# Mississippi River's Low Levels Causing Barge Traffic Issues

> Historically low Mississippi River levels have cut barge traffic by almost half, with one large operator running about 25 boats instead of 46 to 50. The river carries a significant share of US wheat, corn and soybean exports.

- Date: 2022-11-07 · published 2022-11-07T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/10337-mississippi-river-s-low-levels-causing-barge-traffic-issues
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md), [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md)

## Why it matters

Reduced barge capacity raises freight costs and slows export flows, which increases the cost of US grain delivered to buyers and can weigh on farm-gate prices.

## Read by commodity

- SOY: bearish ▼
- CORN: bearish ▼
- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2022-09-29 | [Low water on the Mississippi River impacting barge traffic \| AP News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16679-low-water-on-the-mississippi-river-impacting-barge-traffic-ap-news.md) | +1.7% | +4.0% |
| CORN | 2023-04-24 | [Swollen Upper Mississippi River Stalls Barge Traffic](https://feedsoft.ai/events/36574-swollen-upper-mississippi-river-stalls-barge-traffic.md) | -0.7% | -9.9% |
| CORN | 2023-09-07 | [Barge rates pressured by low Mississippi River water levels \| Supply Chain Dive](https://feedsoft.ai/events/34291-barge-rates-pressured-by-low-mississippi-river-water-levels-supply-chain-dive.md) | -1.2% | -6.8% |
| CORN | 2018-09-26 | [Barge Breakaway Halts Mississippi River Traffic North](https://feedsoft.ai/events/62915-barge-breakaway-halts-mississippi-river-traffic-north.md) | -0.2% | -0.1% |
| CORN | 2021-11-28 | [INSIGHT: Mississippi River levels hit multi-year lows, clogs
      US chem traffic](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16749-insight-mississippi-river-levels-hit-multi-year-lows-clogs-us-chem-traffic.md) | -3.0% | +0.6% |
| SOY | 2023-04-24 | [Swollen Upper Mississippi River Stalls Barge Traffic](https://feedsoft.ai/events/36574-swollen-upper-mississippi-river-stalls-barge-traffic.md) | -2.6% | -11.9% |
| SOY | 2025-10-01 | [Low Mississippi River Levels Pressure Grain Barge Movement - RFD-TV](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16421-low-mississippi-river-levels-pressure-grain-barge-movement-rfd-tv.md) | +2.0% | +7.6% |
| SOY | 2023-09-07 | [Barge rates pressured by low Mississippi River water levels \| Supply Chain Dive](https://feedsoft.ai/events/34291-barge-rates-pressured-by-low-mississippi-river-water-levels-supply-chain-dive.md) | -1.8% | -6.4% |

## Sources

- morethanshipping.com: https://www.morethanshipping.com/mississippi-rivers-low-levels-causing-barge-traffic-issues-threatening-a-larger-impact/

---
Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.