BOONVILLE, MISSOURI, US — The Port of Howard/Cooper County, Missouri, US, has added a pair of steel grain storage bins as part of a $3 million infrastructure project at the only public port between St. Louis and Kansas City on the Missouri River.

The project was funded by grants from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), emphasizing the importance of enhancing transportation infrastructure for economic and community development. 

The new bins hold 160,000 and 240,000 bushels of grain, respectively. Other improvements at the port, which was established in 1975, included a new dock, a grain probe and maintenance on older bins, which hold a total of about 215,000 bushels.

The Missouri River moves $4.1 billion worth of cargo annually. Kendall Kircher, president of the Howard County Port Authority board, highlighted the port’s community benefits, including reduced truck traffic in Boonville. 

“All the grain from this side of the river currently goes through town for the MFA farmer cooperative,” he said during the May 17 ribbon-cutting ceremony. “A single barge load of grain takes 55 semis off the road.”