Farm Bureau Wants Congress to Upgrade Waterways

March 22, 2002

The American Farm Bureau Federation Thursday called on Congress to provide upgrades of the Mississippi and Illinois waterways to improve transportation for both agricultural products and farm supplies.

"Current traffic trends and future population estimates both reveal that upgrades on the Mississippi and Illinois waterways are needed to help U.S. farmers continue to feed the world," said Missouri Farm Bureau President Charles Kruse. "This will help to make our rural communities and agriculture-related businesses strong, too."

He said Farm Bureau, specifically, supports expanding the inland waterway system since it represents the most energy-efficient mode of transportation; educating the public about the economic importance of the waterways; continuing efforts to update the locks and dams as well as cleaning out river channels to accommodate new, larger barges; and, lengthening to 1,200 feet, the locks on the Mississippi River below Keokuk and on the Illinois River below Peoria.

Kruse, a southeast Missouri farmer and AFBF board member, told the congressional Mississippi River Caucus that Farm Bureau will work to secure authorization and funding necessary to begin the process of modernizing the inland waterways system of locks and dams.

"Any farmer who lives in the vicinity of a major navigable river benefits from the higher prices paid for their commodities," Kruse said. "Waterborne transportation to processing facilities or deep water ports results in higher prices paid to farmers, lowers government outlays by reducing loan deficiency payments and makes our products more competitive in world markets. In other words, it's a win-win proposition."

Kruse said an efficient inland waterway system is critical to global competitiveness, emphasizing that agriculture is one of the few sectors in which the U.S. still has a positive trade balance. He warned that some people fail to take our foreign competitors seriously. "Infrastructure improvements in South America, for example, will not be the death knell of American agriculture but should serve as a wakeup call to U.S. policymakers." Farm Bureau has emphasized that efficient river commerce not only reduces the cost of transporting production, such as corn, soybeans and wheat, but also provides an economical method of shipping much needed input supplies, like fertilizer, minerals, agricultural chemicals and diesel fuel.

"Our nation has made a financial commitment to strengthening rural America," Kruse said, "an investment that is limited in its return if we fail to take advantage of our natural resources, including maximizing usage of the inland waterway system."