Corn Growers Urge Study Completion

March 20, 2001

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has "strongly encouraged" Congress to move immediately to complete the navigation study by the U.S. Corps of Engineers and upgrade locks and dams on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. "Delays by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have already given Brazil, Argentina and China an eight-year $57 million head start in the race for future grain markets," said Tim Burrack, Arlington, IA, farmer and a member of the NCGA Production and Stewardship Action Team.

"For over 20 years farmers have indirectly paid a fuel tax to replace locks, and where are we? The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent eight years and $57 million and they have absolutely nothing to show for it." Burrack told the House Mississippi River Caucus. The caucus, a bipartisan group of representatives whose districts border the Mississippi River, meets regularly to discuss common issues relating to the river.

"Every year more than 1.25 billion bushels of our nation's corn crop moves on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers," he told the representatives. " I can clearly tell you what impacts 1 billion bushels of corn, impacts the entire 10 billion bushel corn industry. Lock improvements will determine our ability to compete in global grain markets." Burrack's testimony discussed the findings of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) review of the economic model the Corps used to analyze the need for river improvements.

The panel of independent economists confirmed NCGA's assertions, he noted, that the Corps' didn't prove its assumptions about the variation in corn shipments relative to barge rates. This number was the center of the "whistleblower" complaint. But, he also criticized the NAS study for its assumptions and conclusions on ways to improve river efficiency without remodeling locks and dams.

One theory is that the barge delays will evaporate if the towing companies will only follow better scheduling, training and trading lockage permits. "Corn moves to market when the market demands it, not when it is convenient to transit locks," he emphasized. When the global market demands corn or soybeans, grain companies and farmers respond by shipping the grain to the ports. "If I ship my corn when the market doesn't demand it, someone will have to store it, and that storage comes at a cost, which is reflected in a lower price. Under this scheduling plan, grain will be shipped not when the market wants it, but when an inefficient lock dictates easy transit."

Finally, he addressed the idea of trading lockage permits and greater cooperation among barge lines to ease congestion. "The advocates of this plan forget one of the keys to barges' low-cost nature is competition," he said. "The NAS panel report also fails to recognize that grain companies compete against each other, for export sales, for farmers' grain and for transportation. Competition is good, it keeps people honest, and it helps us all. If barge and grain companies start cooperating to ease congestion, when does cooperation end and collusion begin?"