to move about 20 million bushels per year.