The STC group heard about AGP’s plans to build a storage facility at Gray’s Harbor. The storage would be located adjacent to the cooperative’s export terminal at Gray’s Harbor. The terminal is currently sourced with soybeans and soybean meal transported by a short line railroad.

AGP loads approximately 30 ships per year, primarily panamax vessels, transporting soybean meal and soybeans to Asian markets. The terminal boasts a unique system that is designed to carry the grain gently to the ship, screening for metal along the way.

The STC group examined AGP's grain transport system, which causes less damage to the soybeans during ship loading.

Today the Soy Transportation Coalition visited TEMCO, a partnership between Cargill and CHS, in Tacoma, Wash. The facility in Tacoma moves 230 million bushels per year, 25 percent of which is soybeans.

The port facility is unique in that it features a first-of-its-kind “rain roof” that allows loading in any weather, which comes in handy in Washington. At this port, soybeans from the Midwest are primarily transported to soybean crushers in China.

This shipment of soybeans leaves the Louis Dreyfus facility, bound for Taiwan.

The Soy Transportation Coalition visited the Louis Dreyfus grain terminal in Seattle. Pier 86 is a grain export facility primarily exporting corn, soybeans, sorghum and wheat. All grain is received by rail and loaded onto ships for transport across the world.

The dock is 600 feet long with a 73 foot draft. The dock is capable of handling a 1,400 foot vessel. Panamax vessels average 750 feet in length and are the most widely used at this berth.

The Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) is meeting in Seattle this week to learn more about the important role Washington plays in shipping soybeans to the world.

STC is a coalition of seven soybean-producing states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa, as well as partners, including the United Soybean Board and the American Soybean Association.