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As environmentalists protest the building of pipelines to transport oil and natural gas, it may not be the energy companies who are most hurt by a lack of pipeline infrastructure and an overburdened freight rail network.

A new study from the American Farm Bureau Federation shows that farmers in the Upper Midwest, where the Bakken shale has created an energy boom, lost $570 million during the 2014 harvest. According to the study, the average North Dakota corn farmer may have received $10,000 less than the traditional market rate for the crop.

The production of oil in the region has stressed the freight rail system. Farmers are left unable to ship their crops as quickly as they could before the growth in energy production. Crops have a limited shelf life, and there are capacity constraints on the rail system.

“Due to the nature of grain production and use, the industry is fairly inflexible about which freight methods it can use, so any time one of those methods is unavailable, crops are lost or cost more to transport,” said study author Elaine Kub. “This leads to more expensive food for families and less profitable incomes for farmers. Crude oil, however, can be more efficiently and affordably shipped through pipelines, and can be done without crowding already overstressed railways.”

Farm Bureau Chief Economist Bob Young sees better pipeline infrastructure as the solution. “Construction of new pipelines would certainly be a more effective way to move that product to market. It would take crude oil off the rails and, in doing so, improve the overall efficiency of the transportation system. Improved pipeline infrastructure will also help enhance American energy security for everyone.”

It was troubling to see another train derailment happen on Friday in Fruitland, just south of Muscatine. I have friends in the area. Fortunately, this particular train was not carrying any hazardous or explosive materials.

I for one was worried to find out that large amounts of crude oil from North Dakota are currently being shipped by rail though our state, and throughout the Midwest to refineries. If you follow the news, you would notice derailments of this nature becoming more prevalent.

We need to take a serious look at infrastructure upgrades in this country, which includes energy infrastructure. I would feel much more comfortable shipping these resources through modern pipelines, and safer alternatives, instead of running it through our communities on trains.

The debate continues in the Northern Plains as to whether or not the Dakota Access Pipeline will be approved. Project developers want to ship Bakken crude oil from North Dakota across South Dakota, Iowa and then into Illinois. One group supporting the project is the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now. Chairing the organization is former Iowa Farm Bureau President, Ed Wiederstein of Audobon who says Dakota Access has several direct benefits.

Wiederstein says there are indirect impacts from the project as well. He says it’s a safer way of transporting oil than other methods.

He says the Dakota Acccess pipeline is being built with the state of the art equipment and has the technology to be able to avoid environmental problems.

While Wiederstein’s group supports the project, an Iowa environmental group has turned in several petition signatures opposing it. A decision on the pipeline isn’t expected until late this fall.

DES MOINES – Members of the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now (MAIN), a coalition of groups from the business, labor, and agricultural communities, reiterated their support for the Dakota Access Pipeline as the Iowa Utilities Board continues to accept public comments and review the project application.

“Energy costs are a major expense for business owners across Iowa and around the nation. We believe that energy projects that aim to lower resource transportation costs and increase reliability are the key to helping local businesses grow and flourish,” said Mike Ralston, President of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry. “The Dakota Access Pipeline will help ensure that domestically-produced energy keeps our businesses competitive and keeps our state’s economy growing.”

“The construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline will provide jobs for thousands of Iowans and help support their families. We are proud to work on a project that will help Americans across the country by increasing access to American energy resources – and we know that our highly trained members are better equipped than anyone to get the job done right.” added Bill Gerhard of the Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council. “This is our livelihood, and Iowa is our home. We’re eager to put our skills to work, build this project, and protect our land and water in the process. Form letters from environmental activists shouldn’t stand in the way of that.”

The pipeline represents a $1.04 billion capital investment to the state, expected to generate $49.9 million in taxes during construction, and earn the state around $27 million in property taxes in the first year of operation. The project will create between 2,000 and 4,000 construction jobs.

“The Dakota Access Pipeline will significantly reduce the amount of oil trains traveling along Iowa’s railroad network and through population centers. It is a simple fact that more pipelines means more oil moving underground allowing more agricultural products to move by rail,” said Ed Wiederstein, chairman of the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now and former president of the Iowa Farm Bureau. “Farmers in Iowa and across the Midwest feed the country and the world, and they need reliable, efficient rail access to get their products to market. Pipelines like Dakota Access let us move the oil that we all rely upon safely, efficiently, and affordably.”

Members of MAIN include the Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council, Iowa Association of Business and Industry, Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa, Sukup Manufacturing Company, CRST, and many others. The Alliance’s website, www.MWAllianceNow.org, is updated regularly with new information, blog posts, and other materials relevant to the ongoing debate surrounding infrastructure in the Midwest. Read MAIN Chairman Ed Wiederstein’s latest piece on the issue in the July 8^th edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

About MAIN: The Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now (MAIN) is a partnership of entities from the agriculture, business, and labor sectors aimed at supporting the economic development and energy security benefits associated with infrastructure projects in the Midwest. MAIN is a project of the Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council. Visit us online at www.MWAllianceNow.org.

The North Dakota Public Service Commission recently held meetings to decide the fate of the Dakota Access Pipeline, a line that will carry as much as 450,000 barrels of oil per day from the Bakken.

There is no question our state needs the pipeline. Only a little more than a year ago our state found its rail network congested, causing a backlog of shipments for agriculture and energy producers and driving up everyone’s cost to deliver product.

