UGPTI Hosts National Forum on Linkages
The consensus is clear - those who attended the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute's National Forum on Agriculture and Transportation Linkages May 17-18 left the conference committed to working hard for passage of TEA-21 and finding ways to make transportation more effective, efficient and productive.
From Alameda East to New York streets, from the Canadian border to Mexico, issues assessing the importance of transportation to major industrial sectors of the U.S. economy were addressed.
U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad, introduced by NDDOT Director Dave Sprynczynatyk, is immediate past chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Conrad's roots in representing an agricultural state and in studying international markets, make him an empathetic spokesman for what he called hard times in the heartland as well as hard times in the cities and towns that service those farms.
On the international scene, Conrad recounted how the Europeans provide more than $300 per acre of support to farmers and the U.S. provides $38. The American farmer has to market against not only farmers but to other governments giving great support to agriculture.
Agriculture products, as many forum speakers pointed out, have to be transported to market. Steve Fuller talked about a study that showed for every one dollar of agricultural output, 15 cents of transportation expense is required. Jim Dunn cited a DOT study showing 14 percent of the trucks hauling goods in this country handle agricultural goods or food.
The linkage between agriculture and transportation, Conrad noted, is both vital and clear. Whether truck, rail or ship, the transportation infrastructure and industry must be prepared for U.S. agriculture to succeed, indeed not lose ground to the Europeans.
Gridlock costs money and quality, whether in delivery to congested cities or at shipping points. Conrad urged forum participants to not be shy about trying to influence policy outcomes for agriculture and transportation in support of transportation dollars.
John Horsley, AASHTO, echoed Conrad's call to Congress. Horsley said AASHTO adopted a proposal to ramp up to $41 billion for the highway program in the next six years for the 50 states. He added that in overall focus, transportation funding must be effective, not pork barrel.
The complexity of issues discussed at the forum showed both significant acknowledgement of challenges and dedicated effort to finding solutions. Innovation, education, research and cooperation were all emphasized as tools to keep America's transportation and food supply en route.
Gene Griffin, director of UGPTI, put together the forum at the request of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, United States Department of Agriculture and United States Department of Transportation in cooperation with the Council of University Transportation Centers.
Proceedings, PowerPoint presentations and summaries from the forum will be available on the UGPTI website: www.ugpti.org.
