'Transportation Go!' Conference Puts Focus on Great Lakes For Ag Exports

With great investments coming to the Great Lakes, the time is right to focus on the United States’ inland seas and the St. Lawrence Seaway for agricultural shipping.

Transportation Go!, the premier conference for soybean and grain transportation and trade issues in the Upper Midwest, will take place March 3-4 at the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee, WI, home to Port Milwaukee, one of the gateways to the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Early bird pricing and special hotel rates are available through Feb. 8.

With growing and emerging markets in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, there is more than enough capacity on the Great Lakes to increase agricultural trade to those regions, and that should only grow considering:

• The DeLong Company and Port Milwaukee recently broke ground on a $35 million agricultural maritime facility that will handle various commodities via truck, rail and international vessel.

• Duluth Cargo Connect recently received approval to again accept steamship-owned international shipping containers transported by vessel, opening new possibilities for shippers of all types of cargo.

• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) committed $479 million into construction of a new navigational lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, expanding a complex that enables vessels to haul bulk cargo between Lake Superior and other Great Lakes.

• The Port of Oswego in November opened the $15 million Central New York Grain Export Center, which includes a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lab along with seaway vessel and rail car loading/unloading capability.

• The Port of Cleveland’s Cleveland-Europe Express liner service expanded with ocean carrier Spliethoff adding a dedicated container vessel to its schedule in the fall of 2021.

Formerly known as the Northern Commodity Transportation Conference, Transportation Go! will bring in the industry’s top stakeholders, from boots-on-the-ground commodity growers and organizations to traders and shippers of specialty crops, along with representatives from key ports along the Great Lakes, and more.

This conference will provide the opportunity for in-depth discussions about the global supply chain and how it affects the vital movement of agricultural products both domestically and around the world.

It will be an opportunity for attendees to weigh in on solution-seeking ideas and identifying priorities, whether it’s reimagining rail service in the Midwest or solving the container-access crisis.

Transportation Go! will also include a market development and outlook panel featuring commodity organization leaders from the U.S. Grains Council, U.S. Wheat Associates, and the U.S. Soybean Export Council; as well as presentations from invited leaders from the Surface Transportation Board, and the Federal Maritime Commission.

The conference is sponsored by the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA), a national association of companies focused on production, processing and shipping of U.S. Identity Preserved field crops and their related products worldwide.

Register by clicking here.

Related Articles:

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Cement, Iron Ore, Steel Boost Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway Shipping in July