IL Corn’s favorite issue was featured in Bloomberg Business recently – and the take home message was “Many of the river locks in the U.S. date from the Depression and may not be able to handle increased demand.”

We’ve been saying it for years, but still get excited to see others pick up the torch and carry it for a while.

Notable quotes from the article:

Brazil may be in a better position to benefit when the expansion of the Panama Canal is finished next year. The upgraded canal will feature a new lane for bigger ships. As a result, the canal’s cargo capacity will double. With shorter waiting times to get through the canal, more ships will travel more quickly to pick up their Asia-bound cargoes at U.S. and Brazilian ports in the Gulf and on the Atlantic.

Yep.  America just keeps getting less and less competitive.  Hopefully someone will take notice.

The Army Corps of Engineers keeps applying those Band-Aids. Michael Cox, chief of operations for the Corps’ Rock Island district, which oversees 20 locks and dams along the Mississippi River and the Illinois Waterway, is encouraged by some recent increases in funding. But he’s still “very concerned because what we are currently doing cannot be sustained for the long term.”

IL Corn is encouraged by some recent funding opportunities too.  We’re working every angle, trying to encourage federal and state investment, and hoping to give our hard working Illinois farmers a competitive advantage.

Read the full article here.