Oswego port needs federal designation to export grain, Sen. Schumer says

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) last week called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide the Port of Oswego, N.Y., a federal designation to export grain and other agriculture products for the first time.

The port each year receives about 10 million bushels of grain — primarily soybeans, corn and wheat — that some companies transport by rail to Virginia, where it's exported because the Oswego port isn't eligible for grain exports, Schumer said in a press release. The port is served by CSX Transportation.

If the port received a certificate from the USDA to conduct required weighings and inspections to safely export grain, it could export the products and grow its footprint in the area, said Schumer.
 
"Each day, goods like aluminum, cement and salt come in and out of the Port of Oswego, so it makes no sense why grains can come in but cannot be shipped out," he said. "The inability to export grains is a lost opportunity for the port and the entire central New York economy."