Farmers make plea for lock and dam upgrade

By Lorry Erickson
Regional Editor

LA CROSSE -- Built in the 1930s, the lock and dam system on the Upper Mississippi River needs to be upgraded if Midwest farmers are to remain competitive in the world market, according to organizers of an Aug. 30 boat tour of Lock and Dam No. 7 and the La Crosse Harbor.

The proposed upgrades of several locks on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers has become a "hot political issue driven primarily by environmental activists" said Lynn Muench, vice president of the Midwest Area River Coalition 2000.

And getting lost in the debate is the real issue, Ms. Muench said: "The real issue is that the American farmer continues to lose growth in the export market because we can't get the grain and oil to the export markets quickly."

If the lock and dam system is not modernized by 2010, Wisconsin farmers will lose an estimated $44 million per year in the value of their agricultural products, Ms. Muench said.

"And they're already losing because they can't export fast enough," she said.

Minnesota crop producers will lose an estimated $115 million per year, while the impact on Iowa farmers would be about $122 million per year.

When North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri and Illinois are included, the losses for the eight states are expected to total $364 million per year.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent eight years and $54 million studying what should be done to improve commercial navigation on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

Initial conclusions favored expanding the size of locks, but the study came under question when allegations surfaced in February that top corps officials had rigged the data to make the project costs appear justified.

Earlier estimates put the cost of the project -- which would expand five locks on the Mississippi River and two on the Illinois River from 600 feet to 1,200 feet -- at $1.2 billion.

Fifty percent of the cost of improvement projects on inland waterways must be funded through a 20-cent fuel tax paid by commercial shippers. The $600 million needed for the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River project already has been collected. Congress needs to allocate the remaining funding.

Because most of the locks on the Mississippi River are just 600 feet long, the typical 15-barge tow must go through the lock in two sections, a process that can take up to two hours per each lockage.

During peak shipping times, barges may be delayed 12 to 36 hours waiting to get through the busiest locks, increasing transportation costs to farmers and others.

Ms. Muench said U.S. senators and representatives in states along the Mississippi River should take the lead on the issue. Those who do not, she said, are "dooming the American farmer to less and less income over the next 20 years."

For Cal Dalton, the delays in shipping on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers means a significant loss in his farm income.

"By delaying two days and running that extra barge traffic, I figure it's costing our family farm about $10,000 a year," Mr. Dalton said.

Mr. Dalton, who represents Wisconsin on the National Corn Growers Association, farms near Pardeeville, raising 1,900 acres of corn, soybeans and hay.

A report released last summer cast doubts on the impact the proposed lock improvements would have on grain prices.

The chief author of the study was Richard Levins, an applied economics professor at the University of Minnesota.

The report says the benefits of faster, cheaper barge transportation will go primarily to the large grain companies, such as Continental, Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland Co.

"I don't disagree with that but (lock improvements) would still benefit the local farmers," Mr. Dalton said. "Maybe to that professor it isn't much, but that $10,000 I'm losing is pretty significant to my family."

According to Mr. Dalton, 50 percent of Wisconsin's corn crop and nearly 80 percent of the soybean crop leaves the state.

"Wisconsin is one of the fastest-growing soybean acreage states in the nation right now, so that's going to be significant for us," he said.

Upgrading the lock and dam system would benefit not only farmers, Mr. Dalton said. The barges coming upriver transport LP gas, fuel oil, gasoline and other consumer products.

"It's not just a farm issue: It's an economic issue for everybody," he said.

According to Dan Larson, executive director of the River Resource Alliance, barges are the safest and most environmentally sound way to transport bulk commodities, such as grain and fertilizer.

One 15-barge tow can move 22,500 tons of goods. It would take 870 semi-trailer trucks or 225 rail cars to transport that same amount.

Because of the delay in upgrading the lock and dam system, U.S. farmers have lost 50 percent of the growth in the world soybean market in recent years to Argentina and Brazil, Mr. Larson said.

Argentina and Brazil have invested $750 million in the last three years to dredge rivers, cutting their transportation costs in half.

One of the Minnesota soybean producers on the tour was J.R. Hanson of Winnebago. Mr. Hanson, who farms 820 acres, serves on the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council.

While Mr. Hanson's crops are shipped by rail to the Gulf of Mexico, having barge traffic on the Mississippi River keeps transportation costs more competitive, he said.

Farmers to the east of Mr. Hanson who are close enough to the Mississippi River to transport their grain to a river terminal pay 10 cents to 15 cents less per bushel for transportation.

Wisconsin Corn Growers Association President Roger Hilliard farms near Wisconsin Dells. And, although his 600-acre cash grain farm is southeast of La Crosse, the cheapest method for him to get his grain to the Gulf of Mexico is to transport it to the La Crosse terminals for shipment down river on a barge.

"Right now, all my grain comes through (La Crosse). I'm 100 miles away, and it's still more economical to move my grain north. It's about a 20-cent difference," he said.

Alma Center dairy farmer Mike Giese markets his surplus grain through the La Crosse grain terminals.

Mr. Giese hopes Congress will improve funding for improvements to the lock and dam system.

"Over the years, it appears we're getting behind in the lock and dam system updates. We need to keep it going and get it bigger," he said.

Mr. Giese said the Upper Mississippi River can be used by both the commercial barge shippers needed by agriculture and the recreational boaters and wildlife enthusiasts.

Dave Ward, treasurer of the Minnesota Corn Growers Research and Promotion Council, raises 2,700 acres corn and soybeans on his farm near Mapleton, Minn.

About two-thirds of the corn grown in Minnesota is used in the state, but the rest must be shipped out of state for sale, he said.

Mr. Ward said the Mississippi River is important to Minnesota farmers, not only for moving raw commodities down the river, but also in bringing fertilizer, petroleum products and other inputs back up the river.

An improved lock and dam system would be healthy for the environment by reducing highway and rail traffic, Mr. Ward said.

"We the farmers are the true environmentalists. And even though we're not painted that way, we're very interested in the impact of the river traffic," he said.

"The river has been -- and should continue to be -- a multi-use river. Certainly enhanced recreational and wildlife areas can coexist with traffic and grain movement."

About 140 people participated in the tour, which was sponsored by MARC 2000, River Resource Alliance, Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, Wisconsin Soybean Growers Association, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives, Wisconsin Grain Dealers Association, Minnesota Corn Growers Association and Minnesota Soybean Growers Association.