Ports of Indiana and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase collaboration, expand agricultural trade and create new container shipping opportunities for Indiana.

The MOU outlines an agreement calls for the partners to:

• Encourage and support the expansion of agricultural exports through the state’s port facilities.

• Investigate opportunities to develop new container shipping facilities that serve critical needs in the agriculture and hardwood industries.

• Connect key agricultural stakeholders with Indiana’s ports to explore new shipping opportunities and convene critical stakeholder forums.

• Research container export opportunities related to ISDA’s key priorities, including agricultural sand hardwood commodities.

Earlier this year, the two organizations partnered with the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Marketing Council to conduct a trade mission to Indonesia and to host the first-ever Indiana Container Shipping Conference.

In July, Ports of Indiana received federal approval to establish Indiana’s first international sea cargo container terminal on Lake Michigan and signed an MoU with the Port of Antwerp-Bruges to explore new agriculture and container shipping opportunities.

Agriculture contributes more than $35.1 billion annually to the Hoosier economy, making Indiana the ninth largest agriculture state. Indiana ranks 13th in the nation for waterborne shipping, generating $29.9 billion in annual economic impact. Ports of Indiana handles more than 4 million tons of agriculture products at its three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan, and those cargoes make up more than a third of the total shipments.