"Shipping by barge remains the most efficient, low-cost and environmentally-sensitive way to transport agricultural products," said U.S. Senator Jim Talent, a strong supporter of increased transportation infrastructure. "The current disruption was caused by the hurricanes, but the river could easily have been shut down because our locks and dams are old enough to collect Social Security. Notwithstanding weather, we can prevent future disruptions by updating our water infrastructure."

The hurricanes caused unpredictable river levels and reduced the number of barges available to move goods, all of which raised shipping costs and created a storage problem for our producers. These disruptions, Sen. Talent warned, could just as easily been caused by a breakdown in our locks and dams.

In the days following Hurricane Katrina, the rates paid by grain companies for individual grain shipments from St. Louis to New Orleans soared by 60-100 percent. The cost to ship a bushel of corn from St. Louis to New Orleans went from 33 cents to about 81 cents per bushel.

In Missouri, commodity prices have fallen because farmers are running out of storage space. Sen. Talent said he's heard reports that grain elevators in Kansas City and rice producers in Southeast Missouri are running out of room. Riceland Foods, a farmer cooperative in Missouri has invested $700,000 in temporary storage due to barge shortages.

"We can prevent disruptions in the future by improving our locks and dams," said Sen. Talent. "We need to take action on behalf of our producers and on behalf of jobs and economic growth in Missouri."