News

Maintaining a competitive advantage

Members of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and the Indiana Soybean Alliance had an opportunity to view two separate lock and dam systems that make up part of the inland waterways system.

Jane Ade Stevens, CEO of the ICMC and ISA says modernizing the current lock and dam system is one of the most important projects to the continued success of the agriculture industry. “The one advantage we still have over the rest of the world when it comes to growing corn and soybeans and our agriculture industry is our infrastructure,” she says. “However – a lot of our river system was built in the 1930’s and hasn’t been updated.”

Stevens notes if we don’t take care of it and upgrade our systems it will go down. That, she says, will cause the US to lose its competitive advantage over the rest of the world.”

Stevens says if that happens – agriculture will no longer be number one in the United States.

AUDIO: Jane Ade Stevens, Locks and Dams (3:25mp3)