KANSAS CITY, MO, July 27, 1998--U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater signed an agreement creating a joint Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Department of Transportation (DOT) task force that will formalize information sharing between the departments, identify issues critical to rural mobility, consider joint research efforts, develop joint policy initiatives, and undertake outreach to users and providers of rural transportation services. As a result of the agreement, the Data and Information Exchange Committee of the Rural Transportation Task Force formed this web site.

This preliminary report, prepared for the USDA Summit on agricultural transportation, held at the Kansas City Airport Marriott, Kansas City, MO, on July 27-28, 1998, examines the major transportation and infrastructure issues that will affect U.S. agriculture in the 21st century. It frames these agricultural transportation issues for a general agricultural audience by providing background information on the importance of transportation to agriculture, the economic and service characteristics of the different transportation modes, and the transport services used by U.S. agriculture. The report notes that agriculture is the largest user of freight transportation services in the country. Rail, waterways, roads, and air are all significant modes of transportation for American farm products.