2020 Fall Farm Outlook

PAGE 22 2020 Logan County Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS October 28, 2020 A few unusual things have happened during this maintenance process. One of them happened during the dewatering process at the Starved Rock locks. The locks were so full of Asian carp that the pumps became clogged and the whole processed stopped until commercial fishermen could remove all the carp so the dewatering process could continue. The Army Corps carefully planned and communicated before the maintenance with barge companies, materials companies, and Ag companies like Growmark, ADM and Cargill about this disruption of the river transportation system so that all would know what to expect and plan for all the eventualities caused by these closures. The Corps has planned the next closures for 2023 in order to give companies added time to recover from the 2020 closures. All in all, material handlers, Ag exporters and barge lines are thrilled with the Army Corps and these Illinois waterway improvements which mean that their products can flow more efficiently down the Illinois and into the Mississippi for years to come. Early in October 2020, U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-IL along Marcel Wagner, President of with the Great River Economic Development Foundation announced federal funding and infrastructure investments to develop three Corn Belt Ports for Quincy, Peoria and the Quad Cities to gain expedited access to the Mississippi river. The Peoria Corn Belt port on the Illinois river will help lower transportation costs and increase access to international markets for Central Illinois and Iowa producers. These five locks are scheduled to reopen to traffic on October 31st, three days after this magazine comes out, and handlers at all Illinois River ports are ready for action. [Jim Youngquist] [Image from Prairie Rivers Network]