Gov. Blagojevich Commends New Study Examining How Railports Spur Economic Growth Through Increased Agricultural Exports
News Date March 26, 2007
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich has highlighted the release of an agricultural logistics report, which examines how the location of intermodal rail terminals in Ogle and Will counties (Illinois) have brought unexpected benefits to the local farm economies and how they can play a greater role in growing the regional economy. Gov. Blagojevich provided a $45,000 Opportunity Returns grant to the city of Rochelle for the study, which is titled "Capitalizing on Containers: Assessment of an Agricultural Development Opportunity for Northern Illinois." Opportunity Returns is the Governor's comprehensive economic development strategy to continue expanding the economy and creating even more jobs in northern Illinois and across the state.
"Northeast Illinois is a cargo hub for the country, so it's incredibly important that we continue exploring how to leverage this asset and generate more economic growth across several sectors. Rochelle and Elwood contain the region's largest intermodal rail terminals and, with millions of containers entering and departing every year, these facilities present tremendous opportunities to export more agricultural products. Through this study, the region will be better able to maximize these opportunities in the global supply chain and put even more people to work," Gov. Blagojevich said.
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) funded the study to examine the emerging logistics pattern taking place within commodity farm products. Several years ago, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific Railroad established the Logistics Park Chicago in Elwood and Global III in Rochelle, respectively, which are truck-to-train loading ramps that handle growing volumes of imported goods. These sites' proximity to farming areas has spurred development of a new delivery system for exporting agricultural goods. The majority of Illinois' agricultural exports are shipped on barges via the Mississippi River. Now, Illinois corn, soybeans and DDGS (a corn meal co-product from ethanol processing), are being trucked to Rochelle and Elwood for rail transport to the West Coast, where these "boxes" are loaded onto container vessels for delivery to customers in Asia. Shipping companies see agriculture exports as a means to fill the growing number of containers that return overseas empty.
The study process featured a forum in Rochelle last September where representatives from the farm sector, economic development agencies, government and academia discussed how these transportation assets can best serve the farming economy. These comments helped advance the study's goal to address the current and potential use of containerized agriculture products. Given the widespread unfamiliarity with this new shipping method, the report features detailed descriptions of two actual export operations and show the many partnerships involved in the agricultural container "freight chain."
The report concluded with a listing of recommended strategies for advancing the growth of containerized exports of Illinois agricultural products. This includes advancing enhanced freight planning, improving road and bridge capacity, and greater collaboration among the local, regional and statewide players for the purpose of establishing a more efficient container channel.
Blagojevich recently celebrated that Illinois' exports reached record levels for the second consecutive year, reporting $42 billion in exports for 2006, a more than 17 percent increase from 2005. Illinois is also now the fifth largest exporting state in the country, which is its highest ranking ever. Since 2002, Illinois exports have grown $16.4 billion, a 64 percent increase.
"This study identifies a significant opportunity to increase Illinois' agricultural exports, which is important because the industry owes much of its success to foreign trade," Illinois Agriculture Director Chuck Hartke said. "Nearly half of our crops are exported, and the demand from our trading partners helps us to sustain a level of production that is among the highest in the United States."