By DOUG SCHMITZ

Iowa Correspondent

ANKENY, Iowa — The Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) is proposing a solution to aid the high percentage of the nation’s navigable rivers that require a system of locks and dams to cost-effectively link crop production regions and export facilities.

That’s according to the Ankeny, Iowa-based STC’s recent report, which stated many of these locks and dams have been allowed to degrade and, as a result, so has the confidence that soybean and grain shipments via inland waterways will be reliably transported.

“Farmers have a reputation of making the dollar stretch further and doing more with less on their own operations,” said Gerry Hayden, STC chair and a Calhoun, Ky., soybean farmer. “We therefore think it is very appropriate for a farmer organization like the STC to explore how taxpayer dollars can be stretched further when maintaining and improving our locks and dams.”

Conducted by Texas A&M University, Predictable Funding for Locks and Dams stated the condition of the nation’s inland waterway system continues to remain a priority for U.S. soy farmers. Last year, 97.2 million tons of soybeans and grain were transported via the system, connecting farmers with international customers.

The report said if the current locks and dams system continues to degrade, international competitiveness of the U.S. soybean and grain farmer will decline. In an effort to increase awareness of the need to provide funding for locks and dams in a more reliable manner, the report describes the cost escalations and project delays resulting from the current unpredictable and piecemeal funding approach.

It also identifies potential best practices that, if implemented, will enhance the likelihood of lock and dam construction and rehabilitation efforts being completed on time and within budget.

In addition, the report compared a hypothetical lock and dam project constructed via the current unpredictable funding approach with one potentially constructed with predictable and reliable funding. The research highlighted how a project with a five-year construction timeline and a $500 million estimate would be completed on time and within budget, provided predictable and reliable funding from Congress.

In contrast, the same project would ultimately take $573 million and eight years to complete under the current approach employed by Congress. The report also said the same project with the same price tag can have entirely different outcomes, simply due to funding being provided in a more reliable manner.

But because funding is often unpredictable, the construction effort can be subject to interruption until funding is once again available to resume work on the project. Each time the effort must be remobilized a cost is incurred, since it would be more economical to make bulk purchases of steel, concrete and other materials and inputs necessary to complete such large construction projects.

“If I were to design a funding approach that would result in guaranteed cost overruns and construction delays, I would design the system we have in place,” said Mike Steenhoek, STC executive director. “These cost overruns and construction delays of locks and dams we frequently witness should not be regarded as unintended consequences.

“We will continue to see resources wasted and benefits of these important projects delayed until we are able to adopt an approach that provides funding in a predictable and reliable manner.”

Robb Ewoldt, an Iowa Soybean Assoc. (ISA) and STC board member from Blue Grass, said the report puts numbers to common sense.

“I think STC is spending checkoff dollars wisely on research like this, highlighting locks and dams as a priority for farmers,” said Ewoldt, who farms just miles from the Mississippi River, on which nearly all of his grain is shipped.

According to the Army Corps of Engineers, it manages 241 locks at 195 sites around the United States. To keep transportation costs low, farmers rely heavily on locks that allow barges to transport bulk commodities along rivers.

Currently, one barge carries more than 52,000 bushels of soybeans, compared to a semi at fewer than 1,000. A 15-barge tow can transport more than 850,000 bushels of beans to the Gulf of Mexico.

ISA officials said if a lock goes down even for a short amount of time, it’s a serious problem. Grain elevators can’t move product, so they are not likely to buy more, then prices drop and the U.S. reputation as a reliable grain supplier suffers.

Ewoldt said outages are costly and extremely frustrating to farmers who know the system could be much better if the government provided reliable funding to repair and replace aging infrastructure.

“The government should function more like a business,” he said. “If we’re going to redo a lock, let’s spend the money upfront and get it done in a timely manner.”

Jeff Jorgenson, an ISA board member from Sidney, Iowa, said, “I think this study is a great approach to catch the attention of those that control the budget – our legislators,” he said.

“We never lose sight of the big picture; that’s just how we operate. For years, we have made it known that locks and dams are a priority, and we will continue to make them a priority.”