# When barge traffic slows, soybean basis suffers

> An Arkansas Extension article says halted barge traffic on the Mississippi, whether from flooding or drought, tends to weaken soybean basis. Last October, low river levels pushed soybean basis to $1.25 under harvest futures, a dollar below the five-year average. In April, a flood spike to 23 feet at McGregor, Iowa pushed basis negative at Elaine, Arkansas before it recovered to zero.

- Date: 2023-05-26 · published 2023-05-26T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/16631-when-barge-traffic-slows-soybean-basis-suffers
- Commodities: [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md), [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md)

## Why it matters

Barge disruptions weaken cash soybean bids relative to futures because elevators cannot move grain efficiently, lowering farmer returns and raising feed buyers' procurement cost sensitivity to river conditions.

## Read by commodity

- SOY: bearish ▼
- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SOY | 2025-02-18 | [Corn, soybean barge basis firm as some rivers rise](https://feedsoft.ai/events/26233-corn-soybean-barge-basis-firm-as-some-rivers-rise.md) | -0.7% | -2.0% |
| SOY | 2018-01-19 | [Ice accumulations slowing barge traffic](https://feedsoft.ai/events/67158-ice-accumulations-slowing-barge-traffic.md) | +2.0% | +5.3% |
| SOY | 2017-10-03 | [River issues slow barge traffic - Brownfield Ag News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/68665-river-issues-slow-barge-traffic-brownfield-ag-news.md) | +1.0% | +1.6% |
| SOY | 2023-04-28 | [Barge traffic stopped on upper Mississippi \| wqad.com](https://feedsoft.ai/events/36575-barge-traffic-stopped-on-upper-mississippi-wqad-com.md) | +1.5% | -7.2% |
| 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% |

## Sources

- uaex.uada.edu: https://www.uaex.uada.edu/media-resources/news/2023/may/05-26-2023-ark-soybean-basis.aspx

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