How Norfolk Southern Is Preparing to Keep America's Crops Moving

For much of the country, harvest season represents the culmination of a year's worth of planning, investment, and hard work. For Norfolk Southern, the same is true.

Long before grain begins moving from fields to elevators, processors, and export terminals, Norfolk Southern employees are preparing the network that helps move the products, equipment, and harvested commodities that support America’s agricultural supply chain. NS is entering the season with a focus on safety, capacity, improving network performance, and customer support.

"Harvest is one of the most important periods of the year for our agricultural customers and for the nation's supply chain," said Chief Commercial Officer Ed Elkins. "Our focus is making sure we have the resources, people, and network performance necessary to support customer success."

"Readiness for harvest starts long before the first crops are loaded," said Chief Operating Officer Brian Barr. "Our teams spend the year preparing the railroad and strengthening execution so we can move customers' freight safely and reliably as demand increases."

Harvest Starts Before the Combine

NS’ role in the agricultural supply chain begins well before harvest season arrives. Across our network, we move many of the products that help farmers prepare fields, support growing conditions, and get ready for the season ahead, including fertilizer, phosphate, seeds, and other farm-related commodities.

In 2025, NS moved nearly 4.5 million tons of fertilizer, enough to help grow more than 35 billion standard pumpkins or 2.7 trillion apples.

Equipping the Farm

Rail also helps deliver the machinery and materials farmers rely on to plant, maintain, and harvest their crops. In 2025, NS moved more than 50,000 tons of farm machinery and equipment, along with tractors, harvesters, agricultural equipment parts, and tires for farm equipment.

Together, those shipments help support the farms and producers that keep America’s food supply chain moving.

Investments Across the Network

Supporting harvest season begins with having the right assets in place. NS’ grain hopper fleet has grown to more than 3,500 cars, providing customers with additional capacity and flexibility as demand increases.

We have also continued investing in locomotive resources, with over 3,200 locomotives available across the fleet and additional units expected to enter service later this year.

At the same time, NS continues to strengthen our workforce by hiring and developing the employees needed to support long-term growth. All of these things will continue to help improve our customer service and ability to deliver with excellence.

Improved Network Performance a Great Signal for Readiness

Network fluidity remains one of the most important drivers of service reliability. NS has steadily improved performance through the summer months, despite dealing with challenging weather cycles. 

Key operating metrics, including train speed and terminal dwell, have steadily improved in the last several weeks. We have also increased the average grain train size year over year, creating greater efficiency across the network while helping maximize available capacity.

These improvements provide a stronger foundation for supporting customer demand throughout the season.

People Power the Harvest and Its Supply Chain

Behind every railcar and locomotive is a team of employees working to keep the railroad moving. Mechanical teams inspect and maintain equipment to ensure reliability. Engineering teams improve tracks, bridges, and other infrastructure to expand capacity and support service. Transportation teams move trains safely and efficiently. Customer logistics representatives work directly with customers to manage shipments. Agricultural marketing teams maintain close communication with grain shippers and supply chain partners on their crop outlooks and expected yields. 

Together, those employees help ensure NS can respond quickly to changing market conditions and customer needs.

Moving America's Harvest

Agriculture remains one of the most important sectors NS serves. In 2025, the railroad moved approximately 18 million tons of corn and feed, more than 806,000 tons of soybeans, more than 532,000 tons of wheat, and more than 45,000 tons of coffee across its network.

That corn and feed alone represents enough to feed roughly 2.2 billion chickens, while the coffee would make more than 3 billion cups. Those shipments connect farm communities to processors, manufacturers, feed operations, consumer markets, and export gateways.

Through continued investments in people, equipment, and network performance, NS is prepared to support another successful harvest — moving what farmers need before the season starts, supporting the equipment that keeps farms running, and helping deliver the products that feed families and reach markets across the country and around the world.