I. A. A. RECORD— May, 1933 



17 



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Waterway Creates 

 Broader Outlets 



ForG 



ram 



New Facilities at Peoria For Loading River Barges 



PLANS to make maximum use of 

 the deep waterway system for 

 the benefit of Illinois grain pro- 

 ducers are being developed by the Illi- 

 nois Grain Corporation and the 

 Farmers National Grain Corporation. 

 Of special interest to Illinois farmers 

 are the new facilities to be erected at 

 Peoria where the Farmers National 

 million bushel warehouse is being re- 

 modeled and facilities installed to un- 

 load and load large trucks. 



Handling equipment also will be es- 

 tablished at the Illinois river for 

 transferring gn*ain direct from trucks 

 to barges. 



A comprehensive program is being 

 launched by the Farmers National in- 

 volving the establishment of additional 

 warehouse space at Chicago, Buffalo, 

 and other points necessary to take ad- 

 vantage of low cost waterway trans- 

 portation. 



C. P. Cummings, manager of Illi- 

 nois Grain Corporation, reports that 

 it is impossible to forecast what's 

 ahead on truck and river transporta- 

 tion of grain. "It is our intention to 

 make available to our member ele- 

 vators the full benefits of savings in 

 marketing grain over water routes to 

 the markets of the world. Whatever is 

 in store for the country elevator as 

 a result of changes in transportation 

 methods, we intend to work whole- 

 heartedly for the best interests of our 

 member elevators and the grain pro- 

 * ducers who own them." 

 • The new loading facility at the 

 Peoria elevator will make it possible 

 to unload grain from trucks and store 

 it in the big warehouse for later 

 . shipment. This facility will be ex- 

 tensively used when river transporta- 

 tion is closed or when it is not de- 

 sirable to ship by water. 



At the same time the loading equip- 

 ment at the water's edge will make 

 possible conveyance of grain direct 

 from trucks to the river barges for 

 movement to Chicago and other Great 

 Lakes ports or to New Orleans for 



transfer to ocean-going ships. 



It is contemplated that the plant at 

 Peoria will be built in units, the first 

 to cost about $50,000 and to have a 

 capacity of 100,000 bushels daily. If 

 water transportation proves advan- 

 tageous, additional handling units 

 close to the river will probably be 

 erected. The present million bushel 

 warehouse at that point is located 

 about a mile from the site now under 



have anticipated from water trans- 

 portation. 



"Through the development of these 

 facilities, cities located at strategic 

 points on the vast system of inland 

 waterways will become important 

 grain ports. The system taps one of 

 the world's richest grain areas; with 

 immense acreages within feasible 

 trucking distance, permitting either 

 truck or rail shipment to barge ter- 

 minals." 



Illinois farmers have good prospects 

 for a new market for upwards of 

 10,000,000 bushels of corn annually on 

 the Pacific coast. Approximately this 

 quantity is now being consumed by 

 the big poultry, egg, and dairy co- 

 operatives in California and other 

 Pacific coast states. Heretofore most 

 of the corn used for feed by Pacific 

 coast farmers has come by rail. By 

 shipping down the Illinois and Missi- 

 sijppi rivers and through the Gulf of 

 Mexico and Panama Canal, corn can 

 be laid down at San Francisco for ap- 

 proximately half the rail rate from 

 interior points. In the same way corn 

 can be laid down at European ports 



ONE MILLION BU. FARMER-CONTROLLED WAREHOUSE AT PEORIA 



This big grain elevator l« being remodeled and ne^^ facilities Installed to un- 

 load and load jcraln from tmelu for storaKe and later shipment by rail or crater. 



consideration, C. E. Huff, president 

 of the Farmers National Grain Cor- 

 poration, announced recently. 



"Our handling of several thousand 

 tons of corn by barge from Havana, 

 Illinois to the Gulf, which pioneered 

 in the movement of grain from in- 

 terior Illinois by use of the new water- 

 way," said Huff, "proved so success- 

 ful that we have planned expansion of 

 this service on a permanent and com- 

 prehensive basis for the benefit of Illi- 

 nois grain producers. 



"The installation of necessary equip- 

 ment at Peoria, with continuance of 

 our outlet through Havana, together 

 with adequate facilities at Chicago for 

 handling barge grain, constitutes the 

 nucleus from which we expect to de- 

 velop grain handling service through- 

 out the entire system of inland water- 

 ways to give farmers the benefits they 



from Illinois by using the inland 

 waterway system at a substantial sav- 

 ing compared with the rail-water rate. 

 All in all the Illinois corn grower has 

 prospects of a much broader outlet 

 for his product. 



The waterway system fits in ad- 

 mirably for shipping com, soybeans, 

 and other Illinois products to farmers 

 and dairymen in the Middle Atlantic 

 and New England states. 



The G. L. F. Exchange of New 

 York, for example, which buys and 

 mixes feeds co-operatively for thou- 

 sands of northeastern dairymen and 

 poultrymen is one of the best cus- 

 tomers of Illinois farmers. Hook-ups 

 are being arranged whereby these big 

 farm buying co-operatives will pur- 

 chase direct from farmers through 

 their own farmer owned and farmer 

 controlled grain selling agencies. 



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