Times are exciting for the Missouri River, and that brings opportunities for Missouri’s soybean farmers. This hasn’t always been the case.
In the 90s as a young child, I remember crossing the old Lexington bridge once a year on our way to the Missouri State Fair. Even then, the bridge was in rough condition and a bit scary to cross with a livestock trailer. I wasn’t aware at the time, but the bridge was somewhat of a symbol of the state of business and shipping on the river as well. Now, as you cross the river at Lexington, the new bridge completed in 2005 is also, in a way, a symbol of the resurgence and coming opportunity on the Missouri River.
To have a full understanding of where we are now, it is helpful to know where we started. Two specific actions from Congress developed the river we know today. After a historic flood, the Pick-Sloan Flood Control Act of 1944 authorized the construction of six reservoirs in the upper basin in the name of flood control. Soon after, the 1945 River and Harbors Act created the Bank Stabilization and Navigation Program (BSNP), which established structures along the river to create an authorized 9-foot-deep by 300-foot-wide self-scouring navigation channel from Sioux City, Iowa, to the mouth in St. Louis. Construction was fully completed in 1980.
The management complexity of the Missouri River is mostly unknown to the thousands of Missourians who cross it daily. Competing interests for water in the reservoirs, environmental issues, endangered species challenges and more make what seems to be a simple river a bog of red tape and frustration for those involved in advocating for its use.
Due to the convergence of drought, economic recession and many of the previously mentioned issues, barge traffic and shipping on the river rapidly declined in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Unfortunately, that created a perception and mindset around the river that it wasn’t reliable, and that mindset has persisted.
The good news for agriculture producers is that perception is simply no longer reality. The Coalition to Protect the Missouri River (CPMR) was formed in 2001 to begin tackling the many issues plaguing the Missouri River. Like-minded river users including agriculture interests like Missouri Soybeans, water supply users, navigators and more came together with one voice for the first time to have a positive impact on the management of the river. Since then, shipping has been gaining steam again on the river and currently in 2023, we have unmatched momentum and potential that should encourage every soybean farmer.
Thanks to investments and repairs to navigation structures in the Missouri River channel over the past several years, we are seeing an increased resiliency in the system. A large chunk of that investment is coming from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which was passed in late 2021. This bill allocated $249 million specifically to the Missouri River BSNP to improve and repair navigation control structures. These repairs, though only partially complete, are already having a significant impact on the reliability of the channel and shipping on the river.
Due to continued drought in the Upper Basin, 2022 was another low-runoff year with navigation support from the reservoirs running at minimum service for the entire season. Seasoned navigators and ports along the river share that the ongoing repairs on the river kept boats moving despite low water, when in previous dry years this likely would not have happened. This is great news in the name of a more resilient system, especially with much of that BIL investment yet to be completed on the river.
When it comes to moving products such as fertilizer into our region and commodities out, supply chain resiliency is of utmost importance. A more reliable river will continue to be a key component of that. Agriservices of Brunswick’s commitment to the Missouri River is a key example.
In 2012, many rail cars were diverted to the Bakken basin due to the oil boom. This created a railcar shortage forcing many elevators to shut down during harvest. There were several occasions that year that Agriservices of Brunswick was the only elevator within a 100-mile radius that could accept soybeans. That was solely due to its ability to send soybeans straight onto barges on the Missouri River.
The Port of Blencoe owned by NEW Cooperative in Blencoe, Iowa, is another great example of this. The port is now in its third full year of operation on the Missouri River north of Omaha. This is a significant success story and benefits farmers. Now, instead of trucking soybeans and fertilizer across the entire state of Iowa from the Mississippi River, some of the best soybean acres in the world have more efficient access to the global market via the Missouri River.
A study by the Soy Transportation Coalition showed that river access for farmers directly increased farmer profitability due to the impact on basis. Though this study mostly showed that to be true along the Mississippi River, as reliability on the Missouri River continues to increase, that will also become true up the Missouri River coasts of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. This is why businesses like Agriservices of Brunswick and NEW Cooperative, along with federal investments, are important and have a real impact on Missouri’s soybean farmers’ bottom line.
That is not to say there are not ongoing challenges on the Missouri River. Endangered species issues related to the management of the pallid sturgeon continue to impact those who live and work along the river as new habitat projects are considered. That is why CPMR and Missouri Soybeans are actively engaged in these discussions and have successfully worked with Rep. Sam Graves to ensure that these projects do not impact navigation, levees and other users. We will continue to strongly advocate on this issue.
Bank stabilization has been a continual challenge on the Missouri River with many farmers losing acres due to erosion caused by changes in river structures. CPMR was able to successfully work with Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2022 to include a pilot program for the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to begin finally addressing these areas of erosion.
In addition to those wins, we currently have a historic flood resiliency study and navigation resiliency study happening on the Missouri River. Those studies will give us the opportunity to build on our current momentum and provide congressional authority for new actions and projects to continue to increase shipping opportunities on the river as well as provide a more resilient system when it comes to flood risk reduction.
These are just a few examples of the exciting things happening on the river. If you’re curious to hear more about the opportunities and challenges, please reach out. Given the current landscape of the river, Missouri soybean farmers should be hopeful and invigorated by the opportunity. CPMR thanks Missouri Soybeans for being a partner in the effort to keep the Missouri River open for business!
