AMS Stresses Importance Of U.S. Highway System

Ever heard the terms, "high volume," or "high value," domestic agriculture highways?

"We were able to identify the 17 different we call them, high value agricultural highways. They account for more than 80% of all agricultural tonnage by truck movement."

Adam Sparger of the Agricultural Marketing Service said that's one of the main findings of a recent joint study by USDA and the Department of Transportation on the importance of the U.S. highway system.

"We did detailed analysis just on the 17 corridors and that was one of the major findings, but also just kind of surprising to realize that we could capture that much of the market with just these 17 corridors."

With greater detail of the study focusing on the specific corridors and predominant issues with each one, including, "optimal commodity flows, safety congestion, infrastructure conditions, roadway reliability..."

Sparger added, the findings of the study were derived from a new model in combining both public and proprietary data sets: findings that also quantify the benefits of the nation's  highway system to agriculture. 

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