Boise: Department of Transportation, The State of Idaho has issued the following press release:
President Barack Obama wants to double U.S. exports, including agricultural commodities and products, by 2015. Researchers hope to double crop yields by 2030 to feed a world population that’s expected to double by 2050.
But any large-scale expansion of U.S. ag exports will only be possible if the nation can get more commodities and farm products to market, something some experts say the country already struggles to accomplish.
“When it comes to agriculture and transportation, we are trying to attach a garden hose to a fire hydrant,” said Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition. “We see increased production and increased demand for our products, but our transportation infrastructure is way behind.”
While flooding-fueled backlogs at Mississippi River ports garnered headlines this spring, transportation woes begin at many farms. Many rural roads aren’t capable of handling the weight of modern tractors or semitrailers, and transportation funding shortages across much ofthe nation have left many roads left to shoulder heavy loads well past their life expectancies.
United Pacific Railroad has invested more than $33 billion into lines and equipment over the last 20 years and has committed to spend 18 percent of its annual revenue on upgrades, but even U.P. can’t keepup shifting ag transportation needs.
Union Pacific Vice President and General Manager Paul Hammes said last fall’s soybean harvest provided a bevy of logistical challenges.While crop forecasts indicated a relative balance between soy exports in the Pacific Northwest and the Gulf of Mexico, more soy ended up being sent through the Gulf. Costs jumped as Union Pacific threw moreassets to the south to get the beans moved.
Improved shipping forecasts will help move ag products more efficiently, he said.
“Within UP, agricultural products has the highest variability,” he said during the annual Agricultural Media Summit, held July 23-27 inNew Orleans. “It’s not in quantity or commodity. We miss on which month ag products are going to move, which state products are moving from and which port it’ll go to.”
Differences in crop usage also often dictates how goods are shipped, which is why Rick Calhoun, vice president at international food products producer Cargill, has advocated for years for simultaneous rail, truck and barge infrastructure improvement.
“You can’t do it sequentially,” he said.
But with a national budget crunch, that’s easier said than done.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated an annual trust fund of $500 million is needed to conduct backlogged repairs of the nation’s waterways, with half coming from the government and half from private sources. A private effort to fund a terminal for super container ships to redistribute freight in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to exceed $1 billion in costs.
With the high costs involved for infrastructure improvement, Hammes said the form that commodities will be shipped in will ultimately determine where upgrades will be made and who will pay for them.
“Private funds will be spent by the sector that demands it,” he said.
For further information please visit: http://apps.itd.idaho.gov/
