Infrastructure

The Illinois Soybean Association applauded the U.S. Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center and the Navigation and Civil Works Decision Support Center for recently approving the Northern Grain Belt Ports on the Upper Mississippi River between Wisconsin and Minnesota.

As I pen this column, critical infrastructure across our country remains on alert after an attack on two substations in North Carolina. Those attacks cut power to tens of thousands for several days.

The philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Co. said it is giving $1 million to help west Tennessee communities improve infrastructure as they prepare for the automaker’s electric truck and battery factory.

Two Illinois cooperatives will receive federal funding through the infrastructure bill to expand high-speed internet in those areas. The Hamilton County Telephone Co-op received a loan of over $12.41 million and a grant for the same amount.

The newly-designated Corn Belt Ports have reaped the benefits of the federal recognition with increased investments from state and federal governments and nonprofit organizations.

It’s been a historic year for the Illinois Corn Growers Association as it celebrated its 50th anniversary this past summer, and the organization continues advocating on behalf of farmers.

The Kron family is preparing for harvest in southern Indiana. Randy Kron, farmer and president of Indiana Farm Bureau, shared an update with AgriNews.

Bill Gates says the global hunger crisis is so immense that food aid cannot fully address the problem. What’s also needed, Gates argues, are the kinds of innovations in farming technology that he has long funded to try to reverse the crisis documented in a new report.

The senatorial candidates participated in a question-and-answer session after their opening statements at the recent Illinois Agricultural Legislative Roundtable forum. The questions were provided by those in the audience.

Questions relating to several high-priority legislative issues were posed to U.S. senatorial candidates at a recent candidate forum. The Illinois Agricultural Legislative Roundtable forum featured incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Republican challenger Kathy Salvi.

The interconnectivity of different transportation modes and need for reliability in both transportation and broadband infrastructure emerged as key ingredients for continued competitiveness of the U.S. agriculture industry during a virtual webinar hosted by the St. Louis AgriBusiness Club.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood followed the “life of a soybean” on the Kindred family farm this past growing season, making his third and final visit with harvest underway.