Groundbreaking was held late last week for a new barge loading and unloading terminal on the Missouri River near Blencoe, Iowa. The NEW Farmer owned and led Cooperative in Fort Dodge owns the facility which will annually accommodate 240,000 tons of soybeans, corn, dried distillers grains and dry fertilizer. Soy Transportation Coalition Executive Director Mike Steenhoek says this terminal will provide a new route for Northern Plains commodities to the Gulf of Mexico out to export markets.
He says currently the Missouri River is underutilized for shipping of ag commodities and the NEW Co-op’s facility will help producers ship their product in a more cost effective way rather than by rail which is more expensive.
Steenhoek says having the NEW Cooperatives facility on the Missouri River could encourage the building of other terminals in order to take advantage of using barge traffic to ship ag commodities.
Steenhoek says NEW Cooperative officials expects a limited number of barges to be loaded with soybeans for the export market as early as November or December of this year.
