ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) is expressing strong support for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee after it voted to advance the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), a bipartisan measure focused on maintaining and upgrading the country’s inland waterways infrastructure.
The NGFA recognized Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.), Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), and other committee members for working across party lines to push the bill forward.
“A reliable and efficient inland waterways system is essential to the competitiveness of U.S. agriculture and our ability to move grain and other agricultural products safely and efficiently to domestic and international markets,” said NGFA President and CEO Mike Seyfert. “Congress’s longstanding commitment to passing a bipartisan WRDA bill every two years provides critical certainty for planning and investing in the infrastructure that supports farmers, agribusinesses and rural communities.”
The grain and feed industry depends on a connected transportation network — including roads, railroads, and waterways — to get agricultural goods where they need to go. Every year, roughly 650 million tons of U.S. grain travel from farms to storage by truck, 160 million tons move by rail, and 80 million tons are carried by barge. Keeping all three systems running smoothly is considered key to a stable agricultural supply chain and to keeping American farmers competitive at home and abroad.
The NGFA says it strongly backs ongoing investment in the nation’s inland waterways, which offer a cost-effective way to transport hundreds of millions of tons of farm commodities annually. The group argues that upgrading locks and dams, tackling long-delayed maintenance, and improving navigation reliability are all necessary to keep U.S. agriculture competitive globally. The NGFA also noted its appreciation that the bill does not challenge the role of the Columbia River System and Lower Snake River dams, which it says are critical to U.S. agricultural exports.
“NGFA urges the full House to act swiftly on WRDA and looks forward to working with Congress to ensure final bipartisan legislation is enacted this year,” Seyfert added.
