By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

ANKENY, Iowa — Illinois farmers could lose up to 5 cents per bushel for each load of grain forced to detour around one of Illinois’ thousands of deficient and obsolete bridges, according to a recent study conducted by Informa Economics.

The Illinois Infrastructure Assessment and Economic Impact Relative to Grain Movements, Biofuels and Livestock study examines bridge infrastructure in nine counties, including Adams, McLean, Iroquois, Macoupin, Shelby, Clinton, Wayne, Bureau and DeKalb. The report concluded a whopping 475 bridges from the respective counties were obsolete and deficient, according to criteria for the study.

Deteriorating bridges present an economic ripple effect that reaches into the pockets of farmers at harvest time, said Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC), is comprised of soybean association boards from 10 states, the United Soybean Board and the American Soybean Assoc.

“One of the biggest costs to agriculture is transportation, whether roads, rail or maritime. When a farmer is compelled to take a longer route to the original delivery location, that additional cost of time and money will encroach on his profitability,” Steenhoek said. “Those costs are usually not passed on to someone else. The farmer must absorb them.”

The impact of closed or weight-restricted bridges on Illinois farmers is a matter of concern, according to David Niekamp, a farmer from Coatsburg who serves as a board member for the Illinois Soybean Assoc. (ISA), which helped fund the study along with the Iowa Soybean Assoc., the Illinois Corn Marketing Board and other Illinois ag organizations.

“We have a number of bridges in Illinois in ill repair. Those can become extremely detrimental, not just to me as a farmer, but to the economy in general,” said Niekamp. “A failing bridge can cut the lifeline of a small community.”

According to the report, the closed or weight-restricted bridges studied could produce as much as 20-mile detours for farmers and other motorists. Under those conditions, a farmer with more than 300 corn acres and 200 soybean acres could lose 5 cents per bushel to extra transportation costs.
An increase of 11 cents per bushel – or more than $6,000 – in transportation costs could result from detours of up to 50 miles, the study warned.
Michael Bruchhaus, a consultant with Informa, pointed out time is a big issue for farmers, especially during harvest. “The farmer is trying to get his crop out of the field. There’s a limited window there, and time is of the essence,” he said.

The report should serve to enlighten lawmakers and others as to the cost to local and state economies from failing bridges, according to Steenhoek. “The results of the study are being widely disseminated to members of the state legislature, the business community and a number of others who are concerned about the future viability of agriculture and rural America,” he said.
“Hopefully, the study will provide greater awareness of the severity of the infrastructure problem.”

A 2009 Federal Highway Administra-tion study of structurally deficient bridges in the United States revealed that Illinois had a total of 2,373 deficient or obsolete bridges, representing 9 percent of all bridges in the state. Other states in Farm World’s area fared little or no better, including Indiana (1,927, or 10 percent), Iowa (5,358, 22 percent), Kentucky (1,362, 10 percent), Michigan (1,467, 13 percent), Ohio (2,795, 10 percent) and Tennessee (1,246, 6 percent).

The results of the 2011 Informa study seem to suggest Illinois’ bridge spans are deteriorating faster than repairs and updates are occurring.

The STC has a calculator on its website that enables farmers to estimate the costs of delivering a load of soybeans to various locations which automatically determines the most profitable delivery route decision, Steenhoek said. “Mileage to and from the delivery location is a key variable in determining the cost of the movement,” he added.

The calculator may be accessed at www.soytransportation.org/calculator_location.php