WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD) — Congress will allow the U-S Army Corps of Engineers to spend nearly $7-billion dollars next year to repair aging river locks and dams. While that’s nearly 50-percent more than five years ago, Mike Steenhoek with the Soy Transportation Coalition believes it still doesn’t match what Illinois and other farmers – who depend on waterways to ship crops – might be losing as a result of the trade war with China and some other countries;

Steenhoek represents one of many farm and commodity groups that have argued for decades that river locks, many built in the 19-30s, are badly in need of repair;

Locks on rivers allow tugs and barges to navigate more easily through changing water levels. A Texas A-and-M study shows one river barge can hold the equivalent of what’s in 16 rail cars and 70 semi-tractor trailers.