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Analysis shows benefits of dredging Lower Mississippi River

Recent analysis by the Soy Transportation Coalition shows dredging the Lower Mississippi River would enhance U.S. trade competitiveness and improve farmer profitability.

Mike Steenhoek, director of the Coalition, calls the 256-mile stretch from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico a critical link in the domestic logistics chain.  He says there’s an effort to deepen that segment of the River from the currently authorized 45 feet to 50 feet, which would allow more revenue-producing freight per ocean vessel.

“So the cost to a customer per-bushel would go down.”

He tells Brownfield the analysis shows soybean farmers would receive $461 million in additional value.

“Not because supply has changed, not because demand has changed, but just simply because the supply chain is more efficient.”

Steenhoek says seeing a project like this through would take federal investment, but more importantly the initial support of individual states to finance the deepening of the channel.  Once the dredging is complete, he says the cost to maintain it would be assumed by a federal trust fund.