Page 38: of Marine News Magazine (November 2022)

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Feature

Inland Waterways

Steenhoek cited U.S. DOA statistics: On 10/4 the cost to she is based in St. Louis. Muench was asked about the transport a ton of soybeans from St. Louis was $90.45. In Missouri River AOP, whether AWO participates in that 2021, the same shipment cost $28.45, a 218% increase. planning process. “Absolutely,” she said. “We’ve been en-

This slams farmers because the price a farmer receives gaged in that process for the last 23 years.” She said AOP at point of sale is in? uenced by how ef? ciently, or not, development was critical, not just for the Missouri River agricultural products clear the market. Supply chain prob- but also for the middle Mississippi. “We look to maximize lems cause transactions to confront a “negative basis,” i.e., ? ows,” she explained.

when a storage facility can’t move product out it pays less This advocacy works within a larger coalition, which for product coming in - from the farmers. As examples, Muench chairs, including agricultural groups and farming

Steenhoek cited the following: interests. One goal is encouraging the USACE to complete • In Aurora, Ind., (near Cincinnati): negative soybean its plan by the end of December. That timing allows river basis was $1.29. Normal negative is $0.35-$0.40. operators to look ahead at likely conditions and plan ac- Negative corn basis was $1.02; normal is $0.25-$0.35. cordingly, both for operations and rates. This partnership • In Davenport, Iowa, negative soybean basis has supported increased funding to maintain Missouri was $0.90; normal is $0.30 to $0.45. For corn, River navigation.

negative was $0.30; normal negative is $0.20. Muench added that new federal waterways infrastruc- • Near Memphis: negative soybean basis was $1.15; ture spending “is really going to be huge,” i.e., hugely same as last year. For corn negative was $0.75; bene? cial. She speci? cally cited bene? ts from redundant normal at this time of year is even to negative $0.20. locks—one lock failure won’t shut down the river. Trans- port ef? ciencies will go way up, as will the green pro? le for

Operators’ interests waterways shipping. “We won’t be stopping and waiting,

Lynn M. Muench is Senior Vice President – Regional taking tows apart and putting them back together,” she

Advocacy for the American Waterways Operators (AWO); pointed out. “We’re going to keep moving.”

Mississippi River Commission 38 | MN November 2022