Dive Brief:

• Archer Daniels Midland Co. reported net income of $267 million for the first quarter, down slightly from the $269 million seen a year earlier, and below analysts' expectations. 
• The Illinois-based agribusiness giant blamed the unusually harsh winter for its poor performance. In particular, heavy snows caused havoc on the rail systems through much of the harvest season, ADM said. 
• Overall revenue in the quarter fell 4.7% to $20.7 billion. Earnings derived from the actual handling and merchandising of grains dropped 19% from a year earlier.

Dive Insight:

It's been a long winter. And now that it appears to be ending at last, it's becoming clear just what an impact the weather had on U.S. agriculture in recent months.

All of the so-called ABCD companies (ADM, Bunge, Cargill and (Louis) Dreyfus) that dominate the world trade in grains are reporting similar poor earnings and putting the blame on the same factors -- particularly the difficulty of transporting grain by rail in the United States this year. 

The only good news (and it's not really good news), is that the grain industry isn't alone. Everyone had a hard time securing rail transport this year. Car shortages caused problems for oil, ethanol, steel, and automobiles too.