WATERWAYS WORK FOR AMERICA

Lindsay Mitchell

Mar 02, 2017  |  Today's News

Waterways and ports help drive Illinois’s economy.  Failure to invest in our waterways and ports will hurt Illinois’s business sales and job creation.  Farmer’s know this better than anyone.

But didn’t you know that $81 billion of manufactured goods including computers and electronic products, appliances, machinery, electrical equipment, and clothing are also shipped to and from Illinois via the waterway system?

This, compared to $37 billion of agricultural and food products destined for American supermarkets and for export shipped to and from Illinois via the system.

Agriculture is definitely important, but this system is SO IMPORTANT to everyone in our state as well – even those that don’t think the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, locks and dams, or even the pollution they prevent compared to shipping via rail and truck matter to them.

At current funding levels, it will take 77 years to complete the 22 planned major projects to renovate the waterway and port system we rely on. 

We can’t wait 77 years.

The Illinois Corn Marketing Board continues to work on research and studies that prove the need for an updated system and the impact an updated system (and the current outdated system!) will have on our economy and on agriculture.

The Illinois Corn Growers Association works with your Congressmen, Senators, and even the new Administration to help everyone understand the results of the ICMB research and the impacts to each farmer within our state.

Our members and check off contributors tell us this is a big priority.  We’ll keep working until we see it fixed.