In the most recent study by the American Society of Civil Engineers, our nation's roads were given a D- grade.
Facing our challenges to guarantee our competitive edge
It’s a word that doesn’t easily roll off the tongue—it’s concrete dry and chunky in the mouth. At four syllables, it sounds important and bureaucratic, a victim of overuse in too many Washington meetings. Yet, the word "infrastructure" is a loaded buzzword, full of expectation and implications for our country.
At 3.79 million square miles and an estimated 310 million people with a $14.780 trillion gross domestic product, we are a nation on the move. How quickly and effectively we can move to meet the needs of a growing world population is in question, however.
All of the players who transport ag products are going to have to make big changes if we want to be competitive in the world market.
"We have a huge modal shift going on," says Ken Eriksen, senior vice president of Informa Economics and expert witness in the areas of transportation, logistics and supply chains.
"From October to February, it’s going to be all about the soybean. We say our grain is going ‘East by Northwest,’" he jokes.
Eriksen rattles off a list of changes taking place in the ag logistics world that reflect private investment efforts. For example, EGAT LLC is constructing a new intermodal grain facility in Longview, Calif., and a series of high-speed shuttle train loader elevators is in the works in Montana.
He also scolds others like port authorities that might not be able to accommodate Super Post-Panamax marine vessels that will want to take advantage of the Panama Canal expansion project when it is completed in 2014.
"We’re working on creating very efficient ways of getting to the ports and how we load ships, but if we want to double exports, we need to keep our shipping channels open to accommodate bigger vessels," he says.
Eriksen says that while demand might set prices, it’s the delivery that affects the local basis. "Farmers spend months every year raising and taking care of the pile of grain they produce, but don’t recognize the full value of grain until it’s transported," he adds. "Transportation inefficiency devalues grain and causes bottlenecks that back up all the way to the farm gate."
How it gets there and how long it takes to make the trip might prove to be a telling dry run for the grain shipping tsunami forecasted to arrive in the next 20 years. How does our infrastructure currently rate in terms of meeting the transportation demand?
The Report Card
|
| The most recent study by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009 shows the state of our infrastructure based on physical condition and necessary investments for improvement.
Bridges C Dams D Energy D+
See Comments
FEATURED IN:
Farm Journal - October 2011
COMMENTS (1 Comments)
Report inappropriate comment
| Type of Abuse: |
|
Comments:
|
Receive the latest news, information and commentary customized for you. Sign up to receive the AgWeb Daily eNewsletter today!.
Enter Zip Code below to view live local results:
The Home Page of Agriculture
|