MO lock and dam investment to boost ag export value

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MO lock and dam investment to boost ag export value

The Missouri Corn Growers Association says recently announced funding for Lock and Dam 25 in Windsor, Missouri will provide a big logistical boost for farmers.

Missouri Corn’s Ben Travlos tells Brownfield the main benefit will be increased efficiency.

“Not only for getting their product to market, but we also have to remember all the other different products that go up and down the inland waterway system,” he said. “Fertilizers often times traverse on the inland waterway systems.”

$732 million dollars of  the Infrastructure and Jobs Act will go towards adding a 1200-foot lock chamber system with the existing 600-foot system, lowering barge passage time from more than two hours to about 30 minutes.

He said the updated infrastructure will add value to U.S. ag exports.

“Corn growers in the state of Missouri, we rely on sound lock and dam infrastructure to keep barges moving and keep commodities flowing downstream,” Travlos said. “This is quite literally our pipeline in getting our products to other global markets.”

Missouri Corn said the Windsor lock and dam was built in 1939 with an expected 50-year lifespan. Travlos said parts of the system were ‘crumbling concrete’ when the group visited it last summer. 

Ben Travlos Interview

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