Corn growers, grains council sponsoring Agri-Pulse series on infrastructure's role in agriculture

The National Corn Growers Association and the U.S. Grains Council have teamed up to sponsor a seven-part series on the importance of infrastructure to agriculture production and exports.
The Agri-Pulse series. titled “Keeping Rural America Competitive,” is a result of the Rural Infrastructure Summit in Iowa earlier this year. The summit brought together companies and organizations to brainstorm ideas addressing global population growth, exports and market access while making sure rural communities are strengthened in the process.
An article by reporter Ed Maixner featured in the Agri-Pulse series tackles the issues facing individual farm infrastructure and its effect on exports.
The article said economists estimate that 30 percent of the U.S. corn crop is sent overseas as grain, feed products, ethanol, syrup and oil so farm infrastructure and ports need to be prepared for that volume.
In 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave an overall grade of D to nationwide infrastructure. ASCE believes states have enough money to maintain roads, but are $11 billion short for long-term projects.
Coastal ports and private ports will invest $150 billion between now and 2020 which, according to the American Association of Port Authorities, is more than triple what was planned for 2012-2016.
In addition to Maixner’s article, the series, which can be found on the Agri-Pulse website, also features articles on infrastructure financing, the importance of connectivity and keeping infrastructure from falling behind.