Neither heavy spring rain nor Hurricane Helene could stave off what’s becoming a regular feature of harvest season for Midwest soybean farmers: water levels so low on the Mississippi River that barges can’t be fully loaded.
For the third year in a row, low water is making soybeans destined for overseas markets harder to move, according to the Soy Transportation Coalition, an Iowa-based trade group.
Shipping is down by much as 40 percent in places where fewer barges can be linked together, the organization said Wednesday.
The Mississippi is the main outbound route for soybeans grown across the Midwest and Plains states and shipped overseas. As much as a third of soybeans grown in the U.S. are destined for China alone, according to the American Soybean Association.
