Keys to collaborating: WSMB partners with SSGA on St. Lawrence Seaway project

This article was submitted by the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board as part of its Transportation Go! sponsorship.

Wisconsin may not have ocean front property, but it does have lakeside property, which some may argue is even better. 

And two of those lakes are great ones – Lake Superior and Lake Michigan – which offer an entrance to the St. Lawrence Seaway and a gateway to European markets for Wisconsin-grown soy. 

To further explore the market export opportunities via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board (WSMB) is investing checkoff dollars in various projects, including one with the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA) titled, “St. Lawrence Seaway Revitalization.” 

“As the organization that oversees the investment of Wisconsin soybean checkoff dollars, it’s important that we explore new market export opportunities,” said WSMB President Jonathan Gibbs. “Collaborating with SSGA on this project is essential to continue developing and capitalizing on the opportunities the St. Lawrence Seaway has to offer.” 

Why the St. Lawrence Seaway? 

“Geopolitical and policy shifts, changes in Europe around non-deforestation, sustainability, traceability, regenerative validation and other consumer demands have continued to point toward changing needs,” said Gary Williams, SSGA’s director of transportation and regulatory affairs. “Additionally, if containers can be advantaged by moving through the St. Lawrence Seaway, the possibility exists to recreate an inland supply of containers that is eroding badly due to carrier lines incentivizing their equipment to remain near the landing port – Los Angeles, for example – instead of moving inland.” 

One of the goals of the project is to increase the export of Wisconsin value-added soybeans and other crops through Milwaukee and Superior ports. 

“To reach these objectives our project primarily promotes and educates those that influence and make decisions on transportation routing, so that the St. Lawrence Seaway is considered as a transportation alternative,” Williams said. “It also identifies and helps bring about investment in increasing the different types of cargo to increase overall handle volume and further enabling matching of freight cargo together.” 

Focused on the transportation and shipping of high-value, identity preserved field crops by container, SSGA completed Phase 1 of the project last year, which included a farmer-led trade mission to Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Antwerp, Belgium, following a See for Yourself Port of Halifax tour in 2023. 

“We held well-attended events with the route decision makers for goods and products moving between the U.S. and Europe in Rotterdam,” Williams said. “Progress will be a long mission and keeping the route at the front of people’s minds is the first step. As volume increases on the Seaway, the attraction will increase due to cost and logistical efficiencies.” 

Recent domestic and international events, from infrastructure disaster to geopolitical instability, underscore the need for exploring viable, alternative trade routes.  

“With a backdrop of pending strikes, global insecurity and potential policy change, along with a disaster that hampered Baltimore for a period of time, our message urging the necessity of having a transportation system that is flexible, adaptable and able to keep continuity resonated,” Williams said. “All seem to agree that the coming decade will be far more disrupted than the last few decades we have navigated through, and the audience is a willing listener to the promotion of the St. Lawrence Seaway.” 

When soybeans leave Wisconsin fields, they don’t magically arrive at end destinations. The amount of effort that goes into making sure that soybeans find their home is surprising to many, but WSMB understands the crucial work that happens in the transportation industry behind the scenes. 

WSMB’s goal of directing checkoff dollars in three core areas – production research, market development and new uses – and improving the profitability for all soybean farmers is reflected in its partnership with SSGA.  

“Whether a Wisconsin farmer delivers to a rail point, a Great Lakes terminal point or Mississippi River location, having viable and competitive transportation avenues to markets has an effect on the basis for all producers,” Williams said. “Collaboration is key in these complex, large solutions such as the one we have embarked upon.”