News

Missouri farmer on WRRDA advancing

U.S. soybean farmers have a close eye on legislation working its way through Congress to improve navigation on the Mississippi River.

Last week, the U.S. House passed the Water Resources Reform Development Act – otherwise known as WRRDA. The Senate passed its version of the bill earlier.

Soybean farmer Neal Bredehoeft farms in West Central Missouri’s Lafayette County and is a director on the Missouri Soybean Association board.He tells Brownfield Ag news, “From a producer standpoint I look at it as very important because in the soybean industry we export half of our crop every year at minimum. Most of that crop goes down the Mississippi River.”

The House bill contains a pilot program that would be funded with public AND private dollars for improvements on locks and dams.  Bredehoeft says, “The legislation is good. The key to it is that we get funding put in place in the future – that we do actually get these locks and dams repaired and replaced.”

Bredehoeft tells Brownfield they’ve seen this legislation before and Congress failed to get the funding to implement it. He says the House bill may be part of the solution to “get in there and do the work that’s needed.”  The bills go to a House and Senate conference committee next.