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Study details hypothetical closure of major river locks

Petroleum barges on the Illinois River at Florence

The USDA has released a report detailing the economic impact of a hypothetical closure of locks on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois River.

Soy Transportation Coalition executive director Mike Steenhoek says these scenarios bring to light how a lock failure would negatively impact the profitability of U.S. farmers.

“The reality is, we operate in an industry with very tight margins.  So we just don’t have the ability to absorb cost escalations due to a transportation challenge, bottleneck or failure.  So we need to make sure that this system is operating at a high caliber in order to maintain our profitability.”

The report commissioned by USDA and conducted by the University of Tennessee looked specifically at how corn and soybean stakeholders would be effected.

Steenhoek tells Brownfield it’s very important policy makers consider the ramifications should a lock fail in the coming years.

“These policy makers do know particular farmers, and that’s really what the key is to try and inspire action on a particular issue is to make it relatable and tangible to these policy makers.  So that’s something that we need to continue to do.”

The study found that corn and soybean exports at Gulf of Mexico ports would be reduced by as much as 13 percent if either Lock 25 on the Mississippi River or La Grange Lock on the Illinois River were closed beyond a quarter of the year.

Steenhoek says the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) addresses many logistical concerns within the nation’s inland waterway system, and House and Senate staff are laying the groundwork for a conference committee to take up the legislation following the election.

 

 

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