Panama Canal expansion could widen markets for Minnesota farmers

Minnesota soybean farmer Joel Schreurs was in Panama last month, taking separate tours of the past and the future.

The past is the Panama Canal, vintage 1914, which has routed Minnesota-grown soybeans, corn and other products to China and other Asian markets for decades. The future is the Panama Canal expansion, now nearing completion, which will allow larger, longer and deeper oceangoing vessels to transit beginning in May.

“It’s an amazing feat what they’re building,” said Schreurs. The new locks are so massive, he said, that the oversized excavators and trucks parked at their bottom look like small toys.

http://www.startribune.com/panama-canal-expansion-could-widen-markets-for-minnesota-farmers/364711611/