With the busy harvest season underway and grain needing to be shipped to its export destinations, drought conditions along the Mississippi River continue to get worse.
The low water levels are stalling barges moving up and down the channel, especially along the Lower Mississippi River. That means barge drafts and tow sizes have been cut, according to Farm Policy News.
Typically, a draft would 12 feet at 1,500 tons–which is the distance between the waterline and the deepest points of the boat. On the Illinois River, barges are loaded to about a nine-foot draft at 900 tons. Each reduction in the draft means a barge’s cargo is cut by 200 tons. That will cost shippers more money as they’re paying for the same amount of money but shipping less freight than normal. That also means that it is taking more barges to pick up the slack. These costs are typically get passed on to the farmers who haul grain to river terminals.
This is the third year in a row that drought conditions along the Mississippi River system have impacted the movement of grain freight.
Sources: Farm Policy News, NAFB News Service
