A Kentucky community along the Ohio River is receiving $2 million to create a regional port facility. The state’s Agricultural Development board has awarded the money to the Meade County Riverport Authority.
Joe Wright, chairman of the authority says the port facility in Brandenburg will give farmers in the area a chance to process, store and load their product onto barges.
“We all know that a large portion of the grain produced in the United States goes overseas," said Wright. "To get overseas, it has to get on the water and the quicker you can get it on the water, the cheaper it is to sell and the better and easier it is to sell overseas."
Wright says the facility will serve seven counties in Kentucky and 2-3 counties across the river in Indiana. When the port is completed, it’s estimated that 5-6 million bushels of grain will be shipped from the facility. Officials hope to double those numbers in coming years.