# Historically low water levels on the Mississippi River cause shipping woes | PBS News Weekend

> Mississippi River water levels have dropped to record lows amid a warm fall and expanding extreme drought. Iowa farmers harvesting soybeans for export are being affected as barge shipping on the river's main grain corridor becomes constrained.

- Date: 2023-11-12 · published 2023-11-12T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: weather · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/16587-historically-low-water-levels-on-the-mississippi-river-cause-shipping-woes-pbs
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md), [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md)

## Why it matters

Drought-driven low water is cutting barge capacity on the route carrying about 60% of U.S. grain exports. This raises freight costs and can widen Gulf basis, which weighs on interior farm prices.

## Read by commodity

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

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SOY | 2026-10-22 | [Water Levels on Lower Mississippi River Starting to Run Low Again](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16332-water-levels-on-lower-mississippi-river-starting-to-run-low-again.md) | -2.3% | — |
| SOY | 2025-10-16 | [Drought lowering Mississippi River levels again, disrupting shipping](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16420-drought-lowering-mississippi-river-levels-again-disrupting-shipping.md) | +2.8% | +11.3% |
| SOY | 2025-08-29 | [Eyes On Mississippi River Levels: A Developing Situation - AgWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16431-eyes-on-mississippi-river-levels-a-developing-situation-agweb.md) | -2.1% | -1.4% |
| SOY | 2025-04-01 | [Estimating the Impact of Low Mississippi River Levels on Soybean Basis in the Midsouth \| Agriculture of America](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16456-estimating-the-impact-of-low-mississippi-river-levels-on-soybean-basis-in-the.md) | -3.1% | +2.6% |
| SOY | 2025-07-03 | [Mississippi River Low Levels Hit Arkansas Soybean Crop Value Hard – SoyScape](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16437-mississippi-river-low-levels-hit-arkansas-soybean-crop-value-hard-soyscape.md) | -3.6% | -8.4% |
| CORN | 2026-10-22 | [Water Levels on Lower Mississippi River Starting to Run Low Again](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16332-water-levels-on-lower-mississippi-river-starting-to-run-low-again.md) | -1.2% | — |
| CORN | 2025-10-16 | [Drought lowering Mississippi River levels again, disrupting shipping](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16420-drought-lowering-mississippi-river-levels-again-disrupting-shipping.md) | -0.0% | +2.8% |
| CORN | 2025-08-29 | [Eyes On Mississippi River Levels: A Developing Situation - AgWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16431-eyes-on-mississippi-river-levels-a-developing-situation-agweb.md) | +3.3% | +8.5% |

## Sources

- pbs.org: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/historically-low-water-levels-on-the-mississippi-river-cause-shipping-woes

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