On behalf of its 25,000 producer-members, the American Soybean Association (ASA) today embraced federal legislation and the United States Army Corps of Engineers' draft plan to improve navigation on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, and urged the plan be submitted "as is" to the U.S. Congress. The ASA has long advocated that an efficient transportation system is vital to the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. soybean industry because half the value of the $15 billion U.S. soybean crop is exported each year.

Late last month, lead by Senator Kit Bond (R-MO), Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Jim Talent (R-MO), Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Norm Coleman (R-MN), S.2470 legislation was introduced to provide lock construction authorization to replace seven locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Waterway costing about $1.46 billion (50 percent cost-shared) along with $1.46 billion in ecosystem restoration for the Upper Mississippi.

"This monumental step took three months to develop and negotiate, and is reflective of the plan the Corps has recommended as well," said ASA First Vice President Neal Bredehoeft. "We applaud the authors of this measure for their leadership and look forward to working with them to include it in the Water Resources Development Act of 2004."

This move follows the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers release of its draft plan to enhance navigation along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. Among other things, the Corps’ plan calls for new 1,200-foot locks.

"Soybean producers are pleased with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ recommendations to improve navigation along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers," said Bredehoeft, a soybean producer from Alma, Mo. "Since the Corps’ draft plan is virtually identical to ASA policies regarding navigation improvements along these two great rivers, the ASA wholeheartedly supports the draft plan and requests that its provisions be reflected in the final report submitted to Congress."

Later today, Bredehoeft will represent U.S. soybean farmers at a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hearing in Washington, D.C. This event is scheduled to be the last in a series of eight public meetings held this month on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers Navigation Study. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' draft plan recommends construction of 1,200-foot structures at locks and dams 20 through 25 on the Upper Mississippi River, and at the Peoria and LaGrange locks on the Illinois River. The draft plan also calls for guide wall extensions at Mississippi River locks 14 through 18.

Transportation on these rivers currently relies upon a 60-year-old lock and dam system that was designed to handle barge tows that are 600-feet long. Today however, most barge tows are 1,200-feet long, which requires that barges be split apart and sent through one section at a time in a process known as "double locking." The delays caused by the double locking process are costing U.S. soybean farmers millions of dollars a year in higher transportation costs.

"Higher transportation costs equate to lower commodity prices and fewer international sales for U.S. farmers," Bredehoeft said. "We must maintain and enhance our transportation advantage through common-sense projects like the modernization of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers."

U.S. soybean exports have exceeded 1 billion bushels for each of the last three marketing years. Roughly 75 percent of these soybean exports moved to world markets through the Port of South Louisiana via the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Exports are critical to the United States’ trade balance, and soybeans are the highest value U.S. agricultural commodity export.

Failure to modernize river infrastructure could lower soybean exports by 10 million bushels per year below 2020 projections, according to a study by Mike Evans, an economics professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

"No inland waterway system is more important in the eyes of U.S. soybean farmers than the Upper Mississippi River and its tributaries," Bredehoeft said. "But while this system of locks and dams has served us well over the years, it is deteriorating at an alarming rate, severely jeopardizing our ability to supply foreign markets that the ASA has developed during the last five decades."

While U.S. transportation infrastructure continues to crumble, competitors in Brazil and Argentina are investing millions to improve their transportation infrastructure. Once completed, these projects will make South American grain more competitive compared to U.S. agricultural products in the global market.

"An efficient transportation system, particularly an efficient inland waterway system, is one of the few remaining advantages U.S. soybean farmers have over international competitors," Bredehoeft said. "The Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers provide the U.S. with a distinct competitive edge over our competitors in South America."

Another important aspect of a modernized lock and dam system is the environmental benefits it would produce. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a towboat emits 35 to 60 percent fewer pollutants than a train or a truck. Likewise, a U.S. Department of Transportation study revealed that a gallon of diesel fuel in a towboat can push one ton of freight two and a half times farther than a train, and nine times farther than a truck.

Making the necessary upgrades to improve the Mississippi and Illinois Waterways would also protect jobs. Navigation on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers supports over 400,000 jobs. Roughly 90,000 of those happen to be high paying manufacturing jobs. However, the Evans study estimates that more than 30,000 jobs could be lost if nothing is done to improve the current system of locks and dams.

In addition to agricultural products, consumers of coal and petroleum, chemicals and aggregates, and iron and steel also depend heavily on an efficient river transportation system. To learn more about the double locking process and the importance of river transportation, visit www.SoyGrowers.com/step/barge.htm.

"Our transportation infrastructure system helps make us competitive in the global marketplace," Bredehoeft said. "We have the ability to preserve this advantage while protecting jobs and the environment, but we must be willing to act in a decisive manner."