2009-05-312009-05-311982https://hdl.handle.net/10365/4738The objectives of the focus of this article were to identify cost characteristics of he then existing country elevators system and it's potential for subterminal elevators, to evaluate the transportation and merchandising system for North Dakota grain, to describe and to analyze the marketing system in the state and to determine the impacts of size and location on the efficiency of North Dakota country elevators, including subterminals. The analysis indicated that there were opportunities for substantial cost savings with subterminal elevators. However, the larger the size of the subterminal plugged into the computer model, the smaller the number of suberterminals appeared in the least cost scenario generated by the computer. Several other elements of grain handling and marketing systems were investigated by the North Dakota State University, including analysis of grain movements from the state, costs and charactoeristics of the trucking industry, shipper-owned equipment, possible development of short line railroads, delayed pricing and grain merchandising. The producer shapes the marketing system opting with a truck instead. Where they choose to market their grain determines the final shaped of the grain marketing system.North Dakota State UniversityHistoryRailroadsArticle