Rural Infrastructure:

In rural America we are observing a growing friction between an increasingly abundant and productive agricultural sector on one hand, and a rural infrastructure that is ill-equipped to accommodate it. While yields are projected to increase substantially in the future, the funding to maintain rural roads and bridges is stagnant or on the decline. 

U.S. agriculture can accurately be described as “a 21st century industry utilizing a 19th century rural infrastructure.” Modern agriculture requires a modern delivery system. Our rural infrastructure, however, was designed and constructed with assumptions that are no longer applicable. 

“Much attention, and rightly so, has been devoted to our underfunded locks and dams, highways, and bridges,” explains Ed Ulch, a farmer from Solon, Iowa, and chairman of the Soy Transportation Coalition. “However, our rural infrastructure that enables the initial delivery from farm to market is largely ignored. Because the first delivery from the farm allows all the subsequent deliveries to occur, it is essential that we properly manage and strategically invest in our rural infrastructure.”

Our inadequate rural infrastructure reduces efficiency in the overall logistics chain. Moreover, as farming continues to exact more and more of a toll on our rural roads and bridges, and as the funding stream available to maintain them proves to be insufficient, more and more rural residents and local government officials unfortunately perceive farming as a drain on the local economy – not a valued contributor to the local economy. 

Heretofore, the challenges facing rural infrastructure have primarily been avoided altogether or unsuccessfully addressed by users simply demanding more money and county and local governments suggesting that farmers should not utilize the heavier equipment or semi trucks essential to the profitability of 21st century agriculture. Solutions to our rural infrastructure challenges will remain elusive unless new approaches are explored and implemented. 

At its recent annual meeting, the board of directors of the Soy Transportation Coalition approved a study – to be completed in 2012 – that will examine the condition and shortcomings of our nation’s rural infrastructure and potential proposals to address them. 

The project aspires to answer four questions: 1.) What kind of rural infrastructure do we need in the future?, 2.) How costly would that infrastructure be?, 3.) How much money will likely be available to finance this infrastructure?, and 4.) If cost prohibitive, what kind of solutions does agriculture need to explore – what kind of “outside of the box” thinking needs to occur? 

Roy Arends, a soybean farmer from Alexander, Iowa, and board member of the Soy Transportation Coalition states, “Farmers need to be open to new and fresh ideas when it comes to our rural infrastructure. Resources are scarce at all levels of government, and there is no evidence that this will improve anytime soon. I am pleased the Soy Transportation Coalition is stepping forward to provide leadership on this important issue.”