Dennis Wilmsmeyer, executive director of America’s Central Port, says while he’s a few hours south of Wisconsin, grain from America’s Dairyland gets to his port in a variety of different ways.
America’s Central Port is in the St. Louis region on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. About 60 percent of what comes through the facility is agricultural. That’s why Wilmsmeyer says infrastructure along the river is vital to agriculture.
No matter what the administration looks like after the November election, Wilmsmeyer says the waterway industry wants to keep the rivers resilient. This includes continued funding for dredging.
With high water, you don’t think about needing to dredge the bottom of the river because you’re not worried about hitting the bottom. But high water washes in silt, sediment, and debris. That debris will deposit in spots in the river system, which could clog the country’s major artery of transportation.
“Some areas, we have sometimes six or seven feet of sediment… that has to be moved. And then it accumulates,” he explains. “It’s like snowfall… it just piles up. It just gets progressively worse.”
In both Wisconsin and at the national level, the agricultural community has discussed foreign ownership of land and the potential food and national security impacts of foreign-owned farmland. It’s a similar story for our nation’s ports.
“We do hear of river terminal facilities also being purchased by foreign ownership. That is a major concern to us,” he says. “What’s their intention? Why are they investing in our facilities here in this country? And once we lose control, how do we get that back again?”
A Chinese company recently purchased a grain terminal in St. Louis along the Mississippi River.