Yet, we are not far removed from this situation. While the amount of crude transported by rail is down, we could still face constraints from inclement weather, high yields and growing production, and rail construction. However, increasing transportation capacity from North Dakota via pipeline reduces the potential for this congestion to happen. The completion of this pipeline in particular represents approximately six trains per day and well over half of the 700,000 barrels of crude transported by rail each day from the Bakken.

There exists further, though less calculable, value in developing a broad pipeline network for North Dakota oil. Pipelines are the safest, most cost-effective means of transporting crude. When the Bakken, as well as other shale-oil formations such as the Eagle Ford and Permian, drive down costs, American oil and gas producers are better able to stabilize production, in turn stabilizing energy costs for consumers, industry and agriculture producers.

Pipelines are vital for the success of our state. They can be constructed with minimal long-term impact to agricultural land and thousands of miles of pipelines have operated with little impact for decades across the state and when they are built, they free rail capacity and allow our agriculture, oil, coal and ethanol industries to grow, avoiding the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars when capacity is maxed.

The debate about the Dakota Access Pipeline is typical of issues that have a lot of emotion attached to it. Anyone who has been associated with closing a school knows this process. Claims are made about the project or idea that are not accurate or capture the reason for the change. In the end cooler heads prevail by sorting out what is real and what is not. On the Dakota Access Pipeline, some claim that Iowans will not benefit from this pipeline. The facts simply do not support this claim.

Everyone agrees that roads create numerous public benefits. This was true even when they were built and maintained by private, for-profit companies right here in Iowa. To facilitate travel and commerce (primarily by connecting farms to markets) throughout rural Iowa, the second General Assembly in the late 1840s authorized private companies to build plank roads. The public benefit was so obvious that the General Assembly passed legislation aimed at allowing construction to proceed smoothly, mandating that the roads be built and disputes over compensation settled later by a state board. Even from the earliest days of our statehood, infrastructure was viewed as a public imperative.

The fact is that Americans and Iowans alike have a long history of saving public dollars by trusting the private sector to build critical transportation and energy infrastructure. From early wagon roads to railroads to the electrical grid to oil and gas pipelines, public benefits have been widely accepted even though the builders, owners and operators have been private-sector businesses. Today the federal government has even turned to the private sector to handle travel to outer space.

The public benefit, however, reaches far beyond efficient development of the infrastructure that we need. There will be a significant number of jobs created by the project. Construction jobs up to 4,000 in Iowa will see small towns all along the path benefit from added business. Construction means building something and eventually it gets built and then laborers hopefully move to another construction job. This is a great job for many construction workers that pays very well and utilizes their skills.

Another public benefit that is less obvious, but should provide confidence in the proper construction, operation, and environmental care. The company is investing $3.8 billion in this project. This company currently operates more than 70,000 miles of pipelines throughout the country. They have the experience and technological investments that many infrastructure projects do not. These factors combine to make modern, state-of-the-art pipelines like Dakota Access — by far — the safest way for our nation to transport the fuel that it needs from places like North Dakota to consumers throughout the Midwest and beyond.

The United States is now the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world. The bulk of the new production is taking place in North Dakota and other places that need the infrastructure to safely and efficiently transport it to where it is needed. Ready supply is among the largest factors driving the cost of fuel. Our state relies heavily on affordable petroleum products, like diesel fuel for its agricultural economy, and this project helps stabilize and keep the price of crude oil competitive.

The public benefits of the Dakota Access Pipeline are numerous and important. The project can help secure a brighter future for all Iowans and Americans.

Ed Wiederstein serves as the Chairman of the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now, a coalition dedicated to investing in infrastructure projects throughout the Midwest to secure and strengthen the region’s economy. He lives in Audubon. Comments: [email protected]

The North Dakota Public Service Commission recently held meetings to decide the fate of the Dakota Access Pipeline, a line that will carry as much as 450,000 barrels of oil per day from the Bakken.

There is no question that our state needs the pipeline. Only a little more than a year ago, our state found its rail network congested, causing a backlog of shipments for agriculture and energy producers and driving up everyone’s cost to deliver product.

Today, we still are not far removed from this situation. While the amount of crude transported by rail is down, we could face constraints from inclement weather, high yields, growing production and rail construction, among other factors.

But increasing transportation capacity from North Dakota via pipeline reduces the potential for this congestion to happen. The completion of this pipeline in particular represents approximately six trains per day and well over half of the 700,000 barrels of crude transported by rail each day from the Bakken.

There exists further, though less calculable, value in developing a broad pipeline network for North Dakota oil. Pipelines are the safest, most-cost effective means of transporting crude. When the Bakken, as well as other shale-oil formations such as the Eagle Ford and Permian, drive down costs, American oil and gas producers are better able to stabilize production, in turn stabilizing energy costs for consumers, industry and agriculture producers.

Pipelines are vital for the success of our state. They can be constructed with minimal long-term impact to agricultural land. Thousands of miles of pipelines have operated with little impact for decades across the state.

And when pipelines are built, they free rail capacity and let our agriculture, oil, coal and ethanol industries grow, avoiding the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars when capacity is maxed.

Ryan Wanzek

Levi Taylor

Jamestown, N.D.