Presently, the U.S. enjoys a comparative advantage in corn production worldwide. The per-ton cost for transporting corn in the United States is lower than in other countries. The Iowa Corn Growers Association, working in conjunction with the National Corn Growers Association, wants to ensure that U.S. farmers retain their ability to deliver their commodities to the world market in the most efficient and economical manner - through barge transportation. Several of the locks along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers are only 600 feet in length and therefore are unable to accommodate the modern 1100-foot barge tow. These locks need to be upgraded to 1200 feet in length in order to reduce costly transportation delays and expedite the movement of corn and other products to both foreign and domestic customers.
River transportation is the most environmentally friendly form of shipping goods.
Each barge tow diverts more than 870 trucks off of U.S. interstates and highways. Over 400,000 jobs are related directly or in-directly to the Mississippi River. Contact your U.S. Senators and Congressmen today and encourage them to support improvements to the Mississippi River transportation infrastructure.