LA CROSSE, Wis. (WXOW) – Right now an effort is underway to better track the number of commodities being transported on the Mississippi River in our region.
“For the first time in history the Northern Grain Belt Port, the area between Wisconsin and Minnesota, will be nationally ranked as a port,” Executive Coordinating Director of the Corn Belt Ports Bob Sinkler said.
Sinkler and other supporters of the Northern Grain Belt Port Statistical Area (NGB PSA) are working to get it federally recognized.
The port area would stretch from Red Wing, MN to Prairie du Chien, WI encompassing a total of 11 counties. All 11 have passed resolutions to be a part of the NGB PSA.
Next, organizers will apply to the Army Corps of Engineers to be recognized as a PSA.
Supporters of the Nothern Grain Belt Port say recognition is significant in this case.
“We can’t invest in anything we don’t know exists,” Secretary Treasurer of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association Shane Goplin said. “So, if we don’t have a handle of how much is going through there, we don’t know how necessary it actually is.”
Supporters say becoming an actual PSA could bring both state and federal funding to the region.
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