The Mississippi River is running low again. It’s a problem for farmers moving beans and grain
ST. LOUIS — The water level of the Mississippi River is unusually low for the third year in a rowcausing inland shipping companies to impose restrictions on the amount of cargo they can carry and putting agricultural profits at risk.
It was just two months ago that much of the Mississippi River was above flood level north of St. Louis. Since then, water levels have been steadily dropping. The area south of St. Louis has been hit particularly hard, mirroring the low-water concerns that began around the same time of year in 2022 and 2023.
As part of the fallout, barge companies are being forced to limit the soybeans, grains and other cargo they carry to prevent barges from potentially running aground, meaning less profit for farmers.
About 60% of U.S. grain exports are shipped by barge along the Mississippi to New Orleans, where the corn, soybeans and wheat are stored and eventually shipped to other countries. It is an efficient way to move crops: a typical group of 15 ships tied together carries as much cargo as about 1,000 trucks.
With freight constrained, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest Grain Transportation Report shows 480,750 tons of grain were shipped by barge during the week ending Aug. 31, down 17 percent from the previous week.
Meanwhile, costs rose sharply. Freight rates out of St. Louis were up 8% from the same period last year and 57% higher than the three-year average. Freight rates out of Memphis were up 10% from last year and 63% higher than the three-year average.
Consumers won’t necessarily notice much, but farmers will, said Mike Steenhoek, director of the Soy Transportation Coalition in Iowa.
“When transportation costs increase in any sector, the question is: ‘Do I pass those costs on to the customer in the form of a higher price?’” says Steenhoek.
But farmers usually don’t have that option, because their product shipped by ship is sold internationally. If U.S. soybean prices rise, the foreign buyer can buy from another country, Steenhoek said.
It was only July when the Mississippi River flooded in places like Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, forcing some people to travel by boat.
All that water flowing from the upper Mississippi was offset by drought in states along the Ohio River, which flows into the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois. Rainfall in places like Ohio and West Virginia was minimal through the summer, worsening in August.
“That drought is getting worse,” Michael Clay, chief of the Hydraulics and Hydrology Branch of the Corps of Engineers’ Memphis, Tennessee, office, said at a news conference Wednesday. As a result, the Mississippi River south of Cairo is only a few feet higher than the record lows it reached in several places last year — and it’s still falling.
Donny Davidson Jr., deputy engineer for the Corps’ Memphis District, said dredging operations are regularly rescheduled as areas of concern emerge.
“Over the last few years, we’ve really gotten good at looking ahead and deploying those resources in a very strategic way,” Davidson said.
Clay said Hurricane Francine is expected to bring several inches of rain to much of the lower Mississippi, including up to 4 inches of rain in Memphis over the next few days.