Increasing operating and transportation costs led to a remarkable collaboration in Four Lakes, Wash. K Combine Forces eeping what works while looking for the next right answer is central to the cooperative model. That balance drives cooperatives to look for new, more efficient ways to do business with an eye to long-term success and value. That driving force led four cooperatives and a private grain company to work together to build a $30 million grain shuttle facility near Four Lakes, Wash. Then the five entities merged to form HighLine Grain Growers, a cooperative based in central Washington. It all began in 2013 with a shared vision. “We exist to provide products and services for the multi-generational farm families we serve,” says Paul Katovich, CEO of HighLine Grain Growers and former manager of one of the merged cooperatives. “Realizing that we were all looking at our business models in the same way allowed us to go down a path we could not have gone down independently — balancing heritage and innovation.” “We asked ourselves, ‘How do we meld the old with the new?’” Katovich says. The answer was the Four Lakes shuttle facility. Opening in 2016, it allowed the companies to continue to use the extensive short-line track to bring 60-car scoot trains to the facility several times a week from outlying locations. The facility loads and unloads 110-car shuttle trains from the main line to take advantage of more favorable shuttle rates. Four Lakes handles about 45 shuttle trains every year with just five employees. More than 25 million bushels of wheat cycle through Four Lakes each year, mostly soft white wheat bound for Portland and then Asia. HighLine Grain Growers worked with the Washington State Department of Transportation to secure grants for projects to improve safety and efficiency on the 108-mile section of the rail line that feeds Four Lakes. “To protect our growers’ investment and control freight rates, we decided to make this investment,” says Beau Duff, chief financial officer for HighLine Grain Growers. “We are in this to do the best for our farmer-owners.” — Jennifer Chick > “We are in this to do the best for our farmer-owners.” — Beau Duff The need to collaborate, and ultimately merge, became obvious when ever-increasing operating and transportation costs in north-central Washington disrupted traditional trading and logistic decisions for their 55 locations. Beau Duff manages finances for HighLine Grain Growers. Your CHS Connection 7